Author Archive: outlet

To combat the harsh ceiling fixture lighting in my place, I bought some floor lamps that would reflect light up toward the ceiling instead of the light coming down. The lamps’ switches are toward the top of the lamps; I can stand from my wheelchair to operate the switches, but with my lack of balance it wasn’t safe turning them on and off. Searching for a solution, I came across these and they looked like they’d do the trick. And they do. The first thing which impressed me was their heft, hopefully a sign that the manufacturer takes the plugs’ 10 amp rating seriously – overkill for lamps, but they can be used for small air conditioners and the like, if you trust the heft of these things isn’t just dead weight. Installation of the outlets is straight forward and plugs fit into them easily. The only flaw of the outlets is that they encroach on the second outlet in the wall. This maybe intentional for the chance that a person does plug in a high amperage appliance into it, but if you’re just using lamps, etc. there’s no need to cover the second outlet. However, a flat profiled plug will fit underneath this outlet and into the wall. As for the battery, I had little issue putting it in the remote. But I did have problems replacing the battery compartment door. I chalked this up to my spastic condition and do think that a person with more coordination wouldn’t have a problem.

The outlets work great! I keep the remote I’m my saddle bag on my wheelchair and can turn on any equipped lamp from anywhere in my apartment.

I have had zero problems and plan on buying more for other lights around the house.

My only concern is losing the remote, or my two year old daughter sticking it in the couch… or the trash… or the toilet… or her mouth… or under the mattress… what I am trying to say is the remote is small…

He can leave a room with the light on and shut it off when he is in the bedroom. I recommend for anyone with disabilities or lights/other appliances that are hard to reach. Easy to install but a bit bulky.

I bought one three pack and was so satisfied by it I bought another one for other parts of the house, it is truly amazing how they work and you cannot beat the price. I would highly recommend this product to anyone especially if you are lazy like me, lol.

They have Christmas lights strung up around the ceiling, and they each have a desk light and a bedside lamp. So, they install all three with this remote system, and then from their bed they can control the lights on and off. It’s great because they use the Christmas lights way more than they would if they had to plug/unplug them all the time, and they can give their room a nice glow with the three lights on, but then not have to get up out of bed to turn them all off. Maybe they’re lazy, but it sure is handy! The only thing they don’t like is that each unit is big enough to cover both plugs in the outlet, so they can’t plug anything else in. Since we have power strips galore, it’s not really an issue, but you should know they cover the whole two outlet plug.

I have an old house with no overhead lighting so until now I’ve had to run extension cords all over each room to get the lights to turn on and off with the light switches.

Now I can plug in the lamps anywhere without the extension cords and turn them on and off with this wireless remote.

Range seems great so far, can switch bedroom lights on/off from my living room.

Highly recommend and can’t beat that price.

At first I could tell she thought it wa something she didn’t need. After my Daughter & I hooked them up for her, she absolutely loves them. She uses them regularly & tells me all the time how handy they are for her. She has bad arthritis in her hands & I just can’t explain how much they’ve helped her. Only bad thing is they will NOT work in any durable medical equipment, such as an oxygen converter.

I bought a second set and used them to control uplights in our family room installed in the corners behind the couch and wall cabinet. Really handy, well-functioning!!

So these remote control outlet switches were just the thing I needed.

A few minor complaints, though: The outlet boxes were very large and completely blocked out the second outlet in a conventional wall socket. I plugged them into a power strip, but even there they were space hogs. I used one-foot extension cords to plug into the power strip and then plugged the boxes into the extension cord. This freed up space on the power strip. It was a mess to look at, though everything was hidden under dressers and bedside tables. However the large size of these outlet boxes necessitated the additional purchase of the extension cords.

The remote takes a nonstandard 12-volt 23A sized battery. The remote is big enough that it would take one or two AAA or even AA batteries. Why the nonstandard battery size in the remote? This size battery is not that easy to find.

I received a remote and three outlet boxes that were prominently branded “dbtech” but this branding was not shown in the photo on the product page. Plain white components were shown.

Otherwise I’m well pleased with this item.

Very quick response from the remote. Yes the plugs are pretty large and also the remote back is less than easy to open up. But overall good product.

The old ones never worked that great and interfered with each other. All of those problems are gone now! Each plugged device works perfectly every time with just one press of the button.

If there was a negative I’d say that the plugs themselves were bigger in size than I thought they’d be. I had to use a short piece of extension cable (made for strip additions) to get my third device going.

But the buttons on the plugs are sweet. I don’t use them, but I count that as a very useful feature depending on the application. Believe me, I don’t miss my old switches one bit. I can get the remote to turn the plugs on and off from quite a ways away. If I’d known how well this set would work, I’d probably have ordered it sooner!

I am using these in my living room and can switch on/off lights depending on need with the remote from the comfort of the couch!

The remote works from any where in my home to switch on/off the lights even though these were hidden behind my sofa.

There were three units on this remote and I have 2 trees in two different rooms in my house. I just click each one from almost anywhere in my home and they go off (and come on) when I’m ready. I decided to use the 3rd one on a set of lights that I had in still another room and they work just the same. I plan to use this for lamps in my library and bedrooms after Christmas. I’ll let you know what other items I choose to use with this item. The only downside (and it’s not really horrible) is that the adaptor is a lttle large but it does not cover the second receptiable on my wall outlet. I also had not trouble plugging gthe one that controls my stringed lights into a heavy duty extension cord and it still worked perfectly.

I have several now. I used to connect lights in a guest bedroom for my father. It works so well and so handy I began to connect other things, such as corner lights, reading lamps, even a quartz ceramic heater.

Other than that and the fact that it just has an overall cheap used feel, they do what its advertised to do. I have a set of klipsch speakers(Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 Wireless Computer Speakers) that don’t have an on off switch so to turn them off I have to get up and unplug them. Thats no bueno. So… this works for me and i don’t have to get out my bed to do it. I also like how all three switches are on one remote.

I have 3 lights in my living room that are in various locations and with just a push of a button I can light up each one from my comfy chair. I used to have to bend down to turn on an uplight in the corner of the room, but now I just push a button. I used to accidentally mess up the shades on my table lambs while trying to turn them on in the dark, but now I push a button. I gave it 4 out of 5 because they do make a clicking noise when turning on and off and they are kind of cheap looking. I would have preferred a black color or something more modern looking. These are very small details in an otherwise great product.

I put rope lighting above my cabinets and I plugged them into my outlet that also serves my above stove microwave. Needless to say, it was not cool to climb on a chair everytime to unplug and plus the lights in. Now, I swirl my wine and push the button and viola …..lights on above cabinets for some extreme mood lighting.

I am really glad I bought them. Every day I find more and more uses for them around the house.

My only concern is the material feels cheap and I feel like they could stop working at any time. The plastic buttons are very flimsy but none of them have failed me yet. Also, as others have said, the recievers are a bit bulky. I tend to use a lot of power strips and these are not very power strip friendly.

Overall, I am happy with the product. If you are looking for remote control outlets, these will not upset especially for the price.

You can also turn the outlet off and on without the remote too, which is easier than plugging in and unplugging your christmas lights. The remote works through walls. The battery was a little difficult to get in but nothing too hard, its nothing to avoid the product about. The thing is a little big and slightly covers the other socket, but you can still plug a surge protector into the other socket if you play with it a little.

True – they are on the large size, the battery took some effort to get in, the remote is kinda cheapish feeling and looking. But that said…

I have an all X10 remote system at home. For whatever reason, I could never get the small TV and fan to work reliably on X10. They’d stop working, start working, and/or interfere with my other lights. After fighting with X10 for years, I finally said – I just want to turn on the fan. What’s so difficult about that?

Well, these do not require anything more than to plug them in. Look for an 1-Foot Extension Power Cable, 5-Pack outlet saver, liberator, or 1 foot extension cord for some applications. Compared to X10, these units are fast, quiet, and reliable. Just a single button so if the fan goes on, it’s on. There are indicators on the unit itself to let you know if you have power, if the switch is on or off, and two buttons for on/off or just off-only.

If you want simple and easy, this is it. I’ve only had them a week, so for reliability I have my fingers crossed.

Sure enough I just plugged in socket 1 and 2 into the wall, plugged in the lights and the system was good to go. It has worked flawlessly so far.

The remote isn’t the most attractive, but it isn’t as ugly as some of the other options. And quite why they had to pick a non-standard battery for the remote I’m not sure; I know that will be annoying when it fails.

The other thing I don’t understand is in this day and age why the plug ins are quite so big. It seems like they could achieve something this simple with a smaller device. Because of this odds are you are going to lose both outlets when you plug this in, unless you are using an extension cable.

1. It’s not a clapper so accidental loud noises do not turn the light on/off. 2. There are multiple plugs so I can use multiple lights throughout my house with the same remote. 3. The remote works from far distances so I can turn on lights in the back of my home from the front. My only issue is that the outlet socket itself is quite bulky and can block the outlet below/above it sometimes.

This one is by far working the best and has the nicest remote. Even though the remote looks and feels cheap, trust me – all the other manufacturers of these type of outlets make even worse remotes. This one has one button for each outlet On/Off which is great (rather than one button for On and one button for Off – which is a nuisance in the dark trying to feel around for which one is off and on).

This brand also has been the most consistent of the three when you press the button. The first set I bought barely worked when I pressed the buttons (I’d say less than 10% response rate). The 2nd set was a little better but you had to press the button more than once sometimes (maybe 50% response rate). The 2nd set also died after 5 months of use. This set is very responsive and I have yet to wait or press more than once to get the desired effect.

The deduction of one star is due to the size of the outlets. They are very large, almost twice as large as some other brands. They also have the buttons and light on the top which effectively make the top outlet on a standard 2-outlet wall plate inaccessible for anything other than a 2-prong standard plug!!! I had a cordless phone plugged into an outlet that I had to move to another area of my bedroom to make room for the wireless outlet.

I am hoping this set stands the test of time.

There are a few things you should know before buying, though.

1. The batteries are not hard to put in. I have no idea what planet these other people are living on. Even if it were hard, you rarely have to do it. I’ve been operating these regularly for 6 months without the need to change the batteries.

2. The buttons are responsive. You don’t need to press hard or keep pressing them to get something to happen. There’s a barely-perceptible delay before the light switches off, but it’s hardly different from flicking a regular lightswitch.

3. The sockets are bulky and stick out at least 2 inches from the face plate of the socket. If you need this behind a piece of furniture, keep that in mind.

I was happy to see the package came with a battery, yet the battery cover was nearly impossible to take off (I had to use a screwdriver to wedge it off). I am not looking forward to when I need to replace the battery because it does not use any common battery type, like AA or AAA. It uses a smaller AAA style battery. I thought it would cover both outlets when I plugged it in, so I tried to find some single outlet short extension cords at home and could not find any. I was about to give up and order some pricey ones on Amazon when I just decided to try it. I was so happy to find that these do not cover both outlets and you can still plug in something else below it as long as the plug is not too fatty. The installation is dead simple. You just plug the switch into an outlet, plug in your device you want to control into the switch and that’s it. Nothing to program, nothing to worry about. I was hoping I could program my universal remote to operate my lights, but because these do not us IR technology, my remote cannot be programmed for these switches. However, because it does not use IR technology you can use the remote without having to point it at the device.

I have my mood lights on one, my fish tank light on another and lastly my entertainment center lights on as well.

Don’t be afraid to play around with these, I put an entire power cord with additional plugs to control 4 items at once! 4 items and I only used one of the sockets giving me 2 more to use.

They have not “turned on” by themselves and the remote is fairly small and barely noticeable on the coffee table.

After a long day I head straight to the couch where every light is at my fingertips.

A MUST if you have any light switches on the ground (People who buy Ikea lamps know this problem) or behind your entertainment center like myself.

I would not know what would happen if you bought a 2nd set, you might have 2 sockets being turned on and off at once, but who knows. 1 set has been more than enough for my needs. ENJOY!

the remote switch works like a charm, I don’t have to worry about breaking something on my end tables while trying to turn on/off the lamps behind it. I am going to order another set for my bedroom.

Only con (if you call it a con) is the size of the switch that goes in the wall socket, it takes a decent chunk of space but that is not a concern to me personally…

Got this set of 3 to at a good price. One for a bedroom light, one hidden away behind the TV feeding PS3 and receiver, and the third is currently unused. The remote is conveniently mounted on the wall where only adults can get to it. Works well and has good range. Only downside is the bulkiness – it blocks two outlets. Also, it is 3 pin and cannot be rotated so does not sit well with the power strip without blocking 3 outlets; I have it partially over the power strip switch to save an outlet. Wish it could swivel and/or be a bit less bulky.

I was able to use this on two lamps in the living room and a shop light in e garage. It has worked flawlessly since I received it. I am ordering another one for the master bedroom.

Range is excellent – I have tested to 40 feet and it works fine – and super easy to set up and get working. I use the remote every day for 6 months and, so far, never had any problems. I wish I would have found these earlier.

It had a super easy set up, literally plug-and-play. My only complaint, which kept it from getting 5-stars, is lack of wall mounting options. The remote isn’t that big, and it’s easy to misplace (particularly in the dark). If they included a wall bracket, it would be close to perfect.

I have two hooked up to lights and one to my heater I turn on in the morning when its cold. And now I dont have to leave my warm bed to do it.