I want to upgrade my lighting automation. For that I want to buy 6 dimming interfaces/actors.
So that is either the LW12 or the DAIX12. Costs are 225 euro and 600 euro respectively.
There's no argument which I would rather have, just the question if I buy the LW12's now, will I be replacing them within a year? Any experiences, good and bad are welcome.
Experiences with LW12
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MindBender
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Experiences with LW12
Many Marmitek products have similar Xanura counter parts, but LW12 is not one of them. The Xanura DAIX12 is a completely different product, produced by a completely different manufacturer.
The LW12 is a uni-directional device which is unable to report status changes or send acknowledgements. I prefer not to use these type of modules because they operate less reliably by nature. However, this module doesn't require an additional Neutral wire to operate, so it may be preferable in your specific situation.
The DAIX12 is bi-directional and hence improves your systems reliability. The new 220v input is a huge improvement over the older DAIX10: You can now use the existing wiring in order to operate them using multiple switches. In general Xanura modules are better built, but I have had a couple of issues with them.
If you want to compare appels with apples, compare the Marmitek LWM1 with Xanura DAIX10 and you will see a dramatically reduced difference in prices.
The LW12 is a uni-directional device which is unable to report status changes or send acknowledgements. I prefer not to use these type of modules because they operate less reliably by nature. However, this module doesn't require an additional Neutral wire to operate, so it may be preferable in your specific situation.
The DAIX12 is bi-directional and hence improves your systems reliability. The new 220v input is a huge improvement over the older DAIX10: You can now use the existing wiring in order to operate them using multiple switches. In general Xanura modules are better built, but I have had a couple of issues with them.
If you want to compare appels with apples, compare the Marmitek LWM1 with Xanura DAIX10 and you will see a dramatically reduced difference in prices.
Experiences with LW12
Mindbender thnx. Since I have no experience yet with the uni-directional actors+interfaces; Does that entail that I am not able to tell if the switch is pressed locally?
I was under the impression that the LW12 sends an "XX ON" if you press it locally. If not that is a no-go for LW12's for me.
I was under the impression that the LW12 sends an "XX ON" if you press it locally. If not that is a no-go for LW12's for me.
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MindBender
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Experiences with LW12
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by l0rien</i>
<br />Mindbender thnx. Since I have no experience yet with the uni-directional actors+interfaces; Does that entail that I am not able to tell if the switch is pressed locally?
I was under the impression that the LW12 sends an "XX ON" if you press it locally. If not that is a no-go for LW12's for me.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
A bi-directional unit would, but the LW12 will not. That's why I'm avoiding uni-directional units myself. I don't know about any bi-directional units that don't require an extra Neutral wire: I think they face additional challenges such as the impedance of the connected load, and the power they need to draw through it.
I would expect these units to be less sensitive too, so avoid them unless you really cannot install a Neutral wire.
Personally I need the events from local operations too because most of my light are operated by the wall switch. Besides that, you can poll a device's state and a device will acknowledge if it has executed a remote command. All more reasons to go for bi-directional units.
And if you're spending money anyway, you might as well buy Xanura units. They seem to have proven themselves in this forum pretty well and they're not much more expensive compare to similar units.
Personally I don't think I would go for X10 again if I had a chance to do it all over again. But I've got too much of this equipment to change teams now
<br />Mindbender thnx. Since I have no experience yet with the uni-directional actors+interfaces; Does that entail that I am not able to tell if the switch is pressed locally?
I was under the impression that the LW12 sends an "XX ON" if you press it locally. If not that is a no-go for LW12's for me.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
A bi-directional unit would, but the LW12 will not. That's why I'm avoiding uni-directional units myself. I don't know about any bi-directional units that don't require an extra Neutral wire: I think they face additional challenges such as the impedance of the connected load, and the power they need to draw through it.
I would expect these units to be less sensitive too, so avoid them unless you really cannot install a Neutral wire.
Personally I need the events from local operations too because most of my light are operated by the wall switch. Besides that, you can poll a device's state and a device will acknowledge if it has executed a remote command. All more reasons to go for bi-directional units.
And if you're spending money anyway, you might as well buy Xanura units. They seem to have proven themselves in this forum pretty well and they're not much more expensive compare to similar units.
Personally I don't think I would go for X10 again if I had a chance to do it all over again. But I've got too much of this equipment to change teams now