The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Clearing a house with a pistol/flashlight

lowracer · October 16, 2008, 06:52 PM

My wife and I have a little box next to the bed with a button on it that says "All Lights On." Hear a bump, reach over press the button, and lights in every room of the house come on. Anyone breaking in with the intent of using cover of darkness to perpetrate their mayhem has now got a big bright wrench in their plan.

There are several technologies that can let you do this without running any wiring through the house.

X-10 is an old technology from the late 1970's that sends the "On" signal over your power lines, cheap and works great in most houses with modern electrical wiring, not so good in the really old houses with rat's nest wiring.

Z-Wave is a more modern technology that uses 900MHz radio signals to signal the lights to turn on, and will work great even in really old houses. Depending on how many rooms you want to light up, about a hundred / hundred fifty bucks and your house could be set up this way. Plug your lamp into a module a bit bigger than a pack of cigarettes, plug the module into the wall and you're pretty much set.

The bedside control usually includes a clock / timer that can turn lights on at different times (with a random offset as well to give the lived in look) so that when you go on vacation it looks like you're still there.

If you're worried about the BG cutting the power lines, just put your lamps on a small UPS (battery backup, available at office supply stores), and you'll still be able to light 'em up even when the lines are down.

Oh and once the lights are up we apply a little "behavior modification" via 12 ga pump.

October 16, 2008, 06:52 PM	#42
lowracer Member Join Date: September 26, 2008 Location: DFW, Texas Posts: 45	Z-Wave My wife and I have a little box next to the bed with a button on it that says "All Lights On." Hear a bump, reach over press the button, and lights in every room of the house come on. Anyone breaking in with the intent of using cover of darkness to perpetrate their mayhem has now got a big bright wrench in their plan. There are several technologies that can let you do this without running any wiring through the house. X-10 is an old technology from the late 1970's that sends the "On" signal over your power lines, cheap and works great in most houses with modern electrical wiring, not so good in the really old houses with rat's nest wiring. Z-Wave is a more modern technology that uses 900MHz radio signals to signal the lights to turn on, and will work great even in really old houses. Depending on how many rooms you want to light up, about a hundred / hundred fifty bucks and your house could be set up this way. Plug your lamp into a module a bit bigger than a pack of cigarettes, plug the module into the wall and you're pretty much set. The bedside control usually includes a clock / timer that can turn lights on at different times (with a random offset as well to give the lived in look) so that when you go on vacation it looks like you're still there. If you're worried about the BG cutting the power lines, just put your lamps on a small UPS (battery backup, available at office supply stores), and you'll still be able to light 'em up even when the lines are down. Oh and once the lights are up we apply a little "behavior modification" via 12 ga pump.