X10 - how ?

["Marcus Warrington" <marcusw@xxxxxxx>]

Ok.. how do I go about using X10 to control the lights
in my house ?

I'm going around in circles trying to decide how to do
it.. and as far as I can see there is no ideal solution.

What I want to do is be able to control all the lights
in the house from wall switches, web,interface, remote
control and a PC. My big problem like most other people
is lack of neutral at the switches. Its impossible to
pull a neutral to most of the switches because the wires
in most of the rooms go through the back of the patress
into the hallway and then up the wall. Since we've recently
had the house replastered (before I knew about X10) I doubt
SWMBO would be very happy if I started hacking it to bits!

Initially I want to be able to control the lights in the
kids rooms. Every night I come home to find they've been
left on all day. I was going to use the LW10U light switches
but they really are butt ugly and I would really like to
still have the option to of using energy saving bulbs, so its
onto LD11's. Big downside of those is the need for a DIN enclosure
and the more wiring involved. I assume that the LD11 unit, having
a neutral connection, can be used with energy saving bulbs ?

Infact if the LD11 had status reporting it would be 99% perfect.
I say 99% because what I *really* want is an LD11 but not in
a DIN package. Since the switch and neutral connections for
each light are all available at the ceiling rose, why not
package it up as a ceiling rose, even if I had to make a
small hole in the ceiling to accommodate some extra depth
it would still be the good solution to a retro fit. Only
down side I can think is that I would have to climb a ladder
to replace the fuse but not a major problem.. I have to do it
to replace the blown bulb anyway. Does this sound a viable
idea ? If so I may try "experimenting" with a standard ceiling
rose and an LD11 to see if I can make it fit (with a small hole
for the fuse).

Do any UK X10 devices available support status response ?

Marcus