Monthly Archives: September 2013

Check out Amazon’s Home Automation Department for project ideas

There’s no question that Home Automation is becoming more and more mainstream; big players like Comcast and Verizon are getting in on the action with their own solutions, and with countless technologies on the market it’s tough to keep up.

Posted by Matt Chiste
September 27

Get notified when your mail is delivered with TriggerLinc

We’ve looked at using the Insteon TriggerLinc with the included magnet to detect when doors are opened or closed, but a lesser-known fact of the TriggerLinc is that if you open it up, you can add a wire with your

Posted by Matt Chiste
September 24

Get a text message with a picture of who rang your doorbell

For those of you that follow this blog, you’ll see things are starting to come together now. We’ve discussed the powerful ISY994i at length, covered some programming concepts, installed some security cameras, added our doorbell to our Insteon network, and

Posted by Matt Chiste
September 21

Programming your Insteon thermostat with the ISY-994i

When we talked about the Insteon-controlled thermostat a while back, I mentioned not to bother with a 7-day programmable unit because you’ll be doing all your programming through the ISY-994i. For those of you that may already have a (non-Insteon)

Posted by Matt Chiste
September 17

Save money and energy by starting with a home energy audit

Months ago I got a somewhat “junk mail”-looking thing from LEAP (Local Energy Alliance Program), a non-profit home energy resource that “works with local government and utilities to help homeowners lower their bills and save money”. They promised a $250

Posted by Matt Chiste
September 14

Get alerted to water leaks through your Insteon system

Let’s heap another Insteon Sensing Device on our growing collection of Insteon devices: the Insteon Water Leak Sensor. It’s a simple, (relatively) inexpensive one-trick pony that does what it does pretty well: detect whether it’s sitting in water and triggering

Posted by Matt Chiste
September 11

Insteon-Integrated Smoke Detector

We’ve covered Insteon devices that allow you to control things in your home, such as lights and door locks, and we’ve covered devices that allow you to sense things in your home such as motion sensors and doorbell buttons. Today’s

Posted by Matt Chiste
September 7
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