Sensors and switches are not limited to just X10 devices. There are control boards that you can install in your computer that allows the computer to receive signals and send signals that can be used to trigger relays. Or perhaps it acts as a relay allowing you to switch higher voltages.
The advantage of using one of these boards is that they are very fast and very reliable. The downside is that they need to be hard wired, so installation in your house may be difficult unless you are doing a new construction and know how to wire it properly. Houses with low voltage wiring are an ideal candidate for this type of board.
The ability to use IO Sensors and Switches is an option module of Home Domination. Currently, only one IO board is supported, and it's not the most up to date board, so this is not part of the standard package. If you would like for us to support an IO board for you, please request it via email and make sure you provide details about the kind of board, the manufacturer, web site with information about the board if possible, and your name, address, email address, and phone number. If we do it on our own time frame and offer it to everyone once it's finished, then you will only pay for the optional module. If you need it done quickly, or you want an exclusive OEM version of Home Domination that supports this board, then a customization fee of $250 per hour will apply.
When the IO module is included in Home Domination, then when you add a sensor or switch, you have the option of choosing an X10 Sensor or Switch, or an IO sensor or switch. X10 and IO sensors and switches can be mixed and matched, so an X10 sensor can trigger a macro that controls an IO switch. This seamlessly integrates the convenience of X10 devices with the reliability and responsiveness of the IO sensors and switches.
Houses equipped with low voltage wiring generally have momentary switches that people manually flip, and that wire goes through a central location and then out to the device it's controlling (usually a light). The normal high voltage wiring is switched via a relay that is controlled by the low voltage wiring. The relay is usually located near the device that is controlled so that the high voltage wiring, which is more expensive than the low voltage wiring, is only ran to each device that is being switched.
Since the low voltage wiring needs to be run through a central location before going back out to the devices they need to control, a lot more of the low voltage wiring must be run than what you would normally run with conventional wiring. However since the high voltage wiring can go from device to device without going out to switches, you can use much less of this wiring. And since the high voltage wiring is more expensive, this greatly offsets the cost of installation.