HT Lighting?? (1 Viewer)

[Matthew Perry]

Hey

Just wanted some input on home theater lighting. My HT room will be approx. 24' Long x 9.5' Wide.

I am leaning towards nice pot lights on dimmer's and a seprate dimmer for pot lights above the RPTV and on either side where we have built in rack and shelves on either side of the RPTV.

How many pot lights should I use for adequate lighting in the room and how should they be placed??

Thanks a lot

Matt

 

[RogerB]

I have eight 60-watt recessed lights in a 22' x 11' room. The front 2 are on one dimmer, the middle 4 are on another and then the back 2 are on another. When all are turned all the way up it is plenty bright enough to read without being too bright or harsh.

 

[Scott_G]

I've got a sealed room that's 13 x 20. Four 60watt recessed cans light up the whole thing.

 

[Matthew Perry]

I just got back form Home Depot, I picked up four 50w halogen pot lights. I figure that's got to be enough lighting for that room, they are moveable as well for direction of lighting effect, this should help to adjust the lighting as well.

These will be on a dimmer seperate from the front lights which will be on a seperate dimmer.

 

[ChrisB]

If you got a pronto, pick up a PCS 600W dimmer, along with a IR543Ah, and a maxi-controler, that way when you press "watch DVD" the lights will dim down and the movie will start. I saw somewhere the other day there is a package deal, the dimmer and everything else for 100 bucks!

 

[Matthew Perry]

Chris

That sounds great, I do in fact have a Pronto and would be very interested in this. If you have a link for this hardware, please send it along.

Thanks a lot

Matt

 

[ChrisB]

It took a little while to find it but here is a link-
Link Removed
I have bought alot of stuff from this guy, service is great, if you want to talk to a person to order, you usually have to leave a message and he will call you back(usually very wiuck though) I have to warn you though, once you get one of these switches it becomes addicting:frowning:

 

[Matthew Perry]

Chris

Thanks for you're time. I Am looking at the site now, will let you know how it goes.

Thanks a lot.

Matt

 

[Blake R]

You should be very careful with the X-10 devices. They're very sensitive to transients and perform erratically at times depending on your load center location and house wiring. Anything that modulates the line voltage to send signals to dimmers and switches can go schizo once in a while. I have used X-10 since 1980 and occasionally modules will stop working or receve signals from other codes. Sometimes delays can occur that result in very slow turn on times. If you install any of these devices be sure to install a surge suppressor at the load center. The electronic dimmer modules and base control units can be very sensitive to transients.

If you've got really deep pockets you might look at a Lutron Grafik eye system. Specification grade commercial lighting control. Full dimming control and programmable scenes. Cool stuff.

RBR

 

[Terry Wysocki]

ChrisB:

I went to your link of "PCS deal", bought the package, and I'm sitting here with my head spinning. I've been a computer programmer for 30 years but I can't figure out what in the h... to do with this stuff! I got the wall dimmer switch installed, but I have no knowledge of anything X10 and there are no basic instructions supplied. After several hours, I'm at a point where I'm supposed to "send a B1 command" and don't know on what device nor what key this equates to.

But all this pales in comparison to figuring out how I get my HT IR remote control to learn the code to send to control this dimmer. Where can I go for some basics on this stuff?

 

[ChrisB]

Terry-
It is a little confusing at first, but once you do one of them it will seam easy. I use this site the ask question on seting this stuff up-remote central x-10 forum If you have any questions that you can't find email me and I will give you my number to call.
From your list of stuff in your post, you send the signals with the PHC02 controler(maxi controler) make sure you turn the dial to the corosponding letter you want(upper right hand corner of the box) that will be the "B" then whenever you press a numer it will the B-the number you press. If you have a pronto, then you can get the codes from remote central. I got my IR543 set on top of my speaker(see my web page for pics) Make sure you dont plug it into a surge protecter, it wont work. I just typed up a help page on my weg page, please forgive the bad spelling, but I think it might help, just go to my page and at the bottom there is a link to what I just typed up, hope this helps.

 

[Terry Wysocki]

ChrisB:

From your help page on your website, I understand you to say that you could have up to 16 scenes (dimmer levels) assigned for this wall switch. Does that mean for Housecode A that I can't have any other devices to control via X10? With the maxi controller, I'd have to have a screwdriver handy so I could select different housecodes to control other devices? Since its impractical to select various housecodes from the controller, I assume I would have up to 16 various household devices setup on housecode A which I could control with the maxicontroller. Then have my theater room dimmer assigned to housecode B and the HT remote would send signals to the IR543 which would be set to housecode B to only control the one light dimmer switch?

Conclusion: only 16 devices and dimmer levels combined can be controlled through X10 without a screwdriver?

Another problem: I have the Aktis RC8000 remote from Denon and for $499 it can "learn" IR codes but it doesn't allow me to enter them from some codelist. How do I get it to learn then send the B1-B16 codes to the IR543?

 

[ChrisB]

Terry-
Yes you are correct, unless the Ir543 is a IR543AH, if that is the case then you can control up to 256 dimmers with it. In my theater room I have a 4 gang switch, all of them have the same 2 scenes programed into them, just diffrent primary addresses. So with 4 switches I use up 6 addresses. When I push "watch DVD" they dim down to off with the one over my fireplace barley lit. Then for pause the one over the fireplace goes to 60%. I use A-1 through A-4 for the switches primary, then A-5 and 6 for the scenes. Then in my kitchen I use A-7 through A-10 for 4 more switches with A-5 and 6 for there scenes also, since I have a open back to the kitchen I want those to go off when I watch a DVD. As for the second question about being screwed, I hate to say it but yes, unless you know someone with a pronto to learn off of. I think on that web site they have a cheap x-10 remote that people were using to learn the codes off of. I did a search on Remote central for your Aktis RC8000, and found nothing, sorry. Link Removed

 

[ChrisB]

Terry-
There is hope for the Atkis, I was reading on another forum that Denon is suposed to be releasing the sourse codes for it so you can program it how you want to, it will be like the pronto. Here is a link to the conversation with the Denon rep.-Denon link I think on page 5 or 6 the Denon rep talks about the Atkis. I also noticed on the Denon web site they have a updated Bios for you remote to download.

 

[Terry Wysocki]

From reading the post about the Aktis, it sounds like they're thinking about releasing the source code for the PC based editing program for the Aktis, not the microcode that actually controls the Aktis' behavior. This would allow programmer types to create a better version of the editor for their PCs but the Aktis would not gain any capabilities from this that I can see. I think Denon will announce an "upgrade" program where you send in the remote to them, pay $800, and get it back a month later with a couple of new features.

 

[Marty D.]

To jump into this thread - Is the $99 kit all I need if I just use the supplied remote? And Can I add 2 more dimmers to the set. One for sconces, and 2 for recessed lights?

I bought the Lutron Maestro for 27 and need 2 more but for 99 plus the cost of 2 more switches it may be worth it.

Thoughts?

 

[Terry Wysocki]

The $99 kit includes a wall switch dimmer, a X10 Maxi controller, and an IR543 infrared receiver. Both the controller and receiver plug into AC sockets. There is no non-wired remote included. You can add as many dimmer modules as you'd like. I have to warn you if you're just getting into X10, I'm still a bit puzzled over how to get this stuff to work.

PS to ChrisB: Thanks for the help file on your website! It works. Now I just have to figure out why.:b

 

[ChrisB]

If you want anymore switchs, I have found that worthington has the best prices, If you call them and ask for prices they give you a better deal, somthing like 67 a switch. I am a electrical contractor and told them I was, they gave me really good prices, but they never asked for a contractors lisense number Here is a link to them-
Worthington