Remote-Outlet

Monthly Archive: December 2013

Good Remote Control, But Limited to Three Channels

The newer designs do NOT block the second outlet, while the older ones do. I bought the 3-pack for the newer version.

I’ve been using them in my 810 sq ft. 1-bedroom apartment for a few months now, and I love them! I have three lamps, the switches of which are difficult to reach on a regular basis, and the remote control makes it extraordinarily easy to turn them on and off at will. It was also very easy to program the buttons to each switch (I labeled the buttons on the remote with Sharpie to help me remember which switch was controlled by which button, but the control is labeled with numbers by default), and it was also a matter of seconds to program the 4th button to turn all the lights on or off simultaneously. I’m certain if I bought a 4th switch, it would be easy to program it to the same remote.

My only con is that there’s no built-in loop or attachment to enable hanging the remote from the wall or something. I could envision the little control getting lost easily in a house. I worked past this by putting a rubber band with an attached jump ring around the circumference of the remote and hanging it from a thumbtack, but it’s worth noting.

I have two washers, each plugged into a one hour timer outlet, then plugged into this remote outlet. In this way I can “click” to turn on the plug that feeds the timer and the guests have one our to complete the load. They are hidden behind the washers, and I do have to hold the remote close to the wall to activate them, as the signal doesn’t seem to penetrate through all the metal of the washers. Might do well in an open living space, though. But I am happy with them.

However, I had a similar system when I lived in Germany, which had two important features that I have not been able to find in the U.S.: First, the German system came as a set of four receivers and a transmitter with four corresponding buttons (similar to this one with three receivers and three buttons), but it was possible to buy additional receivers and transmitters and to assign different channels to them. This way, it was possible – for example – to have separate remote control systems (using different channel ranges) for the lights in the bedroom and in the living room, or to control up to 32 individual receivers with a single remote control (using the four buttons and the channel selector). Second, the German system offered the possibility to add receivers with built-in dimmer functionality. If I find a system with this combination of features in the U.S., I will probably replace the Eforcity system, but aside from its limited functionality I am very happy with the latter.

December 5, 2013 Outlet, , , 0 Read more >

Awesome, Especially for Lamp-lit Homes

In old homes without well developed lighting and switches, these are awesome – instead of walking around rooms to turn on the rare lights (our basement is poorly lit with light switches literally in 3 opposite corners only), we use these and lamps and control everything easily. These program really easily and work great. Never had a problem. You can program multiple “outlets” to the same button, so that you can turn groups of outlets on and off from a single button. This is great. Each outlet can have two “buttons” programmed to it.
The only problem is with this “button” programming. The way I planned to use this was to have outlet sets 1-4 for buttons 1-4, then use 5 as an “all on” option. The problem is that the remotes aren’t equal to each other, and the remotes can’t be programmed. So, to make the remotes equal (button 1 and remote A and B turns the same set on), you’ve already used the two buttons available (i.e. the outlet responds to remote A button 1′s frequency 100, and remote B button 1′s frequency of 200). This is no problem except that I wanted to have an “all on” option, which would then require a third frequency, which the outlets aren’t capable of.
Other than this, the product is awesome, I have multiple sets in our old home and I will buy more if I ever need more.

that brand required 4 different remotes to operate 4 strings of LED lights throughout our travel trailer. We ordered these and received them quickly. 15 minutes after we opened the package (which was short one battery, but a quick call to Etekcity and they linked our Amazon order to our address and promised to send us a couple of batteries), the system was up and running.

Programming was easy and straight forward. Now we punch one button and all the lights come on, push another and all are off! In addition, we can program the other buttons to operate singles strings of lights. Simple to operate, simple to set up, responsive and courteous customer service. What more can we ask for? Only have had them a few days, so can’t attest to durability, but we will keep you posted (both on the batteries, and the how well they hold up.

Very nice feature. I use these for lamps, fans, my DVR (because it locks up if not power on and off every few days) and a few other things. With one button you can turn on/off several things at once.

December 4, 2013 Outlet, , , 0 Read more >

Excellent Configurability!

I got the set with 3 outlet controllers and a remote that has 5 sets of on/off buttons. I later added a fourth outlet controller to the set. I originally bought it to control a lamp across the room at night. However, after getting it, I decided to use it for three other lamps I have as well. Now I have everything set up to any combination I could ever want!

On/Off Buttons 1 – lamp 1

On/Off Buttons 2 – lamp 2

On/Off Buttons 3 – lamp 3

On/Off Buttons 4 – lamp 4

On/Off Buttons 5 – lamp 1, 2, 3, and 4 simultaneously

So not only can I turn each lamp on and off individually, but I can turn all the lamps on and off as a set! It doesn’t matter what button I used to turn them on. Even if I turn on the lamps individually, I can easily press the Off Button 5 to turn off all the lamps at once! I love this!

The instructions were not very detailed as to how to configure the remote control. It’s actually very easy. So let me include some basic instructions on how to program the outlet controllers with the remote control.

To pair an outlet controller with a remote:

(1) Plug the outlet controller into the wall socket.

(2) Press and hold the learning button until a light begins to flash, then let go.

(3) Press the button on the remote that you want to control the outlet controller.

That’s it! So simple! Repeat the steps above for any remote button you want. Each on and off button works independently so you can configure it any way you want.

You can pair any button on the remote to any outlet controller, even if the button has already been paired with another outlet controller. For example, if you want the On Button 5 to control two outlets, simply repeat the steps above for each one. You don’t have to do them together. Just do them like normal. Then when you press the On Button 5, both outlets will come on!

Canceling a pairing requires that you reset the outlet controller. It’s also very easy to do.

To reset an outlet controller (cancel all pairings) so that no remote button will control it:

(1) Remove the outlet controller from the wall socket.

(2) Press and hold the learning button.

(3) While still holding the learning button, plug the outlet controller back into the wall socket.

(4) Continue to hold the button for 5 seconds or until the light begins to flash, then let go.

(5) Once the light stops flashing, the outlet controller has been reset.

The only drawback I can find is that you cannot plug two outlet controllers into a wall outlet due to their size. You can, however, plug the outlet controller into the top wall outlet and still use the bottom outlet as normal. I don’t find this to be a big problem.

I wish I had found these long ago. I am certain I will be buying more!

UPDATE: I did buy more! I added another lamp to the room so I bought another outlet controller. I now have the remote control managing all four lamps. I could not be happier with this product!

December 2, 2013 Outlet, , , 0 Read more >

They Are Exactly What We Expected

The newer models allow you to program each socket to respond to any of the buttons on the two remotes provided. The instructions that came with the device are very poorly written. Poor English in some cases and incomplete instructions. There is no explanation of how to ‘un-program’ a button, and I was finding it impossible to get the two remotes to replicate one another. In some applications you want to program the remotes to control different devices, but in what I believe is the more common application you want the remotes to functional identically. If I program button number 1 on remote A, I want button number 1 on remote B to control the same socket. I would setup one remote, and then when I went to duplicate the process for the second remote some of the buttons stopped working on the first remote and vice-versa.

I reached out to customer support via email and got a quick response. The customer service rep (Tyler) was very helpful and informed me that each socket can only remember up to 3 buttons. So as soon as I tried programming a 4th button to a socket that had already been associated with 3 other buttons, it removed the association for one of the 3 previous buttons. Each button sends out a specific frequency. 5 different frequencies for buttons 1-5 on remote A, and another 5 frequencies for each of the buttons on remote B.

I explained that this is the setup I wanted, and that I wanted all buttons on both remotes A and B to behave identically. They are all hooked up to various lamps in my kids’ bedroom.

Button 1 – Device 1

Button 2 – Device 2

Button 3 – Device 3

Button 4 – Devices 1,2,3 (all at once)

Button 5 – Device 4

I wanted to place one remote in the dark and scary hallway for my kids to press on the way to their bedroom, and the the other remote right next to their bed so they can turn off the lights from the safety of their bed. They would especially like button #4 which turns all 3 light on all at once.

The rep informed me that this was not possible because the two remotes used different frequencies, and you couldn’t have socket associated with more then 3 frequencies (buttons). This is when I got pleasantly surprised. The rep offered to send me a remote that matched the frequencies of one of the remotes I already had. He explained that one remote had a number on the back, the other remote had no number. He would be sending me a duplicate remote in essence for the one without a number on the back – at no extra charge! He sent it USPS First Class. I reprogrammed the matching remote, and the one he sent me duplicated the programmed remote without any additional programming.

I was disappointed it uses strange batteries (12v A23) instead of the standard ones that the original non-learning remotes use, but I read they are smaller and provide more power for this type of application. I just ordered a five-pack of them on Amazon for under $7 and stuck them in my spare batteries drawer.

My kids are super happy campers and I am a happy parent, and now loyal customer of it. All companies should treat their customers this way.

December 1, 2013 Outlet, , , 0 Read more >