1.  Entry 34: I am now the proud owner of ActiveHome and many new X10 products. I use ActiveHome to do many things that I had only dreamed of. For example, I am now able to automatically have my air conditioners turn on exactly 1 hour before I get home from work. This saves over 50% on my electric bill and gets the place cool so I don't have to walk into a hot & humid house after a long day at work. I also have a dog (which gets very lonely while I'm at work). I can now turn on the TV or radio at various intervals throughout the day to keep him entertained. I also purchased the phone module which allows me to call and turn anything on or off while I'm away from the house (at work, vacation, or any place!). I love ActiveHome and would be lost without it! -- Nancy Parker

2.  Entry 146:  Before ActiveHome, I had a PC, 2 mechanical timers and 4 remotes. I had to MANUALLY adjust the on-off times for dusk/dawn. If a light was off/on, I had to MANUALLY switch it on/off. I was always picking up the wrong remote, broke two already. Now with ActiveHome, I use my PC to setup the controller. I have a light which AUTOMATICALLY comes on at dusk and off at Dawn. I have a light which comes on at Dusk, dims as a nite-light and then off at dawn. And, I can switch them on/off remotely. Oh, and I now have only one remote control for everything. Don't think I'll be breaking any more. Great kit, works nicely for my situation. --Peter McCool

3. Entry 22:  I am using X10 products for almost five years. Once Active Home became available I immediately upgraded and I am happy since. Our Active Home controls virtually our entire house. House is lighted depending on automatic light sensor (X10 Sundowner) and heated as well. When I wake up my coffee ir already brewed and drapes are pulled open. The fountain and waterfall pumps are turned on by their appliance modules. In order to keep my pool clean and save energy, pump is running just on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for three hours.The appliance module turns on separate small pump which circulates the water through solar collectors as long as sun shines (in winter x10 turns on gas heater). Five appliance modules sprinkles my lawn during the day. Once the Sun sets, the garden lights and aquarium lights are turned on . When I feel to watch a movie I just press one button. The home theater macro turns the system on, closes the drapes and dims all the lights mimicking real theater-like experience. At bedtime system turns all the lights off, in winter it even prewarmes my bed for an hour (I do not want to sleep on powered electrical mattress pad). Just in case I forgot to turn off any of my appliances another macro turns them off for me. There are only two things which I would like to add in future: 1) I am sick and tired of having to remember to turn our home alarm on every night and off in the morning. It is annoying when I forgot and open the entry door before disarming the system. I want my Active Home to control DS7000 Home Alarm system as well. 2) It would be nice to be able to get rid of all the remote controls and use speech command control. I have yet to experiment with it since there are already some products compatible with X10. If I feel so I just press another button and turn my wife on. It’s not bad at all! -- George Tuma

4.  Entry 99:  With the temperature in my area setting record highs, I'm interested in cost effective home cooling. Evaporative cooling is not very effective in my area, and central air has high operating costs. Fortunately, nights are cool. I would like to use ActiveHome and X10 automation for home ventilation. I would place a temperature sensor in the home, outside, and in the attic. I would then install attic ventilation fans and a whole house fan. At any time the outside temperature is 5 degrees less than the indoor temperature and the indoor temperature was above a preset target, the whole house fan would activate. At any time the attic temperature was 15 degrees above the outdoor temperature, and above a preset target, the attic ventilation fan would activate. I would also like some relief for my lawn, with the outdoor temperature sensor and the addition of a rain gauge (or precipitation input from an internet weather site!), outdoor watering could be tailored to environmental conditions. --Jonathan Lundquist