NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #31/NN_1992_31.iso/spool/misc/consumer/house/16176

Internet Message Format | 1992-12-30 | 3.0 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!gatech!concert!rbdc!forsyth.wsnc.org!thompson
From: [e-mail]
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Home Automation -- NOT X10
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 30 Dec 92 11:04:29 EST
References: <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]>
Organization: Forsyth County, Winston-Salem  NC
Lines: 43

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Fred Christiansen) writes:
> In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Adam Goldberg) writes:
>>Does anyone know of any company which sells home automation stuff
>>which is not X10?? Anyone?
>
> Builder magazine contains many ads for something called SmartHouse.
> Try 800-333-2411.
> --
> Fred Christiansen, Motorola, 2900 S Diablo Way, Tempe, AZ 85282  "Canajun, eh?"
> [e-mail]  ||  uunet!phx.mcd.mot.com!fredch  ||  [phone]
>   ".. I have set before you Life and Death, blessing and cursing;  therefore
>       choose Life, that both you and your children may live"  Deut 30:19
--
The trouble with SmartHouse is that it is extremely expensive, almost
impossible to retrofit into an existing house and suffers from a paucity
of devices.  Making a new home "SmartReady", i.e. installing the wiring to
support SmartHouse but not adding the devices themselves, costs in the
vicinity of $10,000.  The nature of the cabling and terminations makes it
nearly impossible to retrofit without major surgery.

There are a couple of competing technologies out there, both of which share
the problem with SmartHouse that they are not fully implemented.  CEBus is
the Consumer Electronics Bus.  Whereas SmartHouse is pushed by the home
building industry (you have to buy a new home to have SmartHouse), CEBus is
pushed by the consumer electronics industry (you have to buy all new home
appliances).  A company called Echelon (sp?) has designed a chipset that
promises great functionality at a relatively small price, but it's not a
consumer product as yet.  There are a variety of companies selling semi-
custom solutions, many or most of which employ some X10 control. I have a
brochure laying on my desk now from Honeywell describing their TotalHome
system (security, home control, intercom, etc.).  They are also using some
X10 services.  They can be reached at 800-345-6770x2039.

As far as I can determine, you have only two practical choices at this point.
You can use X10 with all its problems and have a working solution relatively
inexpensively, or you can buy a custom hardwired solution.  I haven't been
impressed by what I've seen of SmartHouse, and the others are simply ideas
that haven't been fully implemented.

____________________________________________________________________________
Robert Bruce Thompson                [e-mail]
Forsyth County MIS Department        [phone] x3012
Winston-Salem, North Carolina USA    [phone] (FAX)