Leviton H.A. & Trace SW compatibility [RE-wrenches]

[Jeff Yago]

When I built my 3,400 sq.ft. solar pv home (Featured in HomePower
Issue #50)in 1994 I wanted major automation controls.  At that time
there was not much available out there so I had to do lots of custom
wiring.  Later, newer products like Leviton Home Automation equipment
came out which I added or replaced older equipment.

I have 58 "points" of control including greenhouse watering system,
interior and exterior lights, HVAC equipment, appliance outlets, whole
house sound system, speakers in 9 rooms.  Everything is controlled
from any of 10 phones in the house and a wireless remote in each car.
We can call house while away and enter codes to reset wall thermostat
or water flowers, etc.

Advice - I would NOT combine with inverter system if I had to do it
all over again although it works fine - now:

1.  Initial system was on two Trace 2624 inverters(modified sine wave)
and our X-10 exterior motion controlled lights caught fire!!

2.  EVERY X-10 wall switch in the house were HOT to the touch through
the plastic covers and consuming lots of energy too. (also potential
fire hazard)

3. When we replaced inverters with SW4024 sine wave inverter, most of
the overheating problems went away and no more smoke!!  However,  many
if not most of the X-10 products are made in China and at two quality
levels.  Do NOT buy the X-10 remote control products from Radio Shack
or Lowes.  Most of these wall switches and outlets sell for around
$12.00 to $15.00 and they are a waste of money.  Most in this price
range use a solid state device for switching and it defaults to full
"on" after each power interruption (switching to generator or grid).
The devices in the $48.00 price range utilize a mechanical two
position relay that stays in its last position during a power
interruption.

4.  We have "noise" problems that makes contact very difficult across
inverter.  I.E. loads on AC grid side cir. bkr. panel of inverter
"hearing" X-10 signals from devices on downstream side of inverter.

5.  In closing, the expensive high quality X-10 equipment will work
with a sine wave inverter, but each device has a standby loss of about
1 to 2 watts each.  My advise - tie a string to your light switch and
forget the remote controls!

Jeff Yago


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