I've recently been adding some UPB switches to circuits where X10 had been problematic, and am running the UPB plug-in as a trial. High winds knocked out power today so we were running on our backup generator, which produces very poorly conditioned power. As a consequence, I had an opportunity to compare the performance of UPB and X10 over a relatively long time (way too long, as far as I was concerned) in a very noisy environment.
The first thing I noticed was that my UPB links didn't work. When I tried to check with UpStart, it reported that the power line noise was very high and that it could not find my PIM. Although I confirmed that the PIM was, indeed, still plugged in and had power, UpStart insisted that it was not there.
Since I had not noticed a problem with my other lights in past power outages, I began looking more closely at the X10 performance. In some cases, X10 devices outside the Compse firewall were a bit more unreliable than normal, but everything inside the firewall performed flawlessly. There were no problems from the powerline noise that I could identify.
This is not a knock on UPB. The condition of the power was quite poor. Rather, I found it reassuring how well the Compose system performed. It reinforces the point that choosing a lighting control system, whether X10, UPB, Z-Wave, etc. involves more than just consideration of the underlying technology. The quality of the components and the overall design are also critically important. For example, weighing X10 performance using Dollar Store X10 'toys' against Neiman Marcus UPB 'jewelery' is probably not a very enlightening comparison. Clearly, in my circumstances at least, X10 actually outperforms UPB!
(That said, the reason I'm using UPB too is because on at least one circuit, the Compose firewall simply isolates the circuit and does not allow it's noisy components to affect the rest of the house. While that's effective, it makes X10 control on that circuit essentially impossible.)
The first thing I noticed was that my UPB links didn't work. When I tried to check with UpStart, it reported that the power line noise was very high and that it could not find my PIM. Although I confirmed that the PIM was, indeed, still plugged in and had power, UpStart insisted that it was not there.
Since I had not noticed a problem with my other lights in past power outages, I began looking more closely at the X10 performance. In some cases, X10 devices outside the Compse firewall were a bit more unreliable than normal, but everything inside the firewall performed flawlessly. There were no problems from the powerline noise that I could identify.
This is not a knock on UPB. The condition of the power was quite poor. Rather, I found it reassuring how well the Compose system performed. It reinforces the point that choosing a lighting control system, whether X10, UPB, Z-Wave, etc. involves more than just consideration of the underlying technology. The quality of the components and the overall design are also critically important. For example, weighing X10 performance using Dollar Store X10 'toys' against Neiman Marcus UPB 'jewelery' is probably not a very enlightening comparison. Clearly, in my circumstances at least, X10 actually outperforms UPB!
(That said, the reason I'm using UPB too is because on at least one circuit, the Compose firewall simply isolates the circuit and does not allow it's noisy components to affect the rest of the house. While that's effective, it makes X10 control on that circuit essentially impossible.)