Monthly Archive: October 2013

Decent Surge Protector

It is nice to have outlets you can shut off while leaving others live. I use this at my bedside. My side lamp and land-line phone are plugged into the two live outlets and the rest on my devices into the others. This way I can control the current to my electronic equipment and save some money. My only negative is that I find the remote to be very temperamental and therefore I don’t use it that much.

I am definitely going to splurge! I set this one up by my bed. I have my alarm clock on the always on outlet, my Bose SoundDock, lamp, and laptop charger on the switched outlets. I then stuck the remote on the wall by the door, but later moved it next to my bed so that when I’m in bed I don’t need to reach over to cut the power to my lamp, speaker dock, and laptop at night or to turn the power on in the morning. A word of caution however, the remote comes with a cradle, once you put it in the cradle, good luck getting it back out. If you want the remote to be mobile, don’t use the cradle. Also, the sticky backing on the cradle is INCREDIBLY sticky and will remove surface finishes such as paint and varnish. Stick something less strong to the wall then stick the cradle to that to protect your surfaces.

It is a good brand, and the concept of not crawling in those tight places to switch on and off the power strip to save and/or to use your electronics. My problem was that I got this huge tv stand and no way I was going to move it couple inches of space to turn on and off the power strip and this is great contraption. The remote helps me from squeezing through that tight space to turn on and off the power strip, and it have two sockets on the power strip that does not ever turn off even with the remote. So I can turn off for example my stereo, xbox, and what ever else and still have my tv on.

And after exactly one month, my energy bill arrived and it was a whole $10 less!!! So, now I’ve installed the Conserve Smart AV F7C007q Energy-Saving Power Strip (for the TV console–keeping the Tivo & router on but turning off the 2nd Tivo and Netflix box when the TV gets turned off); and also 2 of the the cute little Belkin Conserve Socket F7C009q Energy-Saving Outlet (one for my office shredder and my electric toothbrush). And now I’ve added the Stanley 31164 Indoor Wireless Remote Control with Single Transmitter, White, 3-Pack for the hot water pot that’s on 6 hours every day, my appliance strip which covers toaster, rice cooker, blender and Breville juice extractor–to my kitchen to stop vampire energy loss.

I’m on a roll and look forward each month to how much I’ll save with these 3 and 1 products together! If I can saving $20-25 per month…well that adds up to a LOT in one year!!! I can think of other, better things to spend my money on like here on Amazon–more Kindle books…and…I have a huge wishlist.

Remote Stuck to Wall-Mount, SOLVED

I found it would be unusable as the Remote was thoroughly jamed in its Wall-Mount, blocking the battery compartment etc. Repeated Prying & Prodding [with moderate force] were to little/no avail. In despiration, with the clock ticking, I flipped it over & into the 2 screw-holes on the back I inserted, head first, 1.25″ Finishing Nail(s) Pressing these forcefully did nothing but with repeated, heavy hammer-taps on the point I got the 2 parts to start moving apart.

The problem proved to be the throw-away clear plastic tab [keeping the battery fresh] sticking out the side of the remote. When the factory pushed the Remote into its tight-fitting Wall-Mount, the tab folded up between the 2 creating a complete jamb

This sort of oversight has always been a bother and now, with so much production contracted abroad, it seems that problems which “ONLY” happen now and then are just ignored [at least by SOME firms ... ].

I used to use a normal switch with 8 outlets, and I don’t like it very much because my TV, XBox and speaker were always on (my wireless router connected to the same switch). So when I found this switch on Amazon, I know this is what I need.

Setting up the switch is just a piece of cake, and it works perfectly so far. The only one thing that I’m not sure if it’s intentional is that when you turn on/off the switch using the remote, you need to press and hold the button for a few seconds until the green light flashing. In the beginning, I thought that it’s like normal switch for light, so I just flip it on and off and it doesn’t work. And even now I know it, sometime my dad still doesn’t do it right and leave everything on over night.

Overall, I’m happy with this switch, and would recommend it to everyone who owns an entertainment system.

This waste energy and now becomes a fire hazzard. This Belkin Conserve Switch F7C01008q Energy-Saving Surge with Remote is a safe way to hook up charges and other devices that you want to be able to turn on and off at will. The remote can be put anywhere and can be used to turn on and off lights, Tv’s, etc. I have one in all rooms so like the guess room I can shut off everything when the room is not in use. Saving energy, being safe. Hope this helps you on purchasing this unit.

I was surprised how much energy my home theater setup was using when not plugged in. The 30 watts it was using is equivalent to having two lamps on all day, everyday. The remote that is included makes it very convenient to turn off the power strip when I leave for work or go to sleep. However a few times the remote does not work but hitting the switch again does the job. Overall I’m very happy with this power strip and I’m looking forward to my next electric bill.

Great Product – Just What I Needed

First, because the wiring in my basement is really screwed up. Because of this if I wanted to use a switch that was on the wall to turn my standing lights on and off, the overhead light HAD to be on. I got this product because I wanted to be able to turn those lamps on and off with a switch – but I didn’t want to have to redo all the wiring at this stage (lazy, I know).

The great thing is that this switch can be put on any wall or service and works great.

The second reason I got it was because I was very interested in saving some $$$ on my electric bill. Since my TV/HTPC/Xbox don’t get used while my wife and I are at work there is no need for them to be pulling phantom power. (Again since I am lazy) I don’t want to go to all my computer wiring every night/morning and flip the manual switch on a surge protector.

I cannot comment on how much electricity I am saving because we have had some amazing weather recently that has allowed me to keep the AC off over the last month. However, I do plan on getting another one of these for my desktop setup.

However this one works flawlessly and is perfect in every way and even works great in very cold temperatures! This is the only one I could find that actually worked!! I recommend it! The range of the remote is good also.

Good spacing on the outlets, so wider plugs fit in next to each other. The remote is a nice ‘feature’, making it easier to turn on and off without reaching back behind the desk.

Currently its to early to tell if I will be saving any money on electicity but, I needed a power strip. I oredered another one because I needed another power strip. On a side note, if you have two many things drawing power on the power strip it has a breaker that will trip if it overloaded.

I can shut off the power to the TV, Blu-ray and amp with one switch, while leaving the DVR powered up. It’s a great idea to kill all of these power sucking devices when they aren’t in use. I like this so much that this is actually the second one I bought. Now I can do the same with all of my computer components.

You can also configure the remote to work on multiple surge protectors, if you get more than one like I did. I decided to control mine separately, but I did test the remotes ability to control both. It worked great, even though the two devices were in separate but adjoining rooms. I’m not sure what the range of the remote is, but it works well.

All components plug into to energy saving outlets which are turned off with an easy to use remote control unit. Space for two outlets that supply continuous power such as telephone and router. Easy way to save on standby power wastage.

Best Quality Product I’ve Ever Owned

Contrary to another reviewer’s experience, my units do support channel selection. Each receiver and transmitter has a 4-position slide switch on the back, allowing you to configure the set (transmitter and 3 receivers) to one of four different channels. That works as expected – you can control the same receivers from several transmitters, or you can put the transmitters on different channels so the sets are disjoint.

The transmitter battery is a standard CR2032 lithium coin cell – inexpensive and widely available. It is easy to replace – the battery holder unsnaps and slides out.

One of the transmitter units didn’t work out-of-the-box. I fixed it by unscrewing the back, wiping the pushbutton contact pads with a cloth, and putting it back together. The contact pads are the same kind that are routinely used in television remote controls, so in general the reliability should be similar to TV remotes.

The transmitter has a retractable antenna – extending it gives better range.

I love how easy it is! Just bought today, but so far it works like a charm. No more crawling behind shelves or the TV to turn on and off things. It’s all the fun of a clapper without the annoyance of it randomly turning on and off. Great little gadget for twenty bucks.

I used them for ceiling mounted fluorescent fixtures that lack a switch and they came through with flying colors. The remote is well designed and built (not flimsy like 90% of the little remotes out there) and these have ground, which the competitors seem to think is too much to ask. I would buy again.

Great range and reliability. I bought my first unit to control the lights in my attic on the third floor. I found out just how good the range is when I bought a second unit for my basement office on the opposite end of the house, about 100 feet away… Initially, they were both on the same channel, and I was turning the attic lights on from my basement, three floors away! Changing the channel was quick, and solved the problem. In my experience, I’ve never once encountered any kind of interference or failure to operate, and I live in a crowded urban environment and a house full of gadgets.

Really good design. The product looks good. More importantly, it’s very well thought-out. Some features I love: hinged battery doors, plenty of room between outlets for holding “wall warts”, two convenient always-on outlets, the low-profile plug and the status lights on the remote and strip. This feels like it didn’t cut any corners.

The build quality is definitely the best of any product I’ve used. I’ve owned belkin products in the past (network switches and other gear) and never been too impressed — they were just simple budget devices and I figure I got what I paid for. This product feels like it was built a step above that.

Perfect Problem Solver

My husband died 2 yrs ago and recently I needed a new remote switch for a hanging lamp. I went to radio shack and found they have discontinued the one they sold . I went to Amazon , found this one, and it is great. It is easy to use and you can have three items connected to it wirelessly. I love it.

It has been an excellent product. I have had this for over 3 years now. This is far more useful than I expected. I control three separate items with this switch. I wholeheartedly recommend this to everyone.

My wife has difficulty getting around, bending down to turn on the power strips for electrical items plugged in. Now she can turn on lights and the other items with the remote control. Found the instruction manual too small to read so went to the WEB site and downloaded the PDF file, it explains set-up even better than the one that came with the devices. Go to [...] and click customer support.

I also use one to control a light when I’m watching movies. The remote works great but the buttons are kind of squishy, no clicks. The only problem I have is that they have no memory in a power outage. They default to OFF when when the power is restored. Signal strength has never been an issue for me in the 12 to 15 foot range. Haven’t tried it further though. There is an audible click when they are switched. They work perfectly for my situation, just need to turn everything back on when power goes out.

There’s not much to say about the product because it just works perfectly. The biggest advantage is that it really turns your connected device on and off with ONE click only! Believe me, I had other versions of this type of remote outlets before and they were bad! You basically always had to be in line of sight with the outlet transmitter or it wouldn’t work, or you had to hit the button plenty of times. Perfect device, 5 points

It made appliances easy to turn on and off remotely. It also kept them off even when children tried to play with it. It’s a sleeper saftey valve. Saved many acciedents from happening.

They work flawlessly, even from behind the walls. Outlet and the remote can be totally hidden from each other and still it will operate perfectly. 5 stars from me.

I did not like the keychain option (I’m not putting that thing on my keys, come on!) by removing the connecting ring. I also didn’t like the belt clip that was attached with two small screws, also easily removed. The outlet unit has a distinct sound when the remote switches the unit on, but the only one that doesn’t care for this sound is my dog, she gives the outlet a good stare down.

Excellent Replacement For An Inline Switch

Little did I know that the technology had gone wireless on me. These Stanley wireless 3-prong remotely controled switches are a dream come true for my needs. They perform the exact function I was looking for without all the wires running across floors and around walls. And I don’t even have to get up from the couch to switch the HDMI splitter or home theater device on/off. Great product! That being said, I did have to return the first package I received because one of the receiver’s was bad. That was not a problem because Amazon is a great place to shop. Amazon supplied me with a pre-paid label for the return and promptly sent me a replacement, which works fine. NOTE: For the best service for a defective unit, DON’T call the company, Stanley. I am speaking from experience because that’s what I did initially, thinking warranty should cover defects. If you want the best customer service, call Amazon.

Good thing is to have separate on and off buttons, not toggles like some competing ones have.

Note however, that if you want to control more than three switches, you need separate frequency bands for the sets of three, and Amazon even when consulted prior to order cannot handle this. I ordered four kits, and all came with the same frequency band, so I was stuck with a set where four switches are acted upon by any of the four remotes simultaneously. The frequency band is hardcoded and cannot be changed by the user without soldering equipment, which is not advised unless you know what you are doing. Soldered one set just for the fun of it and doled the rest of them out to my friends. Even after trying to explain this issue after the order was delivered, asking how to make an order that would specify the bands, the response from Amazon was first totally off topic, thereafter total silence to my reply to it. Very poor customer response from an otherwise solid counterpart.

So if you want more than one set, go find them in a store somewhere (hard, I have not seen them anywhere so far – if someone knows, please comment) and choose separate frequency bands, marked with a letter on the back. Or use Amazon and cross your fingers. My first order of two sets was lucky, the second of four sets absolutely not.

For one set only, Amazon is fine, just hope that your neighbor does not have the same kit with the same frequency band…