By Mitchell Crawford
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When I proposed to Susan some 24 years ago I made a promise to her that she would never be cold again. Susan hates to be cold. Back when I proposed she lived in a house with a very small water and house heater, and both provided limited warmth. On winter mornings she never looked forward to getting out of her warm bed. So, one of the many ways I have tried to keep my promise is to automate the environmental control of our house. For years I have been using home control devices based on the X10 power line communication technology. This simple but elegant technology allows you to turn on and off powered devices in your home with a control module about the size of a pack of cigarettes that plugs into any 110 outlet. You then plug a lamp or any 110 volt device into the control module. This technology works by sending a coded signal through the existing electrical wiring in a home. There is no additional wiring necessary. The control modules listen for a signal on the electrical wiring intended for them, and then will turn the device plugged into it on or off. You manually control any X10 device by using a small keypad that also plugs into a 110 outlet. These keypads allow you to control 16 devices by turning them on, off, or in the case of lights, additionally to dim them. You can also press one key and turn on all lights that are connected to control modules. Very handy in an emergency or if you hear a thump in the night. For those lights that are controlled by a wall switch, you can replace it with an X10 wall switch. Early in my use of X10 technology only the manual control keypad was available for turning lights and appliances on and off. As technology has progressed, we now have the ability to add a computer to manage the control modules. So I have combined the X10 control technology with a computer using one of the many software packages that work with X10 technology. |
All I had to do was indicate what control modules I wanted to control, and when they were to turn on or off. Now, one-half hour before we get out of bed in the morning, the computer signals the heater control module to turn the heater on to warm the house. One half hour before we typically go to bed the computer notifies the controller for the electric blanket to turn on, so we always crawl into a nice warm bed. A little after sunset the computer turns on selected lights in the house, and the front yard lights. After we are in bed the computer dims the hallway lights so they provide nightlight brightness. On Mondays through Fridays the computer turns the hallway lights up to full brightness at morning alarm time, and it also turns the front yard lights on so I can see where the morning newspaper landed. A little after sunrise the computer turns all lights off. I also have the computer turn on and off our Christmas lights during the holiday season, and turn room stereos on and off. My friend Norman has used X10 technology to press a button by the side of his bed to start coffee brewing when he wakes up each morning. As he cycled through girlfriends they all thought it was a bit frivolous at first, but each one came to love and expect the ready coffee courtesy of X10 technology, and installed the technology in their home. Both Radio Shack and Fry’s Electronics sell X10 products. You can learn more about this technology at http://www. interact plus .com/oyw_x10.htm. Have an idea, comment or question? You can e-mail me with your questions, comments or ideas for future columns at mlcrawford @sandimasnews.com. In addition, visit the official City of San Dimas Web site at www.cityofsandimas.com and the San Dimas Chamber of Commerce Web site at san dimaschamber.com. |