- Turn lights on and off to
make it look like someone's home.
- Turn TV or stereo on and
change channels to really make it look like you're
home (see note 1).
- Periodically turn ceiling
fans on to circulate the air.
- Turn lights on and
off. Have lights brighten gradually as it gets dark
outside.
- Control thermostat.
- Open/close blinds
and drapes.
- Control indoor
fans.
- Control sprinkler
system (based on amount of rainfall, soil moisture,
time of year, etc.).
- Control pool pump.
- Turn water heater
off at night, then back on before morning.
- Periodically turn
off outside lights in case they were accidentally
turned on.
- Depending on the
time, day, date, or month, announce message such as
"take out the trash tonight", "kid's
soccer practice tomorrow", "don't forget
the monthly car payment", "Kids, it's way
past your bedtime!", and "Happy birthday
honey, I love you !".
- Talk to the person
at the front door.
- Disarm the security
system to let a neighbor or repairman in. With an
electric door strike, you can even unlock the door
for them!
- Arm the security
system.
- Turn off the lights
in case you left something on (of course, this won't
be necessary if you had StarGate turn them off
before you left!).
- Change the
thermostat setting so the temperature's just right
when you get home.
- Start the hot tub.
- Control any X-10
device in the house
- Get a verbal status
report of the houses condition.
- Announce over the
whole house speaker system who is calling.
- Set up individual
answering prompts based in caller ID.
- Create a answering
machine.
- Route calls to your
cell phone or any other phone based on called ID
- When a call comes
in, mute the TV and stereo (see note1)
- If you have an
in-wall vacuum cleaning system, shut it off.
- Flash a light to
alert you to the call.
- Automatic Call
Return of last number that called (*69)
- Anonymous Call
Block (*77)
- Call Block list
(*60) (rejects calls on list)
- Speed dialing
- VIP alert (*61)
(special ring of certain numbers-via speakers)
- Special Call
Acceptance list (*64) (allows only calls on list)
- Use a variable to
count the number of calls while you're away.
- Call forwarding
(72#)
- Special call
forwarding list (*63) (forward only certain numbers)
Control
things in your Children's rooms:
- Add a PID and turn
off the light when on one is in the room.
- Slowly dim the
lights in their room when it's their bed time.
- Light the way to
the bathroom in the middle of the night.
- Control their
lights from elsewhere in the house.
- Turn the light off
when everyone leaves the house in the morning
- Plug their TV and
stereo into an X-10 outlet and shut them off when
they're not allowed to be using them (but make sure
the outlet is behind a heavy dresser so they can't
easily move the plug!).
- Automatically turn
their lights on in the morning when it's time for
school (make this happen only on school days, not
holidays).
Control events from an X-10
controller or phone by your bed:
- Arm/disarm security system.
- Change thermostat
temperature (why get out of bed?).
- Turn on all lights (in case
you think you hear a prowler). Use another button to
set the lights back where they were.
- Control certain lights.
- Turn stereo on to play music
(use X-10 commands to change station, volume, etc.).
- Light the way to the kitchen
or bathroom in the middle of the night.
- Set special
whole-house lighting scenes for different occasions.
- Start a special
whole-house mode like goodnight, Away, Home, Party,
Nap, etc.
- Turn stereo on to
play music throughout the house.
- Sound a chime to
call the family to dinner.
- Temporarily disable
chime modules and other audio sources.
- Arm/disarm security
system.
- Change thermostat
temperature.
- Close the garage
door.
- Delay the
dishwasher operation to late at night
Set up events controlled from
an infrared remote (with
optional IR-XP2):
- Control lights for a TV
remote
- Start home theater system
(control A/V equipment, projection screens, lights,
curtains, etc.).
- Automatically record your
favorite TV show (no need to program your VCR!).
- Start up the CD player in
"shuffle" mode with all the audio settings
just the way you like them.
- Change thermostat
temperature.
- Arm/disarm security system.
- Have StarGate wake you up
using the phone or speaker system
- Before it's time to get up,
adjust the thermostat and turn on the bathroom
heater.
- Slowly brighten lights and
turn TV or stereo volume slowly up when it's time to
get up.
- Slowly open the
blinds/drapes.
- Announce important messages
on speaker system.
- Turn on lights if it's dark.
- Disarm security system.
- Reset thermostat to
scheduled temperature.
- Turn on TV or stereo to your
favorite channel based on current time and day of
week.
- Using a whole-house audio
system, play sound files on your computer announcing
messages.
- Arm security system.
- Set thermostat back.
- Turn off lights (after a
delay if it's dark).
- Turn off TV, stereo, (see
note 1)etc.
- Turn off appliances (coffee
pot, curling iron, etc.).
- Close blinds and drapes.
- If you're leaving for a long
time, turn off water heater.
- Turn off lights (but leave a
few on for a minute), TV, stereo, (see note 1)etc.
- Set thermostat to sleeping
temperature.
- Arm security system.
- Close blinds/drapes in
bedroom.
- Turn on electric blanket to
warm bed.
- Check the garage door and
close it if left open.
- Disable chime modules and
other audio devices so you're not disturbed.
- Turn on all the
lights.
- Flash some outside
lights to get attention.
- Sound a
"barking dog" alarm. .
- Start the VCR (see
note 1) recording each of the video cameras (select
the camera to record based on motion sensors or the
zone which was violated, or cycle through them
recording a few seconds of each).
- Make voice
announcements. If you really want to get carried
away, if you're away from home, record a sound file
saying "Quick, grab your gun, I've got mine
loaded" and play it through a speaker in one
room, then turn on the light a few seconds later!
- Connect a modem and
have StarGate dial one or more pagers to alert you.
Don't call immediately, but wait a minute to see if
the alarm gets reset (you don't want to call if a
family member accidentally trips the alarm).
- After some time,
turn the lights off (there's no sense leaving the
lights on for a week if you're on vacation).
- Leave an
outside light on continually so that if you are
away, when you return you'll know that an alarm
occurred. Periodically turn this light on to ensure
it's on when you get there.
- Flooding from a broken water
pipe, water heater, washer, etc.
- Flooding in the basement.
- Smoke, heat, radon, carbon
monoxide, etc.
- Furnace failure or
overheating.
- Rain sensors (turn off
sprinklers and close skylights when it rains).
Use
outdoor motion sensors, and when motion is detected:
- Turn on outside
light if it's dark.
- Sound chime so you
know someone's there even before they ring the
doorbell.
- Display a video
camera picture on all the TVs in the house (see note
1).
- Record the video
camera with your VCR (see note 1).
- Have StarGate
announcing "Someone's coming" on your
whole-house audio system.
- If you're not at
home, wait 30 seconds, then turn an inside light on
(so they'll think someone's home). To be even more
convincing, turn a TV on for a few minutes (see note
1).
- Sound a
"barking dog" alarm.
- Use a variable to
count how often the motion sensor goes off or a use
flag to indicate whether it went off while you were
away.
- While you're away,
if an outdoor motion sensor in a private area (like
your backyard) triggers, turn on the sprinkler
system for a few minutes. This will help drive off
prowlers or animals.
- NOTE: You probably
don't want some of these things to happen if you're
going out the door and trigger the motion sensor,
but only when people arrive. Tie the door to a
digital input and start a 20 second timer each time
it opens. Then, when the motion sensor goes off,
you'll know that someone's probably leaving the
house, so you don't sound the chime or start the
VCR.
- Measure the outdoor
temperature and announce it over speaker system.
- Warn you when the outdoor
temperature goes outside a certain range.
- If the temperature drops
below freezing, disable the sprinkler system and
similar devices.
- Automatically switch your
thermostat between heating and cooling modes based
on the outdoor temperature.
- Control ceiling fans and
attic ventilation systems based on indoor and
outdoor temperatures.
- Use an indoor sensor to
detect a heating system failure.
- Monitor freezer and
refrigerator temperatures.
- Turn on all the
lights.
- Shut off the
heating and cooling system fans, as well as any
ceiling fans.
- Open skylights to
allow smoke to escape.
- Make a voice
announcement through the computer.
- Call neighbor house
and ask them to check your house for fire.
- Turn on outside
light after dark.
- Sound a chime
module.
- Play a message over
a whole-house audio system.
- Record the event in
the log so you can later tell when you had visitors.
- Keep StarGate
connected to your computer and you can play wave
(sound) files.
- Distribute the
audio output from the computer Input into an
auxiliary input on your whole-house stereo system.
Use your stereo to broadcast messages by switching
to this input.
- Use the relays to
route sound to different parts of the house or pool
area.
Use
indoor motion detectors, floor sensors, door
sensors, etc. to control lights, stereo, etc. as you
move around the house:
- Turn the light on
when you enter a room. This requires careful
planning because there will probably be times you
don't want the light to come on (like when someone's
asleep in the bedroom, or you're watching TV in the
family room with the lights out). This works best
for places like the garage, laundry room, closet,
etc.
- Dimly light your
way as you move around the house at night.
Nightlights plugged into X-10 outlets work well
because it's OK for them to go on to full brightness
- Have your
stereo automatically turn on the speakers in
whatever room you're in.
- Use different code
numbers and you can look at your pager and
immediately tell when the security system alarm goes
off.
- The security
system gets armed or disarmed (know immediately
when your kids get home from school!).
- An emergency
condition occurs (fire, flood, etc.).
- The temperature
goes outside a defined range (have StarGate
report the temperature so it appears on your
pager!).
- With an
alphanumeric pager, you can even display
messages!
- Setup a
button on an X-10 controller or RF remote to
dial a pager with a preset message. Then your
kids can easily page you long before they learn
to dial a phone! Also, someone who's injured and
can't reach the phone can still call for help.
- Synchronize your
bathroom lights and exhaust fan. Have a wall switch
turn the lights out immediately, then wait 5 minutes
and turn the fan off. This gives the fan time to do
it's job.
- Write to the event
log each time the security system is armed or
disarmed. You can later review the log.
- Have an indoor
nightlight come on while the garage door is open.
- Tie the doorbell
into the system. Count the number of visitors and
record the time of each.
- Program a specific
doorbell pattern to open the garage door. For
example, if you forgot your keys, five quick
presses, followed by a 3-6 second gap, followed by
three presses, could let you in the garage.
- Automate your
Christmas lights so you don't have to crawl under
the tree to plug them in.
- Automate Halloween
lights and sounds using motion sensors to create an
eerie effect.
- Automate your fish
tank.
- Add an electric
door strike and allow visitors to enter without
going to the door yourself.
- If you have an X-10
baby monitor, plug the transmitter and receiver into
appliance modules so you can turn the system on and
off.
- Tie a digital input
into a washing machine or clothes dryer (through a
relay). When the machine stops running, sound a
chime module or turn on a light. That way you can
tell when it's done even if you're elsewhere in the
house.
- Control everything
from your computer.
Note 1: These
items or anything requiring infrared will require the
optional IR-XP2
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