Using an X10 Phase Coupler
When you install your X10 devices, you may notice that your controller has problems communicating with some receivers in your home. You may think this is due to interference and install filters or even signal repeaters in an attempt to strengthen the signal. None of that works, what do you do now?
The problem you are having is that the receivers you can't control are on a different leg of your house's electrical circuit than your controller is. In the U.S., most houses have a 220-volt power supply that enters at the house's circuit breaker panel and then splits into two separate 110-volt phases.
The signal from your controller is having trouble going from one phase to the other. There are two ways to deal with this; one is to hire an electrician to install a hardwired signal bridge across the breaker for each phase. The other way is to install an X10 phase coupler/repeater.
An XI0 phase coupler plugs into 220V dryer outlet and allows XI0 signals to cross both 110V phases
An X10 phase coupler/repeater plugs into a 220-volt outlet like the kind used for electric clothes dryers. The 220-volt outlet is one place where both 110-volt phases meet. The coupler/repeater transmits the X10 signal across both phases and boosts the signal to help ensure reception on the opposite phase. You can also get a phase coupler that doesn't repeat the signal but does bridge it across both phases. (Your dryer plugs back into the 220-volt outlet through the phase coupler.)
Maintaining Your Security and Privacy:
Like any wireless technology, home automation has its own set of security problems, whether it involves wireless cameras or power line home control units.
I had planned to use X10 in a house we just purchased. But I found out that the house has two separate 200amp power lines coming from the pole. Is there any way to couple/bridge the two circuits so that the same X10 signal travels on both circuits?
What about operating an X10 system in Europe. One phase 220v ?