Controllable light switches for several rooms

nsysblh · Post by **nsysblh** » Mon Jan 26, 2004 3:50 pm

Now that everything else is working well, I want to be able to turn the lights off and on in several rooms via remote control (mostly 8810W)

I found this: http://www.smarthome.com/2035.html but then I wondered if an X10 ir converter and X10 light switches wouldn't be just as easy.

Anyone have their lights controlled by remote? Which way did you go?

I have "dedicated" remotes for each room, so each one would only need to be programmed for the room it is in.

Carwarr · Post by **Carwarr** » Mon Jan 26, 2004 4:14 pm

With your setup, I would just get the IR543's for each room that will take your IR commands from your remotes and convert them to X10 commands on the power line. You would need one IR543 for each room you want to be able to point the remote at to control it.

You can find the IR543's HERE about half way down the page.

jon_armstrong · Post by **jon_armstrong** » Mon Jan 26, 2004 4:34 pm

I agree and the x10 solution is much more flexible. You can also control lamp modules and a variety of other x10 gear.

I would be concerned whether the IR Wall switch form SmartHome would retain the learned command in memory after a prolonged power failure.

nsysblh · Post by **nsysblh** » Mon Jan 26, 2004 4:42 pm

Carwarr wrote:With your setup, I would just get the IR543's for each room that will take your IR commands from your remotes and convert them to X10 commands on the power line. You would need one IR543 for each room you want to be able to point the remote at to control it.

You can find the IR543's HERE about half way down the page.

I just found the IR543 on the X10 site. So I am headed in the right direction. I'll do some more research on the X10 side of things.

Thanks for the responses. This is the best place to come for answers.

I wonder if I'll be buying IR blinds next...

nsysblh · Post by **nsysblh** » Sun Feb 01, 2004 1:42 pm

Aganst all sanity, I found an IR light dimmer at Home Depot mfg by Commercial Electric of Atlanta GA. Model #724-398. It was only $20, so I went for it as a trial.

The remote has 2 buttons and the switch has a selector for button 1 and 2 (so you can have 2 switches within IR range)

I captured the signals. Neither one decodes to anything.

They look way too simple. Should these be decodable, or do I need to just copy the learned signals to use them on other remotes?

The only data in IR is:

Button 1

Frequency: 38095
Sent repeatedly while key is being held:

+1680 -5090 +5040 -1730 +5040 -1730 +5040 -1730 +5040 -1730 +5040 -1730 +5040 -1730 +5040 -109830

Button 2

Frequency: 38095
Sent repeatedly while key is being held:

+5040 -1730 +1680 -5090 +5040 -1730 +5040 -1730 +5040 -1730 +5040 -1730 +5040 -1730 +5040 -109830

Carwarr · Post by **Carwarr** » Sun Feb 01, 2004 1:47 pm

The guys here already figured that one out. Read this thread.

http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=995

Mitch

Post by **The Robman** » Sun Feb 01, 2004 2:25 pm

Here's a KM file for it: Commercial_Electric_dimmer_switch.txt

nsysblh · Post by **nsysblh** » Sun Feb 01, 2004 3:18 pm

Looks like this was all figured out several weeks ago. Thanks for the references.

I'll post back after I use it for a while.

First impressions:

I like the idea of single button control vs. the X10 method of device selection and then on/off. I also like the light toggle instead of dedicated on and off. I realize there are ways to make the X10 system work off single button presses, but this system is a bit simpler right out of the box. I'm not looking for "mood" settings, just lights on / lights off.

There is an override for off under the push panel, so you can disable the lights for changing bulbs or when you leave for a while.

There is a small red led that lets you know it is working, but it is so far in the switch body that you have to strain to see it.

The dimming functions are about as weird as any other dimmer like this. Sometimes it seems to dim to the minimum setting if you hold the button too long. It won't endlessly cycle if the button gets stuck, it goes to the highest or lowest setting and stays there.

The IR control works ok. Since the receiver is on the wall at switch level, it isn't perfect, but seems to do the job.

Hooking it up is easy. Apparently the red/black wires aren't specific as to which should be live all the time. The green wire goes to the safety ground. Since the power is derrived from the light circuit, using this for 3 or 4-way would require some knowledge of how this works to keep it powered under all circumstances. In other words, it probably can't easily be done.

The "soft off" and "soft on" take a few seconds to turn on or off the light. Since I keep blowing bulbs, this may be a good thing as opposed to the normal on / off cycle of a real switch.

Carwarr · Post by **Carwarr** » Sun Feb 01, 2004 6:37 pm

nsysblh wrote:Hooking it up is easy. Apparently the red/black wires aren't specific as to which should be live all the time. The green wire goes to the safety ground. Since the power is derrived from the light circuit, using this for 3 or 4-way would require some knowledge of how this works to keep it powered under all circumstances. In other words, it probably can't easily be done.

You are correct about using it on a 3 or 4 way setup. It would be possible, but you would need to find the "source" 3 way switch and you would have to keep the other switches in the right position to make it work. I have been going to use this switch with my 4 way circuit but just have not dug into the wiring enough and then someone would flip one of the other switches and it would stop everything from working anyway. I do use X-10 stuff too but you really need to buy 3 way x-10 switches to make it work properly and I didn't want to spend money on that. Why home builders had to go all complex and make mine a 4 way with 2 switches about 2 feet away from each other and not just a much simpler 3 way circuit. I guess they just wanted to make it more confusing for the layman!

Good Luck.
Mitch