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I have seen a lot of articles and discussion (especially recently) regarding lowering energy usage and costs. This type of conservation is beneficial to the environment and our pocket books. However, I’m surprised at the absence of discussion of Home Automation in these energy-saving articles. Granted some home automation systems are complicated and expensive to install, especially in existing builds. However, X10 home automation is relatively simple and easy, even for a non-techie, and it can be relatively inexpensive compared to some of the other energy saving products discussed (like these energy saving power strips for example!)  Plus you can do some really cool stuff, while saving energy at the same time. What is X10 Home Automation?

X10 is a system used to automate your home.  Automating your home is exactly what it sounds like… making appliances and lights and other products you use in your home work in an automatic matter.  Home automation can be complicated, elaborate and expensive, but the basic idea is to make interacting with our stuff more of an automatic process.  

X10 allows you to automate your existing home using the existing power outlets and light fixtures and wiring.  You don’t need to tear out any walls or hire an electrician or even be particularly tech savvy.  You just need to be able to unplug your appliances and lights, plug them into a little X10 box, and plug that box into the wall.  

How Does It Work

Technology wise, I have no idea.  It has something to do with RF feeds or something.

However, the basic idea is that you can control your lamps and other electronics (appliances, etc.) via remote controls and even your desktop computer.  This allows you to do many things.  You can use your computer to set up a process which automatically turns appliances and lights on or off at various times of day.  You can press a button on a remote next to your bed and cut power to certain lamps and appliances you select, or even all of the lamps and appliances in your home if you so desire.  There is a general consensus that many appliances use power even when not in use, unless you unplug them.  X10 makes that “unplugging” as simple as pressing a button.  X10 also turns every light into a dimming light, which in-and-of-itself saves you money.  

The nice thing about an X10 system is it can do as much or as little as you want it to.  If all you want to do is make sure every light in your house is shut off at night, you can do that. Or you can create a complex world for yourself where, for example, you press a button on your keychain to activate a routine when you pull into your garage so that music is playing, the lights are dimmed, and your microwave fires up to heat a nice cup of tea.  

The other nice thing is that you can grow this system slowly over time, so you don’t need to spend a lot of money upfront.  Also, you can definitely find deals on this stuff by shopping around, using coupons, searching the web, and using Ebay (so don’t be off-put by the prices in some of the links here… I linked for convenience to show the product, NOT to suggest you buy from these sources!)

A Basic Step-By-Step Guide

1. Buy X10 Modules.  Start with the most basic of models.  I started with these Lamp Modules pictured here (I bought them on e-bay to get the best deal, but most home automation sites including the one I have linked to here tend to be very generous with coupons if you shop around)
2. Plug your lamps into them.  In theory, you need one for each lamp, but to save a little money I used an extension cord and plugged in a few lamps in each room.  
3. Set the “Number” on the lamp module.  These are numbers that you choose on the module by turning a dial (for example all the lights in a certain room can be #1).  The key is that when you press the button for #1 on the remote, every lamp (or other item) that is plugged into a module set as #1 will respond.  
4. Get some type of remote product from the X10 site.  I like this one and I didn’t pay anything close to $44.00 for it (comparison shop and e-bay!).  When you use this remote, if you press ON for Group 1, then everything plugged into a #1 module will turn on.  If you press OFF everything plugged into a #1 module will turn off.  If you press DIM everything plugged into a #1 module will dim.  When something turns off via this remote, it turns OFF in the sense that there is no power to it at all.  Plus, this remote works anywhere in the house so if you are tucked into bed and suddenly realize you forgot to turn off the living room light (or can’t remember if you turned it off or not), just press the button for its group and press OFF (or even press ALL OFF, make sure everything is shut down for the night.  
5. Add appliance modules and plug in the appliances you want to control.  Remember, this cuts power totally so if you plug your DVR and fridge in and then turn it off, you may not be happy with the results. I’d set these as a different number from your lights, because you don’t want to “dim” power to your appliances.  
6. Use the same remote to turn the power off to your appliances.  
7. Save money and energy and make your life easier!