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Automated lighting

DIY home automated lighting has been around since the early 1980’s and while the advantages families hoped to benefit like convenience, comfort, energy savings and security were at some times outweighed by the fact that these homes systems were not always quite reliable.

These early gadgets relied on a communication protocol which is called as X-10 where one light switch or the receptacle would talk to the others over a present household electrical system. As it turned out, X-10 depended on a weak signal that was very vulnerable to interference from everyday household equipment that would create electrical line noise.

Fast forward to twenty years. A lot of those historic X-10 systems are still in existent at the moment however the technology has advanced on an intense level.
Enter UPB. UPB or Universal Powerline Bus has established the fact to be 100 to 1000 times a lot more reliable than the best X-10 systems in existence because of its signal strength and speed, approaching that of hard wired systems.

A lot of times we have been asked "how can I automate the lighting in my home?" While the reply to the answer really requires knowledge of some specifics involved, it is well within the capacity of those who can safely substitute a light switch or a receptacle outlet to accomplish. The next patent question people ask is "how do all the lights know when to turn on, off or dim?" A miniscule basic background information on the technologies involved just makes things a lot simpler.

We live in a period of networks and inter-networks. Home automated lighting in that regard, is not very different. There are three general kinds of automated lighting controls; those that are wireless for instance the Z-Wave, those that are considered as hardwired and installed as the house is being erected and those that communicate over a households existing electrical wiring for instance the X-10, UPB (Universal Powerline Bus) and a few others. All of these protocols (or communication standards) can be utilized as a single, stand alone system or can be combined with more complicated yet fully secured home automation and security controllers for an adequate smart home solution.

Without a doubt, from a pragmatic standpoint, you cannot tear down your walls to install recent or additional wires or switches so I will not go into those types. Wireless systems like the Z-Wave work quite well however they are subject to RFI (radio frequency interference) at times and depend on utilizing a "mesh" network where all gadgets talk to all the others and repeat any missed directions. For the best retrofit DIY lighting automation solution, this kind of technology that seems to have clear edge over the others is UPB. As mentioned earlier, it operates over the present AC power lines in a house and is extremely dependable, as compared to its older cousin the X-10 protocol. A simple plug-in adapter and free downloadable software allows full control of the lighting schema when integrated with elegant UPB electrical switches and electrical outlets, all from the great power of your PC.

Just turning a light on, off or just dimming is not quite a big deal from a PC but the real power comes when you desire that you would like to integrate switches to form lighting scenes or zone lighting. It is noteworthy that these switches are not your ordinary run-of-the-mill breed. Of course there are some that just handle the conventional on, off and dim however others are really meant to handle scene or zone lighting with the right push of a button for any number of rooms or even the entire house, if you so desire.

Furthermore, it is quite easy enough to throw your old security panel at a later date and substitute it with a unit that combines other systems in a home for instance the heating and air conditioning, home theater, surveillance, swimming pool or jacuzzi, water sprinklers, you name the equipment and just about anything else you can ever think or imagine. And what about a security breach issuing an "all lights on" command? Or possibly you would like to check on your home or do some adjustments from anywhere in the world from your PDA or your laptop? The list of possibilities are practically endless.

If you can deal with a program a remote control for your TV, VCR or what have you, you already have the basic requirement...logic! There is absolute need to learn very complex programming languages, just the simple, plain, understandable and very down-to-earth English.

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