Teken

Are sellers really asking more for the RPi 3 considering its supposed to be $35.00 for either one?!?

Yes, place them where they make sense and blend into the decor. Its easy to get caught up using lots of KPL's but sometimes it looks really busy and kinda ghetto. Since you have nine switches that need replacing due to the obvious Insteon linking requirement. Stand in the room and where each switch is and consider what you would like to control in the future. Taking the time now to plan ahead and understanding the small investment now will reap huge rewards down the road for you. Again, if finances are tight just do one room at a time until these nice to haves are finally completed. Very few people have gone balls out and replaced their entire home of every dumb switch / outlet. It took me three passes over the years even though I could have replaced everything in my home at once. But, the reality was I knew with 100% some areas simply did not require that kind of investment or costs. Rarely used if ever outlets made no sense in replacing with a smart outlet that was going to sit there and be wasted. Also back in the day the energy consumption of the Insteon devices were pretty high. Imagine a steady 100 watts which you have no control over sucking down the power in your home 24.7.365. For me I simply couldn't allow or accept 150 plus watts stuck to my home I had no control over which cost me money. Given the advancement in better power supplies and components most of the Insteon line up has done better in this area. But its still an area people need to consider along with liabilities . . . Do not replace any room, floor, zone, with a smart switch or outlet that is mission critical. As the results could be extremely costly and deadly if life and safety devices are attached. A perfect example is don't place a smart outlet on a fridge, sump, HVAC system . . .

Trust me most of us know this pain of *What the hell - I need to buy more switches* ?!?! LOL . . . Keep in mind this may not sound financially sound or even make sense when I say this. But, before you drop any money on the single switch linc relay / dimmers. I want you to consider how you can extend the control and function of your beautiful home now and into the future. Consider investing some extra money into KPL dimmers - The reason for this is it will allow you to control 5 to 8 different loads or devices virtually. I can't begin to tell you how many times I've thanked Smartlabs for coming out in solving the ability to control another remote load in the home! Keeping in mind the KPL can be assigned to do other things besides turn on a load / device. It can be used to control Sonos, Shades, Fans, GDO etc. NOTE: Best practices before you move forward is to do the following. Take photo's of all the new gear so you know the MAC code, production date, hardware revision. Hard reset all devices to ensure they are in a OEM state which will ensure no ghost links and programming are present. Go find a old lamp cord and cut off the end so you can add, test, link, at the kitchen table. This will save lots of standing and back ache when you have trouble shooting or lots of programming to do. It will also save you tons of time when you need to do a *Replace With* because a device failed.

I agree once you purchase five custom KPL kits the entire parts list for the laser unit is so over paid for its not even funny. Even if you bought three custom KPL's kits from SH that's $150.00 before shipping and exchange rate for people like me. So if you break it down using the three KPL kits it comes out to be something really stupid like $241.36 CDN! Yeah, pretty sure investing under $125.00 USD is the future moving forward for this guy!

Jon, The tape is only used for masking to protect the surface. The fill in is by the paint you can purchase from pretty much any hobby shop.

Yes, the rooms that have the 3/4 ways switches will be *virtually* linked together via Insteon. You will cap off the traveler wires in those existing walls. Best practice is to also take lots of photos and mark the wires for future use and trouble shooting. Also, always measure twice all wires to ensure the breaker you turned off is indeed the correct one. 120 VAC can kill a person given the right conditions . . . Ideally you should follow the two man rule having your GF / Wife at the ready to assist.

Marcin, Looking forward to the step by step guide and photo's. I don't think you fully realize the fire storm you have created with this project you started! LOL . . . I fully realize there may be a larger investment in the tools and supplies for the privilege of making ones own custom KPL keys. But given the massive amount of money Smarthome wants for just 6-8 keys at $50.00 a set. The initial cost will be paid back in short order over time. This may also push Smarthome to rethink the custom KPL keys too once the news comes out and the orders stop coming in! Ha . . . On Point: Is there a cheaper material available for the laser tape? It seems like a lot of money for such a product.

Hello Marcin, Can you provide some pictures of the card stock and how it was positioned to hold the KPL keys. Also, does the tray have any kind of center (home) position? Does the laser have any kind of very low setting like a flash light mode to show where the pointer is? Lastly, can the power output be adjusted from 0-500 mW?

I believe the how to section would be perfect! Also could you offer a little more detail and photos about positioning of the keys and how it was held down? Did it simply just sit there? Also was there any reason you purchased the open cage style laser vs the closed four corner style? ========================= The highest calling in life is to serve ones country faithfully - Teach others what can be.

Marcin, First you're an inspiration for an alternative and professional looking KPL keys! Next, may I humbly ask you create a dedicated thread and link this one so others can follow your project. It will ensure the topic is on point and offers the most useful information for all. Please ensure you use the search terms so others can find it in the future like: Custom KPL, etc Thank You!

Pretty sure you have 64 other things in your home consuming more electricity than that 300-500 mW laser ever will. Ha . . .

It uses a laser so nothing to run out besides the money in your wallet to pay for the electricity.

I don't know if anyone has referenced this thread or others but it should be relayed to the Amazon Echo development team. I know even (IF) they were simply lurking they would glean so much information from active users who only wish to see their product grow. Doing so will not only speed up their development but also ensure their market lead and dominance in the voice command sector. So far, Amazon has shown many of us they are listening and wanting to develop a leading edge voice platform.

LOL, I have no words . . . For the record my Echo is not in an ideal location on my communications desk. As it sits in the corner and the other side of the wall is my refrigerator and when the compressor kicks in its like listening to a freaking bulldozer! Regardless, Alexa pretty much hears me 90% of the time even with the huge ambient noise . . . I believe with the addition of a few Dots it won't really matter when they are in the living room, basement, and in the master bedroom.

Accd, That's great to know but will set my expectations lower (IF) and when I can purchase a Dot. For me its setting proper expectations in those things I use. When the Echo arrived a few months back I wasn't really expecting the volume and sound to be anything too stellar. But given its price and size it was very decent for its intended back ground music.

I've read of several people doing exactly what you asked vs others made the ISY a primary instead of a secondary controller. The obvious power comes from the 994 Series Controllers conditional logic which very few systems offer. What does the alarm panel offer in terms of lighting control now? Also, does it support all Z-Wave devices from all the major vendors? I ask because reading some of the other forums it seems some of these companies restrict the Z-Wave hardware to only their specific brand. Which goes against the Z-Wave alliance guidelines . . .

I'm going to offer my feed back from a security and compliance stand point and you will have to decide what suites your lifestyle, and current risk(s). 1. Security Alarm System: Should always operate in a stand alone mode that does not allow none UL / cUL compliant devices to have command and control of the system. Since most users here are consumers and often put convenience over compliance this is up to you. 2. You can make either device a primary vs secondary and depends upon your use case and which hardware device offers the most features and options to suite your needs.

OK, OK, maybe a Ugo? [emoji23][emoji16]

Junky and others that have the Dot now plugged into a sound system. Some reviews indicated that the device outputs a slight noise from a hiss to random back ground hum. Can anyone who has one comment on this?

Oh yeah I'm the guy selling it - Here comes that new Lamborghini!

You bunch of nagative Nancies! [emoji38][emoji41][emoji4]

All I got to say is I love the enterprising soul who came out with the idea. Good on him for thinking of a way to make some money while offering something usable for those of us that have a Echo. I really can't fault the guy for the price given I am sure these are small runs and the reality is its a solid piece of metal and not some cheap aszz plastic that I am sure someone will come out with. I can't really hate to be honest . . .

Stu, That really does make sense the way you explained it. Perhaps I already succumbed to the fact I would always have to call out a specific room / appliance instead of being able to say turn on the lights in a specific room. I agree its more natural and human like to be (in) the room and simply say: Alexa turn on the light, fan, etc opposed to saying turn on the master bedroom light which gets pretty old quick. Also trying to teach others to do the very same is a little painful for those who don't know the syntax or expected use.

Could you offer a specific use case where your idea would be used? As I am just a little unclear on some of the pro's / con's with having multiple Echo, Dot, Tap in one home. Unless you mean to have the ability to control other remote sites? Like a office, second home, customer site etc?

Good catch that is one situation that causes lots of head scratching from time to time. Also, OP best practices is to hard reset the device first before you enroll the device to the network. Anytime I am doing a replacement of a device I always hard wire it to a spare extension cord. This lets me do all of the programming and testing at the bench and not have to worry about standing in some random place in the home. Once the device is hard reset I do the replace with and let the system do its job. Once the replace with is completed you will notice the *Test* unit will have disappeared from the device tree, this is normal. After that process is done I test the new unit in the comfort of my test bench and if all is well I install it to its final location. Ensure you properly secure all wires using linesmen pliers or similar. Do not simply use the wire nut (Marrette) to secure the copper wiring . . .