Home Hacking Projects for Geeks

3

1

If you live in a home that’s more than 20 years old, there’s a very good

chance that you have light switches in odd places, or that you need to cross

a room in order to turn on a light. In my case, I have to walk across a dark

and frighteningly cluttered basement, so I often end up leaving the light on

and wasting energy. If I could automate this light switch so that it turns on

when I enter the room and turns off when I leave it, I would save myself both

money and frustration.

The best way to ease your household into home automation is to start small.

This will build your confidence, and make the other people in your household

more comfortable with the idea of you replacing switches, cutting holes in walls,

and otherwise performing tasks normally done by someone who charges $150

an hour.

Figure 1-1 illustrates the project’s simple design, which includes a motion

detector and a control mechanism. The motion detector is triggered simply

by someone entering the room, and will then send a signal telling the con-

trol mechanism (an intelligent light switch) to turn on. Just as when you

manually flip a light switch, the intelligent light switch will close a circuit

and provide electricity to the light.

Automate a Light

What You Need

• An X10 wall switch

• An X10 motion detector

• Two AAA batteries

• An X10 controller (optional)

• Replacement faceplate (optional) ...