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Reliable or cheap. That's your major choice here. If you want reliable, what you want is an extra run of CAT 5e to every outlet and switch in the house, so that you can choose from a variety of hardwired remote control switches. If you want cheap- you'll want to go with X10, A10, or one of it's variants, in which case you'll want 3-wire power to every switch, including ground, and while you're rewiring all the electric anyway you'll want to install a signal bridge in the switch panel, so that the electirical phases are linked.

For software, well, that depends on your favorite operating system and programming language: HAL or HomeSeer for Windows, Mr. House for Linux, all three of these choices have a variety of dynamic libraries that allow them to control most whole-house controllers.

I personally went cheap- but still ran out of money about $1200 into my system. So I've got PLC, in a house that doesn't have 3 wire to every outlet, with only the incandescents and only 2 flourescents actually computer controlled. I also never got my infrared breakout boxes done to control my A/V equipment- and PLC turned out to be rather non-secure in my neighborhood for controling garage door opener and the like (in that it would leave my garage door open and illegal immigrant meth adicts would steal from me in the middle of the night). So if you have the money, you're much better off with a hardwired system. And go for a discount wholesaler like http://www.worthdist.com/ as opposed to somebody like http://www.smarthouse.com/>.

Check out Applied Digital they make a line of controllers (8-bit based) that will probabably handle your needs and ben be found for low cost.

I will second the PCS and raise you a Worthing Distribution as a good supplier. And don't forget about Applied Digital for your controllers.

You can also check out Worthington Distribution and Bass Home Electronics for a couple of places for interesting stuff. Their web sites are not as polished as Smart Home, but the prices tend to be better and if you call them the personal service is much bettr.

My name is not spam, it's patrick

As to X-10, I really looked into this, you have a number of choices if you want to upgrade. I went with PCS, switchs (checkout Bass Home, Future Standard or Worthington Distribution - each of these vendors has faults, but they have reasonably good prices). You can get the nice looking reliable switch, but it will set you back, quite a bit more than an X-10 brand switch. If you really want to do it right go with the OnQ/Ageis lighting system. I was going to do this; however, my builder made this prohibitively expensive from an installation perspecitive. I still might do it my self, when I have lots of time (or move again ).

pth
My name is not spam, it's patrick

I've found a number of good X-10 and home automation resources at HomeToys.com. The prices for X-10, video/audio distribution, and DIY security are usually better at SmartHome.com than at X10.com (and they don't tend to send you so much spam!). The best prices I've found for X-10 stuff (they also have security and video surveillance equip) are at Worthington Distribution. I've had good Web and phone interactions with them. They know what they're talking about when you need technical help, both before and after they make a sale (I can't say as much for X10.com or SmartHome.com).

I got my Firecracker about a week after I ordered it. And I had no trouble getting off the Briana the Voluptuous X10 Price Slasher mailing list.

BTW, at www.worthdist.com they have IBM Home Director X10 starter kits for $10 + $5 shipping. It includes a universal TV/VCR/X10 remote, a lamp module, a CM-11 2-way computer interface (much better than the firecracker, since you can pick up X10 signals with your computer), and another one of those RF/appliance modules. I got mine about 3 days after I ordered it...

This isn't a big sale... X10.com seems to always have one of their intro kits on sale for next to nothing. And once you order, they spam you daily with their new offers. Check out Smarthome for some similarly great deals, a better interface, less spam, and more honest promotions. Another good place is Worthington.

Check out this thread at AnandTech for some more opinions! Some people said that the Firecracker is not really home automation, but rather like a remote control... You need ActiveHome or something to get real automation (timers, etc.).

Of course, you may want to buy from Smarthome after you get the intro kit from X10.

-Dodja