I'd love to see an in-wall on/off timer unit from Insteon, like for a bathroom fan. One that could be set to a range of values from 5 minutes to 4 hours, much like GE's 15318 timer.
To match the style of other Insteon devices, I envision it much like a 6-button KeypadLinc, but with small up/down buttons and a display of some sort in place of the center four buttons. Pressing the top On button would start the timer at the last selected time. The bottom button would turn it off, of course. Double-pressing On could start it at the longest selection of 4 hours. The display could be as simple as a series of LEDs showing approximate remaining time, or maybe an LCD counting down the remaining time.
It should be both responder and controller. That is to say another device should be able to turn the timer on. I'd like to use a humidity sensor as controller, for example, to enable the fan while humidity exceeds a threshold. Then, the fan starts as soon as I start a shower and stops a few minutes after the humidity drops back down to a normal level. By controlling the timer directly, rather than using a 2443-222 on/off micro module with sense to bypass a simple in-wall timer, one could see and/or override any sensor-triggered automatic actions right there. Perhaps it could look like a dimmer to external controllers, except that the brightness level is mapped to a timer value somehow.
Such a device may also be useful with a motion sensor to keep a light on for a certain period after detecting motion. In fact, there's probably a few other situations where a remotely controllable in-wall countdown timer could be used that I haven't thought of.
Before anyone replies with "You can do that with an ISY994i," yes, I know, thank you. However, I would want a better interface on the wall unit than what any Insteon devices currently offer. There are currently no Insteon devices I'm aware of that could even display a timer's countdown. Plus, a home controller like the ISY is at least an order of magnitude more expensive than something like the GE 15318, which makes the cost barrier hard to justify..
Insteon has a great selection of good products, and is one of the only vendors that can furnish and control an entire house's lighting. I'm happy with the few I've retrofitted into my home. However, when I see forum moderators say things like "they won't make it because it doesn't sell enough units to be profitable," I cringe. Low-volume SKUs such as an in-wall timer like GE's 15318, a dedicated 1-gang light+fan controller like Lutron's Maestro series (not the non-intuitive 6-button KeypadLinc), and such, may not be individually profitable, but would likely make up for their development costs by increasing the number of whole-house Insteon installations.
To continue the rant, the current fad is internet control and IFTTT-like services, but there are many won't want a house with disparate, network-only systems that require internet access and a cell phone to turn on the kitchen light. Snicker and call them luddites at your own peril; the grandparents are still buying homes and they just want the ability to flip a switch and have the light come on. Insteon is positioned to make that possible while still giving us automation tech nuts the cool features we want. Go forth and invent!
To match the style of other Insteon devices, I envision it much like a 6-button KeypadLinc, but with small up/down buttons and a display of some sort in place of the center four buttons. Pressing the top On button would start the timer at the last selected time. The bottom button would turn it off, of course. Double-pressing On could start it at the longest selection of 4 hours. The display could be as simple as a series of LEDs showing approximate remaining time, or maybe an LCD counting down the remaining time.
It should be both responder and controller. That is to say another device should be able to turn the timer on. I'd like to use a humidity sensor as controller, for example, to enable the fan while humidity exceeds a threshold. Then, the fan starts as soon as I start a shower and stops a few minutes after the humidity drops back down to a normal level. By controlling the timer directly, rather than using a 2443-222 on/off micro module with sense to bypass a simple in-wall timer, one could see and/or override any sensor-triggered automatic actions right there. Perhaps it could look like a dimmer to external controllers, except that the brightness level is mapped to a timer value somehow.
Such a device may also be useful with a motion sensor to keep a light on for a certain period after detecting motion. In fact, there's probably a few other situations where a remotely controllable in-wall countdown timer could be used that I haven't thought of.
Before anyone replies with "You can do that with an ISY994i," yes, I know, thank you. However, I would want a better interface on the wall unit than what any Insteon devices currently offer. There are currently no Insteon devices I'm aware of that could even display a timer's countdown. Plus, a home controller like the ISY is at least an order of magnitude more expensive than something like the GE 15318, which makes the cost barrier hard to justify..
Insteon has a great selection of good products, and is one of the only vendors that can furnish and control an entire house's lighting. I'm happy with the few I've retrofitted into my home. However, when I see forum moderators say things like "they won't make it because it doesn't sell enough units to be profitable," I cringe. Low-volume SKUs such as an in-wall timer like GE's 15318, a dedicated 1-gang light+fan controller like Lutron's Maestro series (not the non-intuitive 6-button KeypadLinc), and such, may not be individually profitable, but would likely make up for their development costs by increasing the number of whole-house Insteon installations.
To continue the rant, the current fad is internet control and IFTTT-like services, but there are many won't want a house with disparate, network-only systems that require internet access and a cell phone to turn on the kitchen light. Snicker and call them luddites at your own peril; the grandparents are still buying homes and they just want the ability to flip a switch and have the light come on. Insteon is positioned to make that possible while still giving us automation tech nuts the cool features we want. Go forth and invent!
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