Owen's X10 Blog

I mentioned before that my bedroom fan is controlled by X10 Remote. After last night I’m scheming a new way to help me get some quality sleep. It was the 4th of July so as you would imagine there was quite a bit of racket going on all night, that’s ok. I will say that just about every other day a two dog choir has frequent practice outside my bedroom window at random times during the night, well that's not ok. It’s been way too hot this summer to sleep with the window closed so I need it open for the majority of the night. But here’s what I’m thinking – actuators. If that is an unfamiliar word to you don’t feel bad, but they are very useful. We wouldn’t be able to unlock and lock our car doors remotely without them. Scary thought I know - Actually putting the key in the lock! They are small mechanical arms that push and pull accordingly after receiving a signal.

So if I could get one that could open and then shut the window it would be perfect. I could put my MiniTimer to even more use. At 10pm before I go to bed the window opens and the fan kicks on. The room will have cooled down by the time I’m ready for sleeping. At 4 or 5 am, when I am most easily pulled from slumber, the MiniTimer would tell the actuator to slide the window shut. Now I’ve got a cool room without the distraction of those annoying dogs. Don’t me wrong I am a dog person, always have been, I just like sleep a lot too. Well I’m off to learn more about actuators…