I've been using Insteon for about 20 years, with a pretty extensive installation in my current house (around 120 switches, dimmers and outlets). We're moving, so I've been taking the opportunity to rethink my whole approach to home automation.
Over the past few weeks I've spent quite a bit of time looking at Lutron, Zigbee, Matter, ESPHome and Home Assistant. It's pretty amazing how much things have changed, especially all the inexpensive hardware and different integration options available now.
Funny thing is, after seriously considering Lutron, I think I'm coming back to Insteon for lighting in the new house.
A few reasons:
Direct device-to-device linking. Basic lighting doesn't depend on a hub or controller, and you get both RF and powerline communications.
The keypads are still fantastic. I really haven't found anything else quite as flexible.
My wife already knows how everything works and is comfortable with it. That's worth a lot!
I've got a decent stockpile of spare devices I can reuse.
The recent podcast interviews with Insteon's management were encouraging.
One thing that struck me while digging into Home Assistant is just how complicated some people's setups have become. It's impressive what you can do, but I wonder how anyone keeps some of these systems running. Just because you can integrate something doesn't mean you should.
So the current plan is Insteon for lighting, Home Assistant to tie things together, and other technologies where they actually make sense. Trying to keep it reasonably simple and maintainable this time around.
After looking at all the alternatives, I'm actually pretty impressed by how much Insteon got right years ago.
See the discussion on Reddit - https://www.reddit.com/r/homeautomation/comments/1x89hs2/sticking_with_insteon_for_the_new_house/
By the way - I don't know if actual people read blog posts anymore, if you do, please leave a comment.
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