Cost effective way to control 3 zones of lights?

I've decided that even though I can't spend the time and money drywalling my ceiling this year - I AM going to improve the lighting in my room.

Right now I have 2 fluorescent light boxes in the room, and they NEED TO GO! I have them hooked up to a X10 controlled switch with a X10 remote sensor that lets me control them along with the bias light/back light behind my tv and a lighted Harman Kardon sign I have in the room.

I am going to be picking up 6 recessed lights for the room - and I would LOVE to have each pair of lights controlled separately.

This is what I have planned - pardon the horrible job... I couldn't get the "light" to simply copy and repeat so each one is slightly different :


The blue box is where the current light switch is - this is on the OUTSIDE of the movie room. The green box represents where I intend to place the new light controls. There is already a switch there that has power to it, but does not control anything yet. I am strongly considering making that a dedicated circuit for the whole theater room since it was originally set up for some sort of neon lighting that the previous owner had in the room.

I would like the ability to use my remote control (Harmony 1100) to be able to dim the zones separately and turn them on/off either together or individually.

This may be a little overkill, but I would really like to be able to make this happen as cost effectively as possible.
I already have the X10 IR box - would it be just as simple as adding 3 X10 switches into the mix?
Is there a better option? I have seen some that let you set "scenes" - but I'm not interested in going to a Control4 setup or Grafik Eye... those are way out of my price range.

I have a couple of Maestro IR switches - but they are kind of useless for this since they can't be controlled individually...

Thoughts are all appreciated!

Thanks guys!

I had been looking at the insteon options, but I was getting a little confused about how they were triggered.

Looking at scubasteve's build I saw this:



He mentions being able to control 3 zones with it - I was thinking that would be a good option.

Will insteon products be able to be controlled by my x10 box, or would I be able to ditch the x10 box (the IR receiver box) and just use the insteon to control it all including the x10?
(did that question make sense?)

Looks like I will need to pick up this: ITLinc IR to Insteon converter to send my remote commands to the switches?

Expensive little piece...

Thanks Ray Jr.

So far this is what I have in my SmartHome shopping cart - if anyone can comment on my selections please let me know:
1 x 2486DBK8 KeyPadLinc 8 button scene control keypad with dimmer
2 x 2476D SwitchLinc dimmer
1 x LED color change kit for SwitchLinc (to make it blue)
1 x LED color change kit for keypadlinc (to make it blue)
1 x paddle color change (to black)
1 x black wall plate

After talking with RayJr I am going to give it a try using my IR543 (x!0 IR module) to see how well that works in sending commands to the new switches.

Unless anyone has any other feedback on this - I was going to place this order this week.

If anyone thinks I should get the Insteon IR converter instead - can I ditch the keypad for a regular switch and still get scene control a different way?

Also... am I going overboard having each pair of cans being controlled separately? Would it make more sense to go with just 2 zones - as in the pair over the TV as one zone and the back 4 as a separate zone? I know it would save me $45... but... hmm...

Thanks.
If I get the 2411r - do I need to get the 8 button panel for setting scenes, or can I replace the 8 button switch with a standard Insteon switch and set the "scenes" via the remote and IR sensor?

Okay... I just read the manual for the 2411r (http://www.smarthome.com/manuals/2411R.pdf) and I see that I CAN program lighting scenes using just the 2411r and my Harmony 1100 - so that cuts $30 off the price of the switches since I can just get 3 "regular" switches... but in the end it increases the price by $69 since the 2411r is $99.

Still cheaper than a Graphik Eye...

You replied while I was writing my reply...

I wasn't aware I could make it work that way - I thought that was going to require macros on my remote (which the 1100 doesn't do ) That is good to learn.

Thanks for the recommendation.
I definitely have plans to do the rest of the house - I love the idea of being able to control lights, etc remotely when we are out of town.

This project may be put slightly on hold - at least the Insteon part of it - due to budgeted money being used for a driveshaft center bearing for my car... slightly more of a priority.

The cans will still be going in, 3 gang box will be going in... but I will be using the 2 Lutron Maestro IR switches that I already have for 2 of the zones and the X10 switch I already have for the other zone. At least this way I'll be able to turn them all off/on with my remote - and the 2 on the Lutrons can be dimmed by the remote, just not individually.
That should get me through for a while until I pick up another extra day at the hospital

Eventually looking to do more, but for now just one room. Can't justify the cost of the other systems right now.