History
We've been using X10 since about 1996. Initially our system consisted
of a few remotes and some lamp modules and maybe one in-wall switch.
Wiring
Buying an 85+ year old pharm house eliminated the possibility of having
everything nicely pre-wired. One day when we win the lottery we'll spend
the $1000-2000 it would cost to have someone else do it.
Fortunately there was at least cable TV wiring with several drops -
notably one in the upstairs master bedroom. They used cheap wire for
soem of it but at least it gave me a hint as to an easy way to run
other wiring.
With wireless networking having come about it didn't seem to be worth
running ethernet all over the place so we were mostly concerned about
audio/video with a little ethernet.
Audio and Video
The heart of the AV system is the Channel Plus 3015 which is a video
distribution system and dual modulator all in one box for $160. The
single modulator
version is only $99. A four channel modulator from another
company is about $440!