Remote-Outlet

Monthly Archive: March 2014

Savior for the Busy/Forgetful Mom!

I often found myself worrying that I got distracted and forgot to unplug my hair straightener (*insert horrible visions of me burning my house down because I’m a bozo who can’t remember to unplug my straightener*). Several times, I made a beeline back to my house to make sure I hadn’t left it on. Ordering this product is a lifesaver- I never use my hair straightener without it anymore. There’s one less thing to worry about knowing that even if I did happen to get distracted and leave the house with it still on, it will automatically turn off in a few minutes thanks to this outlet. Definitely worth the small investment for the peace of mind!

Used this to monitor the electric that it takes to run certain items for trouble shooting. Also used to check for power draining appliances. My cell phone does not even register when plugged into the charger only when it is actually charging. .

What I like so much about this thing? The long cord, you can plug it in behind things and still see the meter. I also was able to plug in my current electricity rate and figure out how much each appliance was using. Ditched one thing already because it was costing me more money to use that it was worth.

And like the timer design, I use this one for my washing machine, set to 3hrs or 6 hrs is good enough. I also have some remote control outlets, no remote control for this one is good cheap solution for my case, love it.

I used to plug the power cord directly to the wall mount power when I need lighting for playing ping pong in the yard, but now with the power switch, I just simply keep the cord plugged, no headache any more. Definitely I will recommend it to my friends.

It would happen occasionally and you would have to unplug it to stop the beeping/reset it. I bought this so we could just flip the switch instead of pulling the plug out. Works great.

Sometimes the outlet has a little higher price than the competition, but I’ve never been disappointed in the quality. This switch is no exception in good quality, and the price isn’t bad either. The sculpted, smooth switch lights up with a nice green glow when turned on. Nice attention to design detail!

This switch has helped reduce noise and power consumption. It’s convenient to simply flip the switch when I will be gone for the day or weekend. I would get more if I had more of these “always on” electronics.

March 31, 2014 Outlet, , , 0 Read more >

Slick Convienent Product

I was tired of finding the curling iron left on for hours – best defense against a fire is turning those items off when done using them, the Outlet will ensure you will never forget!

I thought I had always just had a high electric bill, but when I’m gone it should have been miniscule. I used this device to find out that my fridge had a doohickey broken and had gone out of control on its electricity usage. I don’t have money to replace the fridge (thanks high electric bills), but now I know. And knowing is half the battle!

I accidentally came across this, and thought I’d share this.

None of my power outlets are “green” – that means, even when the power switch is set to “off,” power continues to be drawn (albeit at a lower level of current) through the plug outlet where it’s still plugged in.

So, how to completely stop that current? Up until now, my solution was to unplug the power outlet every night, and then plug it back in the following morning.

Another motivation I had for completely unplugging the power outlet every night is that I have items that are plugged in that have colorful LEDs that are always on, even when the attached item itself is turned off. The only way to turn off those LEDs was to unplug the power outlet, turning the switch off on the power outlet didn’t do the trick. I prefer my bedroom to be completely dark when I’m sleeping, with no LEDs on.

I was fully prepared to get rid of all of my current power outlets and to buy new ones that are advertised as “green” power outlets which are designed to cut off all power, so that I wouldn’t have to keep unplugging my power outlet every night and then plugging it back in every morning, but that would have cost me a bit of money.

With this device, I no longer need to do that. This device also allows me to hang onto all of my non-green power outlets that I had bought before, no need to recycle them now. I never knew such a device existed. Now that won’t be necessary after all! My non-green power outlets get to live a longer life. And, this device is a cheaper alternative than completely replacing all of my power outlets.

(There’s a green LED light that’s on when the power is on. When you turn the switch on this device to off, the green LED light that’s on the switch itself also turns off. That’s another way how you know if current is being permitted to flow through this device, or is blocked.)

I’ve now been using it for a few days, and as far as I can tell I think it’s really a terrific product.

So, if any of you didn’t know about this possible solution before, now you do!

March 30, 2014 Outlet, 0 Read more >

A Very Nice Solution to a Real Problem

I only use it in the morning and was looking for a way to shut it off when not needed. Un plugging and re plugging is not good for the receptacle so I tried a timer. The small plug in units fail after a few months I suspect due to the high amp draw.

This is the perfect solution. I turn it on when I get up in the morning and shut it down at about 9:00. Works great and fixed my little old problem. Highly recommended..

I got it to help conserve energy in with my heater fan and though there is not a marked difference in my electricity bill, I feel better that I am trying to make steps to reduce my energy usage. And it can shut off after 3 hours, so if I forget to unplug my heater fan, I don’t have to worry about my cats bumping it and starting it up again or it catching something on fire.

What we do use it on is an electric room space heater where I am worried about forgetting it and leaving it on overnight — maybe burning down the house while we sleep. If you forget, and I have so far exactly once, then this device automatically shuts it down for you. Also, it saves you electricity money, about 10 cents an hour in our case, when we forget, which could easily cost you a buck or two if you leave that heater on overnight and into the next day in your (like we have) basement office. You could also use it to automatically shut down your kids’ video game after they have used up their time allowance, hint, hint ;-)

It’s especially nice for a a few that don’t really have an on off switch (like a Krupps burr grinder that feels warm whenever the power is on even if it’s not grinding). The glowing green light (indicating ‘on’) makes it really easy to see when everything is turned off.

I hoped the lighted switch would alert me that I had forgotten to turn the power off. Unfortunately, I feel that the lighted switch is a little dim and hard to see, as it is located on the side of the device. It does what it is supposed to do — you just have to check it with all the kitchen lights turned off.

There are three buttons for measurements. Watts, cost per period of time and CO2 effect. I use just in the wattage position to use . What makes it easy – Plug into any outlet, plug device to be tested and the gauge shows the wattage beginning used. The two parts are interconnected by a four to five foot cable which makes it so much easier to read. I have read wattage, so far, from 4 watts for a LED light bulb to 1400+ for a coffee maker.

I programmed my usage rates in and was able to see how much it cost both hourly and monthly to run items in my home. If you want to see why your energy bill is so much try this. I was suprised how much some things cost to run.

March 28, 2014 Outlet, , , 0 Read more >

Great Energy Saving Device

We were able to further reduce power consumption about 15% by putting fans, chargers, coffee maker and our TV entertainment center on count down timers like these. The half hour, 3 hour and 6 hour options are more useful for us than the Woods unit with 1,2,4,8. The outlet also pulls very little power– about 1/5 that of the Woods. We have not tried the outlet on higher wattage appliances as yet.

The on-off switch has a good feel to it, and I suspect it will prove to be reliable in the long run. This allows you to individually turn on and off items plugged into a power strip, something that is occasionally important.

I have been plagued with switches going bad long before electrical devices otherwise cease working. Some lamps, for example, have a ludicrously low-quality on/off switch, and in some cases, the switch is not reasonably replaceable, and when the switch fails, the lamp must be discarded – very frustrating. This switched outlet allows me to use the switch on the outlet and extend the life of what is plugged into it.

I was going to buy your product that automatically turns off the power after a period of time, but so many people who bought it reported that it quit working after only a short period of time that I decided not to do that. This is unfortunate, because that is a product that is potentially very useful. If you could make it more reliable, and then persuade me that it is reliable, I would certainly buy a few of them.

I use it for charging my phone because one of the reasons for early battery failure is over charging the battery. It does great for preventing over charging and I do not have to remember or even be awake to disconnect the charger from power.

I did run into an issue with one of the sockets. Because there is no wall socket near my night stand where I can reach it, I have a conserve socket plugged into an extension cord. One night I dropped my shoes and clothes on top of the socket and it kept the button on top pressed down. The light in the unit is brighter when the button is pressed down. Normally that is not an issue because the button is supposed to be a momentary contact button. You press it and release it in less than a second. My shoes and clothes kept the button pressed all night. The heat from the brighter light melted the plastic a little. I suppose the clothes kept the heat in too. The button would not work after that.

I consider the way that it failed to be due to a fairly unusual set of circumstances. I still recommend this device.

March 27, 2014 Outlet, , , 0 Read more >

Every House Needs at Least 1!

I COULD use 1 instead of having 3 stationed around the house but the convenience of being able to leave on the appropriate setting and have it where I need it is awesome. I never have to worry about having left something on or the phone charger just draining energy. My dad uses one for his phone (3 hours while sleeping) and boyfriend for his humidifier (6 hours while sleeping). Great little product and I have been unable to find in any stores!

These use so much vampire power. Cell phone chargers use power all the time even if the phone isn’t attached. Plug it in, select the time, hit the button. Simple!

It beats unplugging and re-plugging things if you’re concerned about saving a little on your electric bill. Just flick the switch when you need it and flick it off when you don’t.

I use it with an office electric heater to make sure it turns off after several hours as I have to often forgot to turn it off at night just to have the heat run unnecessarily. It is very compact and just requires a push of a button to turn my heater on and then turn it off in the set time.

It works perfect because half an hour later, their reading lamps go off automatically and I don’t have to worry that the lights are on all night.

I notice that someone else wished that the light on the switch would be on when this was switched off. I beg to differ: the way it is, I can easily see when I’ve inadvertently left something turned on.

Instead of always keeping the device plugged in or unplugging it every time, just flip the switch. It will help save electricity and prevent the connectors on the devices from wearing out by unplugging and plugging.

The only thing I wish was that it would offer a 9 hour option, it only gives us half hour, 3 hours, and 6 hours… just would be super if I could get it with 9 hour option too! But overall, I love the device, I have several of them now.

The settings are super easy to use and simple. It would be nice to have more time options but I don’t mind. My only complaint is That if you want to turn the device off before the time expires, you must unplug the entire unit and plug it back in.

Another great use I have found is a auto shutoff for those new electric wax warmers. Save the sent of the wax and power! :)

This saves you from having to reach behind that dresser over and over by just hitting the side of the outlet. We use it for our bedroom tv as we rarely use this time, the outlet is easy to reach but if the cord was pulled each time we would be reaching and searching for the cord. Also makes thing like laptop chargers easier to deal with. Well worth it.

March 26, 2014 Outlet, , , , , 0 Read more >

Never Stress about Leaving on Your Flat Iron!

I keep my flat iron plugged in on the 30 minute setting. Of course I still turn off the iron when I’m done using it, but now I don’t stress about accidentally leaving it on all day while I’m at work.

I use it to charge items that don’t shut down the charging on their own, I have a hair trimmer, drill etc that don’t regulate their own battery and just charge until you stop them. That kills the battery if you forget to unplug.

If you plug in your local KW/Hr cost it will calculate an items power expense very accurately. I have found it is a device that gets used rarely and gets stored in a closet though. All in all you’re better off getting a friend to buy and borrow it ;-)

That’s a nice idea, but after awhile, it takes up desk space and I’d like to be able to have it wall mounted, but the way it’s designed, you can not easily do it.

I also didn’t care for the power/connector cable on the plug in portion, that wire sticks out of the top…soooo, either you use the top outlet or you fumble around to plug in the next device. Seems it would be wiser to have that cable coming out of the side or bottom, so you can use the bottom receptacle on a two gang outlet…BUT, that’s personal opinion, as I assume just as many people may prefer it coming from the top to give them a longer reach.

The electric icon button – displays watts consumed.

The earth icon button – displays the amount of CO2 emissions you’re intentionally generating that will destroy our environment and ultimately our world – shame, shame, shame.

THAT SAID, I like this device and it seems to do a good job at calculating energy use. I have used it to measure individual items and on the collective total of several items on a UPS power strip…removing each item one at a time from the power strip, provides about the same reading as individual readings, so it seems pretty accurate.

Seriously, it does give me an awareness of the energy consumed and food for thought on which items are the biggest power hogs…which leads to turning off those extra items more frequently when not in use…so, it does its job.

Either way, this plug extension allows you to plug in that phone or ipad and charge it only for the necessary time. It’s also great for lights you’re afraid you might leave on.

However you choose to use it, turning on a plugged-in electronic is as easy as pushing the button at the top.

March 25, 2014 Outlet, 0 Read more >