Customer Reviews

Easy X10 Projects For Creating A Smart Home

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Some years back it looked like X-10 was going to revolutionize how houses were built. There would be automatic controls of lights, heating and air conditioning, fire and burglar alarms, everything was going to be automatic and computer controlled. It didn't come to pass.

Meanwhile, however, the X-10 technology has kept growing, become more standardized, more reliable, less expensive, and just overall better.

X-10 works over the standard power lines that supply electricity around your house. You don't have to run new wiring (like you did with the old low voltage systems), you just plug things into the electric sockets and they work. The standards for X-10 equipment are so good that any brand of equipment works with all the other brands.

Here in this one book is everything you need to know from first getting started to putting together an effective, reliable and easy to use system.

This is a poorly written and shallow treatment of X10 technology, most of the content is dated and corny. It is an attempt to cover both the technology and practical application of home automation, but does a poor job on both counts. There is a pointless section on how to build a box to store your remote control, and a geeky section on using motion sensors to turn on an outside waterfall or an indoor fake fireplace (does anybody really use an indoor fake fireplace?). Most of the useful information is a near verbatim copy of information from the wiring instructions supplied with X10 components at the time of purchase. This is the only book I have ever returned after purchase.

I am very much into the X-10 gadgets and have been for several years. A great book for homeowners interested in inexpensive home security.