I've seen a little chatter here and there about X10 devices. Everyone who has been in home automation for more than 10 years has probably had X10 at one time or another. There are millions (literally) of x10 devices still sitting around in closets, garages and dust bins. Some of the PLC devices were very handy and reliable.
So why I'm writing this is to inquire of the engineers and tinkerers here what exactly would be involved in adding x10 capability to the Hubitat? I know you would need to build a zigbee or Zwave to PLC interface, but what else? My last X10 controller was a Homevision Pro. About the time I was getting interested in zwave and the Homeseer controller Homevision did release a method to control Zwave with their controller. I had already jumped to the Homeseer family and so I don't know how well that went over. Anyway I would think that a hardware device to permit Hubitat to control PLC devices would get a lot of attention and sales.
Of course X10 had it's problems with signal suckers, filters, phase couplers, etc. But when I left X10 I had probably a 99.5% functional system.
So am I just an old duffer that is trying to revive a dead product line, or do you feel there could actually be some interest in this? And yes, I do have bins full of X10 stuff still in original boxes, just like I have boxes of Zigbee and Zwave products.
Really wish my Insteon PLM could just plug into the USB port of my Hubitat and simply work to control X10, the way it did connected to my old Vera Plus! Forgot model number...
My evolutionary path is:
I put my whole X10 menagerie on ebay hours after going to a Wink. I put my Wink on eBay hours after switching to SmartThings. I put my SmartThings on eBay hours after switching to Hubitat.
I hope I am done evolving.
Been using X10 since late 70s when it was BSR. Have my 2800sq. house running mostly on Homevision now. At this time I have switched a few things over to Hubitat from Homevision.
Thought I would switch\upgrade to Hubitat and Z-Wave . But after 6 months with the Hubitat I find that my Homevision is much more flexable, easier to program and more reliable.
The main reason for switching to Hubitat is it doesn't need internet connectivity .
I saw the question from the OP and thought, "Well, I've sure got a bunch of X-10 stuff still laying around." Then I thought, "I really need to take that stuff to a recycling station."
Please don't bring back X-10 there was nothing worse that having some random lighting events that you couldn't explain and to make things worse how many companies like SmartHome would sell the $70 dollar switches with known bugs and not do anything to fix them (PreSet Dim and Scene commands come to mind). I did try to preserve my X10 with the Vera integration and after say 60 days of coding and modeling in LUA I said it wasn't worth it and started to buy Z-Wave switches and ZigBee sensors.
For basic controls X-10 was great. I had my mom's basement all setup for lighting from one switch location and it worked flawlessly. It was the expanded commands and buggy devices and the hopping of commands between legs of power for me that killed it.
I beg to differ. How about a Powerhorn remote siren randomly going off at 110 decibels while it is screwed into an outlet, so you're scrambling to find the breaker to turn it off ......
@aaiyar it's somehow comforting to know I'm not the only person who's had an X-10 siren go off for no reason at all in the middle of the night. That's the same night I disconnected the Insteon/X10 PLM module from the back of my Vera Plus, and added it to the two drawers-ful of X10 equipment.
Okay, guys, you've convinced me. Sell all X10 on eBay and be done with it!
I sold mine about 7-8 years ago - whenever Wink first came out. Sold all to a guy. Shipping ate up much of to price. Here is a similar one to what I sold as far as device count.
I had been running x-10 for about the same length of time. Some time into X-10 I found a controller called Ocelot it was a box with a Z80 µP and used a input similar in concept to Rule Machine but much simpler and faster. It had a built it battery backed up RTC. No internet connection.
The Ocelot was hard rock stable. Basically would go years without any hiccup. What drove me away was the lack of return communications from the modules. BYW the controller was stable but the X-10 boxes were not.
I have a load of X10 bits but none in use. I hope I never see them again.
I also have a HomeVision Pro controller still in daily use and a couple 'spare'. Very reliable and I use it for scheduling and some logic. It handles C-Bus lighting rather than X10 now.
My favorite was coming home to my garage door being open every now and then. Yeah, risky implementation...and I wouldn't have set that up if it weren't for my Visonic alarm system tempting me by having an X10 interface that allowed for SMS commands (cellular) to be sent to the alarm system to operate some number of X10 devices.
I loved the honkin big 240V cross-panel circuit X10 signal repeater that made my drier plug stick out an extra 2" or so. As I recall that thing wasn't cheap...but it fixed some of the problems getting signal around the house.
Ha, yep! I actually built my own phase bridge, out of a 220V male plug and some carefully soldered components, using a circuit diagram I'd found on the very early Interwebs.
Worked a charm! Saved me the $$$ from buying a repeater!
I don't trust ANYTHING to open or close my garage door. Had an aux relay on my Elk M1G alarm system set to open the garage door when a button was pressed on my fob. Came home once to an open door and disabled it and won't trust it again. Some things are better left not automated.
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