X10 is a communications "language" that allows compatible products to talk to each other using the existing electrical wiring in the home. Most X10 compatible products are very affordable and the fact that they talk over existing wires in your home means that no costly rewiring is necessary.
Installation is simple, a controller plugs (or wires) in at one location in the home and sends its control signal (on, off, dim, bright, etc.) to a module which plugs (or wires) into another location in the home.
In my case, each lamp I wish to control plugs into a
lamp module ($10). I use an $8
controller or a $20
controller to turn the lights on/off, and dim or brighten them (I have both).
To use your IR universal remote, like my MX-700, you need this
IR543 controller which receives IR signals (the previous two don't). Just plug this controller in near your TV or audio equipment and it'll pick up the signal sent from your universal remote control, like my MX-700.
In order to get the MX-700 to work with the controller I had to download a bunch of files from [url= http://www.remotecentral.com/cgi-bin/files/rcfiles.cgi?area=mx700&db=devices&br=x10&dv=lighting&fc=]RemoteCentral[which contain the codes that operate the controller from the MX-700. I then loaded the codes into the MX-700 software on my computer, and then downloaded them to the remote itself. Viola. My MX-700 controls my lights
I control my in-wall AC by using a heavy duty
220V appliance module, and my
Ideal-Lume Standard fluorescent back-light behind my HDTV, with a
120V appliance module. This is non-dimmable because you don't want to dim a fluorescent.
I don't know if it is possible to control your ceiling fan in this manner. But, if you peruse both of the web sights provided by the links above, you should get some idea if it's possible.
The basic control of the lighting is pretty simple. Getting it to work with the MX-700 is a bit more complicated. But, I've found it to be well worth the time and effort to set up.
