Wireless INSTEON Decora Switch

As yet, neither SmartHome nor any other Insteon manufacturer sells an Insteon wireless wall switch analogous to those available for X10. Fortunately, you can easily rig up one using the TriggerLinc device. TriggerLinc is sold as a magnetic switch for telling when doors or windows are opened, but it also has a terminal for attaching an external switch, so it will function as a wireless controller if you provide the switch.

When you open the TriggerLinc case, the terminal is located next to the negative side of the battery. Using low-voltage wire, I attached a standard Decora paddle switch like this:

This provides an approximate match to Insteon SwitchLincs. See the TriggerLinc manual. While you’ve got the TriggerLinc case open, you should also add the device to Indigo (an action that requires you to press the button inside the device). I then cut a hole in my wall, mounted a deep PVC electrical box, installed the Decora switch, and tucked the TriggerLinc behind it:

To avoid having to remove the wallplate and extract the TriggerLinc each time you want to link it to a new device, I let Insteon perform the translation. That is, I define a trigger action that is activated when the TriggerLinc is turned on or off and use this trigger to control the desired lamp. Apart from making the setup easier to customize, I find that Indigo is more reliable. For some reason, the TriggerLinc sometimes fails to activate devices to which it is directly linked, a problem I don’t have when Indigo perform the translation (perhaps because the software or PowerLinc retransmits the signal if it doesn’t receive an acknowledgment).