Anyone use home automation?

[Rubes]

I could've sworn I asked this here a while back, but search returned nothing. Sucks getting old.

 

Anyhoo, wondering if any of you out there use any home automation products. I know X10 has been around forever and has its issues, but some of the newer ones like INSTEON and Z-wave might be more reliable. Then there are isolated, wifi-enabled switches like the Belkin Wemo if all you need is a few lights automated.

 

I'd like to get my house (mostly lights) on a schedule that I can control from computer or smart phone, but I wanted to see if anyone has good or bad experiences with any of these products.

[truth on hold]

It's been around for years and not really gone anywhere. But I expect that to change soon with the replacement of handheld controller w/ mobile devices. When a large number of devices in the home have mobile controllers (TV, HVAC, Refrigerator, Microwave, etc) might as well just link them together on one mobile console, and add switches for other mechanical items like drapes and locks

Edited February 13, 2013 by Joe_the_6_pack

[Fezmid]

I've done some with X10, but it's pretty finicky. (I had a bunch of lights controlled from a central server; when going on vacation, I could write crontabs to turn various lights on and off to simulate turning off the lights in the living room, going up the stairs, hanging out in the office a big, turning those off, going to the bedroom, before turning those off). Worked pretty well most of the time, but the server required a serial port, and when it died, the replacement didn't have serial, so I ditched it.

 

Definitely interested in doing more of this myself at some point, and I've heard good things about INSTEON, but no first hand experience.