Remote-Outlet

Monthly Archive: November 2013

I Wish I Had Known These Existed Earlier

The switch itself runs on a battery and can be attached with screws, but I used Command adhesive strips so I could remove it easily from the wall of my apartment when it was time to go. Each set of switch and receiver runs on a different frequency (I received an A and an E, but I don’t know how many different ones there are), so you can have more than one right next to each other without them interfering. The receiver can be a bit bulky if you’re trying to fit it on a power strip, but it’s not hard to work around that.

I bought two and they are fantastic! I hook them up to power strips and connect lights through out the room. Works way better than even built in lights. Long batter life too. Great product, love it.

Very responsive and consistent where as the one I purchased before that was from another company had a lag time from when I flipped the switch on and when the light came on. The only thing I dont like about this one is the fact that the switch is not a flip on, its a push up and push down one. Not convenient if you are used to always walking into a room and flipping on a switch. Otherwise great product.

It maybe looks a little on the cheap side with the fake front screws but hardly noticeable. Just FYI, it is activated by on/off rotation only, so it makes no difference which up/down direction is pushed, it only makes it do the opposite either way it’s pushed. Could just as well been made with a single in-out push button rather than a rocker. But the rocker does look more “authentic” I guess.

We have a high-tech young adult son who has set up and maintains an array of devices for us in his former bedroom, now converted to a “movie room” but also housing our wireless router, cable modem, our son’s “satellite” workstation, and God knows what else. Since most of those devices draw their power from the switched outlet, our son removed the switch and replaced it with a plain covering, so we would not accidentally cut the power by reflexively flipping the switch to turn on the room light. Minor problem: If the room was dark, you had to grope around for the lamp itself, or remember to bring a flashlight, to get the light on. This bugged my wife enough that I finally put it at the top of my priority list, and she hasn’t stopped thanking me yet.

I use it for a standing lamp on the other side of the room, I mounted the switch with the included screws and I was done in minutes. The plug is a little big, but it only uses the one plug, so it leaves the other plug unobstructed so you can use it

November 18, 2013 Outlet, , , 0 Read more >

This Switch Acts Like A Single On/Off Button – Either Paddle Acts As You Want It To

I have the light where I really need it and the switch out-of sight. I would buy this again (when needed). Appears to be better quality than similar switch I had purchased (which failed after less than a year). Other switch had a built in night light that I liked. This one does not have that feature.

We hooked up a fluorescent strip light, but wanted a way to turn it on and off beside groping in the dark for the in-line switch. We purchased this, plugged it into an available outlet in the closet, and located the switch in the area where we wanted it. (We mounted the “switch” box with 3M picture hanging strips, so we could change the batteries easily) Works great, no problems. As others have noted elsewhere, although it looks like a standard “flip switch” in the pictures, it’s actually just a button you press for on/off. Doesn’t bother me, because I’m delighted to have light in the laundry closet!

Only complaint is that when ordering additional units they do not ask for a preferred frequency. You may want to match existing units or more than likely you may prefer different frequencies. This choice should be part of the ordering process.

They work great for this. The switch part is small and light enough to be attached with a couple pieces of removable mounting tape, which is great.

The only downside is the radio channel is built into the device, and there didn’t seem to be any way to choose which one you wanted, or really an indication that this was the case on the product page. I ordered three and they came one of each channel, which was what I needed so it worked out for me. Still you should be aware of the channel thing in case you want two to work on the same channel etc…

Now there is no danger of him tripping over something on his way to the bed. I would highly recommend this to anyone who needs a convenient way to control electronics.

Also, up and down on the switch both do the same thing; but they are nice aesthetically I suppose. Overall very happy with this purchase.

Since daddy and teen are not on the same sleep schedule :) we had to forgo using it and purchase another locally to be sure and get a different frequency. It would be nice if the frequency was in the description, but I couldn’t find one online that let you pick that way.

The only downfall is if you purchase two or more, make sure they are not too close to each other room wise. I have one in my bedroom and the other in the living room and when I turn one on in one room, the other also turns on. Not a huge problem, but sometimes they tend to get mixed up and when one turns on, the other turns off. It’s kind of comical, but really frustrating at times. Otherwise, very simple idea for one or two rooms, if separated enough.

November 17, 2013 Outlet, , , 0 Read more >

Solid Wireless Solution To For An Outlet

You might think “what’s the big deal”, but I’d previously bought and immediately returned a similar device, Westinghouse T00412 Light Switch Remote (currently not available on Amazon, which is a good thing!). Here was my experience with both products:

Westinghouse- the battery was already installed when I opened the sealed package- so it’s likely energy was draining from the battery since it was packaged. Lamp turned ON when I flipped the switch up. Lamp stayed ON when I flipped the switch down- I couldn’t turn it off! Back to Amazon it went.

AmerTac- battery installed but with a plastic tab which I was instructed to remove- so the battery was fresh. Lamp turned ON when I flipped the switch up. Lamp turned OFF when I flipped the switch down.

This doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it IS nice when a product does exactly what it’s supposed to do and MIGHTY AGGRAVATING when it doesn’t. Shame on you, Westinghouse!

I did not want to pay an electrician to rip apart my walls and my home is old, so they always insist on redoing everything. A simple job ends up costing way too much. Both units have worked flawlessly for 4 months and I turn them on and off every night, sometimes more if I leave at night.
I plan on ordering a few more matching sets (Channel F) for my living room switch so that multiple lights will turn on at the same time with one switch… Be sure to order different channels if you want to install multiple sets for different lights.
Quality of the switches is a solid rocker and the lights can be turned on or off by hitting either the top or bottom of the switch. Rather convenient unintentional feature.

It was designed like a large paddle switch, but did not behave like one. Beneath the large paddle are small micro-switches, and you must press the paddle in exactly the right spot to activate or deactivate the switch. If you pressed the paddle anywhere that was not directly above the micro-switch, the thin plastic of the paddle would deflect and absorb your motion and fail to depress the micro-switch.

This Westek switch has a smaller paddle which feels very firm to the touch and works every time. Furthermore, it does not actually matter which side you press. If the light is on, you can turn it off by pressing EITHER side of the paddle (and vice-versa). It functions like a single on/off button. We do not mount our switch on a wall, but use it to activate a light from our coffee table, so the fact that we never need to know which side is “up” or “on” is very nice.

November 16, 2013 Outlet, , , 0 Read more >

Canon Safe Interior Power Box options

I wanted to mount some sort of lighting and found that rope lighting was just the ticket. This switch was the perfect answer to be able to light the interior of the safe WHEN NEEDED. The plug in unit is the perfect size for the bottom outlet for lighting and leave me with another for the dehumidifier rod. 5 stars for the price and what it’s designed for.

This product is the most functional item I’ve ever purchased. This is the second one I’ve bought. The first one lasted me about a year before it spontaneously decided to stop working for unknown reasons. Given the inexpensive price I was more than happy to buy another one, worth it even if it only lasts a year! I’ve now had this item for >4 monthes. No problems.

I either had to mount an electrical box and cover plate under the cabinet, which stood out and looked sloppy or had a wire dangling down to plug into a socket.

This allowed me to hide all the wiring for the under cabinet wiring in the stove vent area and mount the switch next to the other switches for the kitchen. No wires or electrical junction boxes show and the installation looks very professional.

I mounted a light bar above the mirror and wired it to a two prong AC plug and ran it behind the mirror. I mounted this switch under the counter to make it easy to turn the lights on/off. It works just like I wanted it to and one would never know the lights werent built into the wall.

The way that I tried to specify the frequency was that the first switch I ordered was on the “B” frequency, so in the comments sections where you could leave instructions as if it was a gift, I told them to send me anything except one in the “B” frequency because I already had that. The second one they sent me was on frequency “D” so I think that it worked. I agree that there should be a way that we can just leave an instruction as to the frequency that we want, but there isn’t. I figured that since the vendor would read those instructions from the customer, this is probably better than just taking a chance that they won’t send you a second one on the same frequency as the first one that you ordered.

As far as the product is concerned, it works well and does the job. The switch has excellent range and you don’t necessarily need a clear line of sight to the remotely controlled plug. I was able to install a remote light switch for my living room pole lamp at the top of the stairs coming from the master bedroom. The second was installed on the headboard of my bed so I could remotely control the pole lamp in my bedroom. I did the same thing at my elderly mother’s house and she loves the convenience of having the light switch at the head of her bed.

I definitely recommend this product. You an use some double sided tape and mount your light switch at any convenient location.

November 15, 2013 Outlet, , 0 Read more >

Works Flawlessly – Style Looks A Bit Cheap

I liked that this unit has a remote switch that I can access easily to turn off my multiple monitors at once instead of turning them off individually or crawling under the desk to flip the surge protectors switch. It also has a couple of constant-on recepticals to power items whether or not the switch is flipped.

The switch looks a little odd, but probably as good as it can given the form factor. Signal strength is quite good — a brick wall and a washing machine are in between one of the plugs and its switch. As noted by other reviewers, there are no separate “on” or “off” directions. Pushing the switch on either side simply toggles the power.

Our house was built with no wall switches in the bedrooms and we were thrilled to find these. They’ve actually gone down in price since we bought ours. They work perfectly and we’ve never had a problem.

However, as another reviewer said, it has only two different frequencies, and the frequency is NOT selectable. When you buy, you must specify either the “A” or “B” frequency switch. The package is labeled such. Don’t get two of the same frequency within range of each other! Oh, and the switch and control block do not look like what is pictured. The control block is bigger and the switch (as mentioned in the other review) is a rocker, not a traditional toggle as pictured.

It has a one-piece rocker switch/plate cover that looks like it could break easily. However, I’ve had mine for about 2 years so far and it’s still intact.

This unit has three channels, so you can have up to three different sets of these in your home. In my living room, I have two sets, both on the same channel, controlling two lamps across the room from each other. Since they’re both on the same channel, either transmitter can turn on or off both lights (kind of like three-way switching for multiple lamps).

The rocker switch makes it seem like you’d press up for on and down for off. However, it’s just a toggle switch — there’s no difference between up or down.

Leviton makes a more-attractive switch (although they only sell the almond color here on Amazon). It resembles a regular hard-wired rocker switch commonly found in homes. However, it only has two channels (so you could only have two sets of these in your home), and it’s VERY tempermental. It will randomly switch off and sometimes constantly switch off — very annoying.

I would like to see X10 come out with one of these devices, but their controllers resemble remote controls too much. They need one that looks like a regular wall switch. So why X10? First it can handle 256 channels — not just two or three. Second, it can integrate with your PC for home automation. Third, it costs about the same as one of these other more-basic models.

November 14, 2013 Outlet, , , 0 Read more >

Perfect For An Energy-Saver Like Me

Well, I was looking for something I didn’t think was possible to find:

- slim design

- always on outlets along with the ability to truly power some off

- reasonable length cord

- decent remote control (both looks and function)

I got all of the above with this product. It is tucked away in a cabinet where I don’t have to see it (and I don’t have mikes of cord taking up the rest of the cabinet area), with my laptop in one of the “always on” outlets. BlackBerry, iPad, and my husband’s phone charger are in the remote-controlled outlets. Every morning after I read the news on my iPad, I plug it in and use the remote. When our devices are charged, off go the outlets. The remote is slim and unobtrusive. I also can’t complain about the price.

Personally, I don’t like paying more than $50 a month in electricity, especially when there are things I can do to reduce “phantom” energy usage. I bought the 8 plug model over 2 years ago and am still loving it. I actually bought a 2nd 10 plug one a few months ago and thought I’d send out a review for both.

6 of the plugs are connected to the remote switch with 2 being available for always on performance. I connected my DVR and TV to the always on plugs with my router, cable modem, PS3 and receiver on the remote.

I keep the remote upstairs by my desktop computer (also on the a conserve switch) so I can turn on the internet whenever I use the desktop. There is also a switch on the surge protector so you can turn the remote-controlled plugs on and off without the remote. Since I have two Conserve units, I set both of them to the same frequency and they both work off the same remote. I use the upstairs desktop sparingly and it helps eliminate the phantom power draw from the power supply of the desktop when it is off. I used the handy to figure it cut 90% of energy usage for my desktop when off.

I did the math and it easily saves me 2-5 dollars a month in energy consumption on my router and modem alone vs. being on 24/7. I turn the router and modem off while I am at work or am not using the devices. It really pays for itself over the course of a year or two.

Eliminate power consumption on low use items that consume electricity even while off. Will pay for itself over the course of a few years. Multiple units can be controlled from same remote. At least 30 foot radius for the RF remote, no line of sight needed (I haven’t tried longer but that’s about how far mine is from the downstairs unit)

November 13, 2013 Outlet, , , , 0 Read more >