Blog Archives

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

Insteon-Controlled Thermostat

While I was installing my home command center, I also took the opportunity to replace my existing thermostat with an Insteon Thermostat (well, technically a slightly older-looking model). Wiring these guys up is pretty straight-forward: you simply pop the cover

Posted by Matt Chiste
July 21

Gather useful energy consumption stats with the eMonitor

As you’re building your Insteon-enabled Automated Home, you may start developing an interest in other things related to a Smart Home, such as power consumption. When I got this energy monitoring bug, I did some research and found the eMonitor

Posted by Matt Chiste
July 15

K.I.S.S. – don’t automate what you don’t have to

The K.I.S.S. Principle is pretty straightforward: Keep it simple, stupid. While it may be tempting to completely automate everything in your home, sometimes keeping it simple just makes more sense. For example, we’ve covered the $30 Insteon 8-watt light bulb,

Posted by Matt Chiste
June 18

Insteon 8-watt light bulb

We’ll spend some time on this blog on LED lights and Green Energy, but now that you’ve been introduced to the ISY-994i, set up synching with an ApplianceLinc, selected your Insteon switch types, and installed a new Insteon switch, let’s

Posted by Matt Chiste
June 16
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