Who is still using X10 and what are your plans?

[George]

I'm only two wall switches away from finishing my X-10 conversion. I'll only have a about 6 left which are only for use with accent lights and the such, that are just not worth the cost and effort to replace for a minimal use I have of them. One thing I've noticed, is my X-10 storm hell has reduced to almost nothing as I've been pulling out my wall X-10 transceivers (the Leviton 4-button ones) as each X-10 transmitter loads down the line and can cause a noise storm. My XPDR analyzer now shows a very clean powerline with hardly any X-10 re-transmits and no phantom commands.

That being said, I have about three full boxes of just about anything anyone can imagine in X-10 equipment, both new in box (Spares) and pulled working. Dimmers, Switches, PLM01's, TW-523's, appliance modules, light dimmer modules, you name it. Probably not worth putting them on eBay (maybe the new ones). If anyone is looking for anything, let me know. For the cost of a breakfast and shipping, I can hook you up with whatever you need.

[concordseer]

PLEASE......NEVER get rid of x10 support.....the installed base is too large....the components dont all have equivalent products in the other formats....and they are cheap and effective....it seems you are leaning on one guy to support this HUGE segment of users of x10 which i think is stupid on hs end....the support is excellent but if it stops, i for one will ditch HS in a heatbeat....

I think you’ll find that the X10 user base is not as large as you may think. This is probably in part down to the age of the typical X10 user and the fact that newer adoptees of HS won’t even know what it is let alone buy it. We are fortunate enough to have Mark who is very knowledgeable on the subject give his time gratis on the X10 plug-in front and this coupled with experienced X10 users will be more than sufficient to see X10 and HS continue for the foreseeable future. I wouldn’t be in a rush to jump the HS just yet.

[mfisher]

PLEASE......NEVER get rid of x10 support.....the installed base is too large....the components dont all have equivalent products in the other formats....and they are cheap and effective....it seems you are leaning on one guy to support this HUGE segment of users of x10 which i think is stupid on hs end....the support is excellent but if it stops, i for one will ditch HS in a heatbeat....

kenantonelli@yahoo.com: While I have no way of knowing how many HS X10 users are still out there, I do know that it's tiny fraction of what it used to be and may now be only a couple of hundred folks at best. I still use X10 in my home and I plan to continue supporting the X10 plugins for as long as it makes sense.

concordseer: Thank you for your kind words, and for your continued support!

George: I'd be interested in your 3 boxes of X10 components. Shoot me a PM and let me know what you've got and what you'd like for the lot.

[George]

George: I'd be interested in your 3 boxes of X10 components. Shoot me a PM and let me know what you've got and what you'd like for the lot.

Mark,

Great, I'll put everything together, take some pictures and ping you soon!

[mfisher]

Thanks George!

[sparky]

I see this topic is kind of old but I am going to comment and I have a few questions for this group. First I do have quite a few working X10 devices. These are primarily in an metal out bldg. I am using an old CM15A. It seems the output signal has weakened over the years. The reliability sucks anymore. I was going to switch everything to Insteon but that would be kind of pricey. I recently got a ZNet device. I was thinking would switch away from X10 to Zwave in that bldg. However I was wondering if the CM15A could be plugged into the ZNet box. It is basically a glorified PI. Has anybody tried this? How do I address the port issue on the ZNet? Thanks.

[shennecke]

I'm still running x10 along side of wifi & zwave. Plan on running x10 until the devices die, then changing over to zwave. My x10 network is very reliable and has been in service since the inception of x10. My last two big devices are 220v two pole pool pumps whose controls are enclosed in a metal cabinet far away. Since having the PLM modem upgraded, my x10 has been flawless.

[BraveSirRobbin]

I see this topic is kind of old but I am going to comment and I have a few questions for this group. First I do have quite a few working X10 devices. These are primarily in an metal out bldg. I am using an old CM15A. It seems the output signal has weakened over the years. The reliability sucks anymore. I was going to switch everything to Insteon but that would be kind of pricey. I recently got a ZNet device. I was thinking would switch away from X10 to Zwave in that bldg. However I was wondering if the CM15A could be plugged into the ZNet box. It is basically a glorified PI. Has anybody tried this? How do I address the port issue on the ZNet? Thanks.

Your problem may be more of appliances diminishing the X-10 signal (signal sucks) than the output of the CM15A. There used to be X-10 signal strength meters available to measure this, but I haven't seen any in a while.

You could do the old fashioned/old school method of unplugging items or even shutting off breakers to sections of your electrical system to see if the signal reliability improves. Do you use any of the signal blocks for common known trouble appliances such as computer and tv's?

[Pete]

Still using X10 today with Volp's X10 stuff. Also running Z-Wave, Zigbee, UBP and Tasmota WiFi today. X10 today for Christmas decorations and outdoor LV LED landscaping lighting.

[lhfarm]

Still running X-10 in my barn (500') and underground pump house (100') where no Z-wave or Zigbee signals will reach. Somewhere, I have the old X-10 meters, but I bet BraveSirRobbin is correct. I remember when I had a Dell laptop power supply that sucked the life out of an entire circuit when plugged in.

I also have X-10 switches from a 1997 remodel that just keep going and going. They don't like LED bulbs, but otherwise keep on ticking.

Barry T

[Markrat]

I still use X10 for some lighting and power units, largely those now that are still "built-in" to the house.
I am retiring them one by one as I find other things to replace them with, the last being a round of Z-wave DIN rail replacement units earlier this year.
My use of X10 ramps up considerably however over Halloween and Christmas, as all my outdoor services generally still run flawlessly on X10, not withstanding its original design limitations of course.

[Mark S.]

I've tried Z-Wave as a replacement for X-10 - but I found it way too flaky, at least the HS implementation of Z-Wave. Now I'm trying wifi devices, with some success - but network glitches are shaking my confidence. But in the meantime, my 30 year old X-10 stuff is still going strong. I rarely have an X-10 device fail, although I just had my first signal interference issue in about a decade when my son plugged in a new laptop power supply - but a noise filter from eBay solved that problem quickly. Basically, I have spent far more time troubleshooting Z-Wave and wifi devices over the past few years than all my 30 years of using X-10. X-10 is technically very simple - I wish the new technologies were that simple.

[upstatemike]

I've tried Z-Wave as a replacement for X-10 - but I found it way too flaky, at least the HS implementation of Z-Wave. Now I'm trying wifi devices, with some success - but network glitches are shaking my confidence. But in the meantime, my 30 year old X-10 stuff is still going strong. I rarely have an X-10 device fail, although I just had my first signal interference issue in about a decade when my son plugged in a new laptop power supply - but a noise filter from eBay solved that problem quickly. Basically, I have spent far more time troubleshooting Z-Wave and wifi devices over the past few years than all my 30 years of using X-10. X-10 is technically very simple - I wish the new technologies were that simple.

I would not blame the HS implementation of Z-Wave. Z-Wave itself is a deeply flawed protocol whose problems are magnified by the frequent release of bad firmware by Silicon Labs. In fact, if you like X-10 you are probably not going to be happy with any routed protocol where devices can get stuck routing over suboptimal routes (don't buy into the self healing/self optimizing claims as they often do not work). Routed protocols are also subject to corruption of the routing table, phantom devices that you can't get rid of, issues with restoring from backups, popcorn effect, etc.

Your best path onward from X-10 is probably a broadcast protocol like Insteon or LoRa (Yolink). These work like X-10 in that devices can be installed where you need them without having to buy superfluous devices just to "build out the mesh" to reach the device you actually want to control. You may occasionally need to deal with interference issues but that is true with mesh networks as well... it's just that mesh networks introduce a whole lot of needless complexity and problems in addition to that.

[ksum]

I've had no problem with z-wave. I built from my controller out, meaning started with devices close to the controller and expanded the area as I went. I have some z-wave power strips and plug-in modules that move to various locations depending on the season and have had no issue. Most of my wall switches are z-wave as well as done other devices. They all just work. My bigger issue has been with making sure I get devices which work like regular wall switches. Ramp rates on most dimmers cause issue with some people who expect immediate change. So I started using the leviton units as the dimmer portion is a separate side switch and I can set the ramp rate to 0 on the on/off side. Also, I limit my battery devices, but that is because I don't like using batteries if I don't have to.

Yes, building any mesh type network requires some thought. But I have found it easier than getting X10 to work reliably.

[gelessor]

Anyone have a Smarthome SignaLinc Repeater that they no longer use? It is a X10 active amplifier phase coupler repeater that plugs into a 3 plug dryer outlet.

If so, I'd be interested in purchasing.. my just quit working. Thanks