My attic shook slightly in the wee hours of this morning – I thought someone has fallen down the stairs but a friend of mine just asked me if I felt a quake, and he’s in North Yorkshire.

So, my first earthquake experience and I didn’t think it was an earthquake!

As some people will know, I bought a computer with go-faster stripes on ebay.

As you might know from my blog, I’m off to Cambodia on 1st March.

It turns out my computer is being made to order (I thought it was a grade-A unwanted over-ordered stock).

It’s going to be in my house on 3rd March. Gagh! At least I can take some comfort in that it will be brand spanking new with that new-smell

Your Order Information
Customer Number: 987654328765438765432876543876543876543287654328765
Order Number: 1243920450234897409856573049871230489740981237540184375

Further Information
Order Date: 20/02/2008
Estimated Delivery Date (on or before this date): 03/03/2008

Pre-Production, Phase 2 of 5 as of 20/02/2008

I’ve been wanting to automate some things in our house, such as lighting. The X10 home automation solution is comprehensive and much more expensive, but it’s not really for a novice like me.

I spotted Byron’s HomeEasy system in B&Q (it’s only available there) and brought a few kits:

2x 3-socket set with remote controls £20 each.
2x switch modules* £14 each.
1x wall switch* £20 each.
1x outdoor dual switch remote control device £17 each.
1x PIR heat sensor remote control £15 each. (3 AA batteries required, not included, not stated on packaging)
1x HomeEasy Booster £15 each. (2 AA batteries required, not included, not stated on packaging)

All the above are completely wireless with the exception of the switch modules and wall switch units (suffixed with an asterisk*). These two exceptions does require fiddling with the electrical wires and if you are not comfortable or in doubt, don’t do it).

First off, the easiest thing to do is using the socket set with remote controls. You can plug anything in as long it doesn’t exceed the total rated load. I use it for the floor lamps, so instead of going to the edge of the room and switching them all on, I can switch all of them on or off, or individually, with the supplied remote control. It is easy and foolproof to set the remote control to your heart’s content.

The best thing about the remote control is that it uses radio for communication, rather than infra-red, so you don’t even have to be in the room to switch whatever device you want on or off.

For the environmentally conscious among you, use these remote controlled sockets on things that have standby features such as TV, VCR/DVD player, Radio and Computers. You’ll save about 10 watts at a minimum, the socket device only consume 3 watts. The cost of these remote controlled unit is paid for through electricity savings in less than a year easily! You can see their StandBye adverts showing the benefits, so it is worth doing since it’s so easy to switch on/off devices that normally be left on.

The PIR remote control sensor works like any other PIR-based security sensor device, except you don’t have any wires, and switches on/off any other HomeEasy device. So, you could have it switch on the outdoor flood light that is wired to a remote switch module, or to switch on a television connected to a remote socket! This is where you can really use your imagination. If you buy this, you need THREE AAA batteries, it’s not supplied and it doesn’t say on the packaging that it is needed.

Personally I use it for the front door, as I’m deaf and cannot hear the doorbell, and it switches on the ceiling lights in my room and other devices around the house to alert me when someone approaches the door. For me, it means no more waiting by the door watching the day go by waiting for a parcel to arrive.

The outdoor double switch unit is not what it appears to be. It is just a remote control. That’s it. It doesn’t actually physically switch anything on or off – so if you get this thinking it will wire up to an outdoor device, this is not the product, get the switch module instead.

So, with this surprise, I decided to put a remote switch module on the wall switch for the outdoor lamps and have the double switch switch the outdoor lamps on wirelessly. As it is a double switch, the second switch switches on the lights in the conservatory. Like the HomeEasy remote controls, this comes supplied with a largish button battery. (Unfortunately I broke one of the 2 plastic switches in taking it apart to programme it, as you can see in the picture above).

The wall socket switch was located just too far out of range for the garden light switch receiver unit (its within 30m but there’s a fair amount of bricks and glassworks between the devices, so a HomeEasy booster unit was placed in between in the conservatory. You need to programme the booster to accept the remote control signal and relay it on. This does sound daft, until you read the instructions (the paper instructions was hidden in the battery compartment which is locked in place by no less than 8 tiny screws! Presumably 8 screws keeps it waterproof for use outdoors).

The instructions stated that if the remote control signal or booster reach the receiver unit and the booster or remote control signal reaches the unit as well. then the receiver unit (if it has the ability to do so), goes into a dimming cycle. This proved frustrating as my wall switch remote was just sometimes within range (I guess temperatures/humidity/washing on the line are variable into play). So if you need a booster, make sure the remote control or switch is well out of the way of the receiving unit. I think this booster could have been designed a whole lot better!

Another switch module was used to control the lounge ceiling lamps, and was put in behind the wall switch. The switch module still allow the use of the wall switch so it doesn’t become redundant. This one will require a knowledge of mains electricity as you need to unwire and re-wire a wall switch with the module – if in doubt, consult a qualified electrician.

A word of caution – these switch modules are only rated at 210 watts. So if you have fancy ceiling light arrays like a chandelier, check the wattage of each bulb and work out the total wattage, if it’s over 210W, then it’s too much. The lights in my lounge totalled 240 watts (six bulbs of 40 watts each) and the module was noticeably warmer after just a few minutes. I simply removed a 40W bulb to bring the load down to a safe 200 watts.

The switch module is a dimmer unit as well as an on/off. So while I had one for the garden lights, I had intentions to use the other switch module for the fountain, but I didn’t want to burn the fountain motor out when the dimmer activates, which can very easily be accidentally pressed. Instead, the other switch module was used for the outdoor lights. These were all boxed in an enclosed waterproofed outdoor electrical junction/switch.

The wiring instructions is slightly misleading – the second wiring diagram is actually a mirror-reverse drawing of the first one, and the two wires for switched live and live is depicted the wrong way round if you were to look at the unit output compared to what reality is. Be-careful here!

The wall socket switch – see below, which is now at an outrageous price, is not worth the extra cost in my opinion, and you’d be better off going for the above switch module instead. It performs an identical role, except it physically replaces the wall switch with a touch-sensitive switch, and has a (annoying) blue LED light in the switch when it is off. I masked this over with some tape as this is used in my bedroom and it’s bright enough to disturb my sleep. Again, it can be used as a dimmer. Also, you need some knowledge about wiring up switches as it replaces an actual wall switch – consult a qualified electrician if in doubt.

I have not tried the switch module with a 2-way switch system (examples like two switches for same light by the stairs) and the wall switch with the blue LED was tried in such a set up – in vain. It’s a bit difficult to explain, but if you try this on such a system, the second switch will become redundant (unusable).

It’s a great piece of kit, and will work pretty much in any scenario provided the load does not exceed the HomeEasy devices.

There are are some negative points that I’ve picked up and the manufacturer would be wise to take heed:

1) Improve the packaging – the information on the package can be misleading or even plain wrong. For the customers, check carefully at the whole packaging to give you an overview of what it does, don’t rely on one fact on the system. It should also state that it needs batteries (PIR sensor, range booster).

2) The dimmer function on the switches and switch modules should have an on/off switch in the unit so that it can power devices like energy saving bulbs and TVs, fountains, chargers. The cheaper plug sockets are not dimmers, but there are dimmer plug sockets available in the range.

3) Remove or at least the option to turn off the annoying LEDs on the wall plug sockets and light switches.

4) The switch module failed after 4 days in operation. This was used for the outside system, and the load never went above 100 watts. I can only surmise it’s either a faulty unit, or it doesn’t like -8c overnight temperatures. The symptom of the fault was that the lights remained on all the time, neither the remote control nor the manual switch would respond.

5) The range booster – 8 screws for a battery compartment?! And if two signals are sent to the receiving unit, then the receiving unit goes into a dimming cycle (if it’s from the dimmable range). This is ridiculous, and time could have been spent on altering the booster unit’s radio communications so that when a receiver unit receives it, it knows to ignore any other communications for a few seconds, thus eliminating this issue. Or if it receives the modified booster signal after a remote control signal, it can learn to ignore it as it just received a signal a few seconds earlier. Surely it’s not that difficult?

All in all, it’s a great way to automate aspects of your home (just be wary about range and avoid the booster if you can). There are other equipment in the Home Easy range such as remote door unlock/locks which I haven’t tried and have no need for.

The forums, run by the company, indicates there will be a PC control unit which will allow you to control these devices via your computer (hopefully I can switch on stuff in my house in the UK while I’m at work in Cambodia, which will be great from a security point of view!).

Future developments by the company include a master unit which can respond to text message commands to control devices in the house, or even send text messages to your mobile. Exciting stuff!

After a 3.5-month holiday, rudely interrupted by a 2-week work period over Christmas on the Mediterranean coast of Libya, I’m heading back into the world of work in March.

The place? Cambodia. Six weeks in the sun and humidity

I’ll be travelling via Bangok to Phnom Penh from London with Thailand Airways, then I think it’s overland to Battambang in western Cambodia. A long commute indeed. I was hoping to fly with Singapore Airlines from London to Phnom Penh via Singapore on their new A380 plane but maybe next time!

No doubt I will be uploading plenty of photos.