It's Getting Dark In Here!
by Gary Woods

It's been said that the movie doesn't start until the lights go down. So, wouldn't it be cool to just hit one button and have all your lights dim just as you start to roll the opening credits on your DVD?

The old faithful of home automation is the X10, which dates to the late 1970s; its products can be found at Radio Shack and www.x10.com. X10 technology sends power pulses from a switch over your household current to a device. Maybe 95 times out of 100 times, half a second after you press the button, you get the desired results. Besides wall plugs for lights (dimmable) and appliances (switchable) there are X10 wall switches and even drapery pulls, thermostats, and lawn-sprinkler switches.

You may lose one or two cheap X10 devices a year to power surges, so you're better off with Leviton or X10 Pro switches ($30 to $50 versus $10 to $20,) or switches from direct suppliers like Home Automation Inc. (HAI) and Smarthome. You might also think about a whole-house surge suppressor too.

If you're looking for something a little cooler Smarthome recently announced a wired and wireless protocol called Insteon, which works with existing X10 devices. The 900-MHz Insteon wireless adapters also serve as bridges between the two legs of your home wiring.

Since the show is about to begin you better get on out to Radio Shack and pick up some X10s pronto.

If you have any suggestions or questions for me please drop me a note at garyandlaury@santabarbaraproperties.com or see my column on the Internet at http://www.santabarbaraproperties.com or call me at (805) 729-0910