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M. D.

M. D.

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I am wiring a detached garage I have a 100 MB panel fed from the house by a sixty amp feeder #2224 Al. quadplex ....

Now the owner wants to control a set of floods and door lights seperately from the house as well as the garage .. The pipe with the quad is 2" and there is also a 3\4" pipe available ,...if I were to feed these lights from the house I would have a violation of 225.30 ,.correct? and if I were to do the oppisite the result is the same.

So I'm thinking X-10 ,.only I'm not sure how it works ,..so if anyone out there is familiar with it and would like to enlighten me, good and bad ,.. I'm all ears,.. I mean eyes . Thanks.
 
well I'll be ,.. thank Gus ,. I looked at it but I guess I stopped reading before I got to the end ,.. now I'm I wondering how one would be able to limit them ,.. the six disconnect rule perhaps??
Speaking of disconnect if I were to pull wire,..would this new disconnect need to be service rated ? 225.36 exception speaks of "the disconnect " not "one of the" or a disconnect .
 
I've used X-10 before. A parent wanted to be able to shut off the lights and guitar amps in his kid's bedroom when his kid forgot to turn them off himself without having to go upstairs. In this case I installed x-10 controlled receptacles in the room with one of them being split to keep power on constantly so the kid could plug his alarm clock into that receptacle.

I think you can get one that feeds receptacles downstream. So what you would do is feed the switch box (that controls the garage lighting) downstream of a controlled receptacle.

You then install an x-10 switch inside the house, and probably another one out in the garage that will operate the circuit. That way, either switch can turn on or off the receptacle and its downstream feed.

I'm not positive on the downstream receptacle, but hopefully I gave you enough information to figure out what your options are.
 
An X-10 current carrier system would work well. I've had one in my house for 20+ years.
I have an outside PE that turns on inside lights at dusk and a time turns off later, timer turns on in am, PE turns off.
I like the all on function.
Some issues are long runs from L1 to L2 via the utility transformer, may need a line coupler, and neighbors can have a similar system, but you have 16 housecodes.
Sears used to sell, as did radio shack. Leviton has a commercial system, but Smart Home is probably best source.
X-10 is really nice and lots of options. I have a bedside timer and can turn on or off any controlled light from there. There is a system that is set up from a PC...
 
They also make modules that you plug into a recp, then you plug whatever device you want to control into and use a remote to operate. I think you can control 10 or more modules. Or go with the x10 with the timer built in.
 
I'm thinking remote switching. I had a similar circumstance with a custom. That was a few years ago, so I'm sure they're even better by no. No wiring between the structures as long as there's power at each, 3way switching from each.:D
 
These ones hide in the Jbox behing the switch. You don't see anything out of the ordinary when it's done.
 
OK Let me correct myself one more time as the memory comes back in pieces. The switches were about the size of a standard dimmer. There was then a pack that wired into the first light in the string wanting to be controlled. I installed a Jbox for this pack in a discreet part of the ceiling and covered it with a blank cover. It worked real slick. Sorry for the slow memory and premature typing.:roll:
 
I speak X-10. PM sent.

Briefly, with an existing installation, you replace switches with switch modules, which are remote-controllable units that still allow local control. They can be controlled by other modules, table-top, timer-based, hand-held, and pocket remotes, too. Then there's computer automation.

You can control more than one light or group of lights together or separately. You can get sensor lights that trigger each other, and table lamps, too. Home automation can be addictive. But, your need is small enough to be a safe starter system, with a couple of switch or hard-wire modules.
 
That sounds like the stuff. Loved it. When the owner is involved in the build, there will be changes, usually after all the walls are on and the ground is frozen or landscaped.
 
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