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Thread ID: 99482 2009-05-03 23:23:00 Home Automation without rewiring the home? Chilling_Silence (9) Press F1
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770748 2009-05-03 23:23:00 Hey all,

So I'm moving into a place tomorrow and will be renting there (hopefully for a while).

I got thinking about Home Automation, mostly around turning on / off lights, but as well as timed power to devices such as a Heater. What would be real cool is if it was possible to control from my PC / iPhone. XP or Linux, dont care what OS.

Is it possible to do this kind of thing without rewiring the whole home? Perhaps by purchasing some kind of "in-between" device that sits in between the wall socket and the device?

I know a few members here have dabbled with Home Automation, but as far as I'm aware that requires rewiring of the home, due to me renting, I don't think that's easily possible ;)

Any thoughts / comments / advice appreciated

Cheers


Chill.
Chilling_Silence (9)
770749 2009-05-04 00:30:00 Search on X10
It is the main system used in a few countries, but not sure if X10 is available in NZ and Aussie or not. It is a fairly simple system.
Bantu (52)
770750 2009-05-04 02:00:00 X10 looks interesting. Found homecontrol.co.nz -- Now to just do a little more research and find out about PC / iPhone control ;)

The prices for the starter kit are pretty good all things considered, I'm impressed!
Chilling_Silence (9)
770751 2009-05-04 02:59:00 I saw a thing on TV about it some time ago. Each X10 unit acts like a sender/receiver and you assign it an ID number at each end (Unit/Computer software) that is sort of how each unit talks to each other.

It is also what people use to set up Christmas light sequencing, that is how I first came across it.

It looked real simple to set up, but not cheap. Maybe when it becomes more popular the prices will come down like everything else.
Bantu (52)
770752 2009-05-04 06:08:00 Try HPM or clipsal,
I think it's HPM that do a wireless control range...
Tricks (14877)
770753 2009-05-04 13:57:00 Just contacted this place and asked about iPhone control, apparently its a lot more affordable than you would think! Chilling_Silence (9)
770754 2009-05-04 19:51:00 chil is that allowing you to control from your iphone rather than a computer?
The clipsal stuff looked just as good as the X10 stuff and probably cheaper.
sounds cool
Bantu (52)
770755 2009-05-05 23:52:00 It allows you to use the Computer to control X10 from the iPhone. Still requires the computer AFAIK, but I could be mistaken. Chilling_Silence (9)
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