First Module

I actually bought an Intermatic HomeSettings HA18C switch as my first module, but Amazon has it back-ordered for a month or so. I also needed an appliance module for the fluorescent lights in the garage. My needs are :

• Non dimming module
• Under 100W
• 3 pin plug (fluorescent light plug has ground pin)

The HA02C appears to fit the bill. It's relatively inexpensive and there's nothing remarkable about it. It has one LED status light and one button, and comes in a plastic clam shell packaging. I managed to get it open without blood sacrifice, thanks to my trusty pair of Wiss tin snips. Only one thing worries me - the specs say max. of 42W when controlling compact fluorescents. I'm not sure how this applies to fluorescent tubes, but I'm not willing to take the risk. It was too late to cancel by the time I found out. Besides, I have other lights I can control.

The HA02C arrived with the HA07C, but by now I'm having second thoughts about using the HA07C as a central controller. Main reason - the HA02C does not support device association - allowing one device to trigger another. I'd likely return the HA07C to Amazon, unless I cannot find an alternative before the 30 days is up.

I installed ThinkEssential on my wife's laptop. Drawing a rough layout of the house took way more time than anything else. I plugged the module in, used ThinkEssential to include it into the network, and it works. Just like that.

I could turn the lamp plugged into the module on or off using either the buttons on the module, or through ThinkEssential. The LED on the module comes on when the lamp is on. If the lamp is switched on using the button on the module, it takes a while for ThinkEssential to update the status on the light - depending on the polling interval. I'm not sure if this means that the module does not send status when the button is used, or if ThinkEssentials does not know how to interpret the status. I thought I saw the blue LED on the ThinkStick flash when I pressed the button, but I couldn't be sure. More experimenting needed.

When I demonstrated this to my younger daughter, her eyes opened wide and she said "Ooh, magic!" I have to admit, compared to X-10, this seems much smoother.

In all, relatively painless. I only wish the instruction page that came with the module comes with instructions on how to include it into your network, instead of just saying "refer to remote control manual". The actual procedure is, when asked to do so by your master remote (in this case, ThinkEssential with ThinkStick), press the button on the module. I actually pressed and held it down for about 10 seconds waiting for something to happen. Nothing did - you need to release it before the remote will hear it.

A one lamp network, without a remote control, is not terribly useful. But at least now I'm not a total newbie.