Remote-Outlet

Outlet

Great Device, Far Superior to the Kill-a-watt

This device tells you that a 60 watt light uses 60 watts of energy, or a 20 watt device uses 20 watts of energy, or a 100 watt device uses 100 watts (who would have guessed?)… and then tells you how much it would cost if you had it on 24/7. Does not calculate how much cumulative energy items that turn on and off use, which is what you probably actually want to learn. This device does all basic math you could do anyway if you tried with a calculator. I did figure out my cable TV box uses 19 watts of energy. My microwave uses almost 1.5 watts for the clock. Other than that not much use.

Simply put it at the origin point of your plug and it will keep your device from draining power when you aren’t using it.

I thought this would be a perfect item for the house, in my neck of the woods electricity is expensive so such a device would pay for itself quickly, and it would…in theory.

Not that it doesn’t do what it’s designed to do, you plug it in and simply use that switch to power down and up the device that is plugged in, piece of cake right? Not exactly.

You see the only problem is one could accomplish the same thing by unplugging the device each time. People don’t do this because it’s too much of a bother to get up and unplug the device, hence the Belkin conserve power switch.

But it only takes a few days to discover that people who aren’t willing to get up and unplug a device, aren’t willing to get up to turn it off via the Belkin. and when they DO remember they forget they’ve done so and end up upset when they have to get up and turn the switch back on to use their gaming systems.

So there is very little difference overall. It’s a great idea in theory but frankly a person that concerned wouldn’t have to buy it. Now if you can get a wireless control for the switch.

I set in my cost of electricity from my power bill, plugged in my freezer and found out how much a month it costs to run. I love a product that does exactly what you want it to do. I bought this one because of the 5 ft cord. The plug in is behind the freezer making a none cord thingy unusable.

Easy to set up and great real time calculation of energy use. Has helped me put a few energy hogs in my home on timers or other ways of saving them from running up my power bill.

January 24, 2014 Outlet, , , , 0 Read more >

Adds Convenience to My Life!

We tested it on Friday and it worked from about 20-25 feet away in the room. Perfect applcation for this device.

Works great. The only thing strange about the device is the design didn’t allow my 3 prong plug to fully seat in receptacle. The molded rubber end of unit didn’t allow enough room. Easily solved with an exacto knife cutting away a 1/4″ or so of material that did not effect integrity of unit.

It’s great. Very well made & not flimsy like the others and a really good feature is that the plug is on a short cable so you don’t have a hassle trying to plug it into a strip or outlet. I really wish I could get a few more of the key chain transmitters…that’s what I’m looking for.

So glad I found this because although the others I had (Handy Switch) worked pretty good for a while, I had to throw them away because of the recall/fire hazard thing. Now if only I can find extra transmitters…..

UPDATE……..The remote went through a hot water wash (accidentally left it in my pocket) Let it dry out over night, put in a new battery..AND IT STILL WORKS!!!

In order to keep energy costs down I generally only keep on a light that I need at that time, often for reading. The rest of the house is dark at night. I’ve got a couple of places where the lamp is behind a large chair, making them difficult to turn on and off, and of course they are on the far side of the rooms. If I want to see where I’m walking ‘d have to cross the room to turn on a light elsewhere before coming back to turn one of these off and either climb on or move around the chair to get to the switch.

I received a similar product for Christmas and was instantly in love. That one plugged directly into the outlet. This one has a short cord that plugs into the outlet which allows you to mount the device on a wall close to the outlet. Mine is actually plugged into a multi-outlet strip which works out fine. I’ve got the remote dangling from a light switch which has to be on all the time for something else. No more navigating across a dark room.

My only complaint is how difficult it was to open and close the battery cover due to the position of the ring that attaches the keychain to the remote.

I have used one of these switches for my family room light for several years, and it has worked wonderfully. I decided to buy two more for my bedroom and my son’s bedroom. One room is upstairs and one is downstairs. The good news is, the remotes have a long range. The bad news, both remotes are on the same frequency. What a surprise in the middle of the night when my bedroom light came on because my son had turned his light on! We swapped the family room remote switch with my son’s and everything is fine. Alas, I wanted another outlet switch for another room, but can’t seem to find ones with multiple frequency options.

We kept the remote near the tree and it worked as advertised. I will note you can’t get very far from the source or the remote tends to not work. I will say our plug is located behind our large screen television, so we don’t have line-of-site (that may make a difference in the distance it works from).

January 23, 2014 Outlet, , , , 0 Read more >

NEVER GET UP FROM BED TO TURN YOUR LIGHT OFF AGAIN!

Give me a break, I have a big bed okay? Haha So I used an extenstion cord and connected both lamps to this gizmo and voila! I can turn them both on with the touch of a button. I’ve had zero problems with it. I may buy another for the lamps in the living room. I wish there was a two pack but I guess being lazy aint cheap!

I have a little hook on the side of the fridge for the remote and when we have company or just want to enjoy the lighting, one click takes care of it. An easier option than a new outlet or running an extension cord. Works great for what we need it to.

Great for lamps/lights that are in hard to reach spots—or for turning on or off lights outside—or after you’re in bed. I gave this to my nephew and he really liked it and put it to use right away.

It meet my needs and then some. I have an extra one but haven’t decided where I am going to use it at as of yet. Great product and great prices.

I plugged it into this and now I can shut my light of while Im in bed. VERY CONVENIENT. We also have one for our christmas tree so you dont have to bed down under all the branches to plug it in. Im sure there are many more uses for it as well!

Easy to set up, but the adapter is a bit bulky and the cord is short. Had some trouble getting it to connect to my device, but once I did all was well. Prompt delivery. Better than the fire hazard clapper.

I have it plugged behind my nightstand in order to turn on my nightstand lamp. The only problem is that I have to click the button for “On” and “Off” sometimes multiple times before it registers to turn the lamp off. This could be due to the fact that the outlet it is plugged into is behind the nightstand, and it’s just not catching the laser to the sensor. Just be aware that if it’s plugged behind something, it might take a few clicks to turn the switch on or off. This really doesn’t bother me because it works usually after the second try.

Every time I sat down on my lazy boy to watch a movie or a game, I had to get back up to turn the lamp off. I now keep the remote control for the wireless power switch right next to me. The product does exactly what I wanted it for and it’s a simple device: you plug the power switch into an electrical outlet and, in my case, the lamp into the power switch. You are then ready to turn the lamp off or on with your remote control. It’s a little expensive compared to some of the other comparable devices, but it’s simple and well put together. I recommend it.

January 22, 2014 Outlet, , , , 0 Read more >

SUCH A BIG HELP

It saves her from having to run up the stairs if I get a phone call or something. She is operating the remote from about 40 to 50 feet away and operating an upstairs light from downstairs.

I was worried at first because I wanted to put the plug behind my bed and I didn’t know if it would block the remote signal but it didn’t. I was still able to plug something below it too. The remotes also have a thing on the back so you can hang them on the wall.

Does exactly what it’s supposed to do. I bought 2 remotes and one outlet. The outlet is in a closet outside the house, and I use one remote control from the 1st floor and the other from the 2nd floor. No issue. It works perfectly all the time.

I’ve had trouble turning off the lamp beside my bed. This remote has been such a wonderful help to me! Now all I have to do is click the remote button instead of struggling to reach the switch on the lamp.

I have it hooked up to my living room lamps in the apartment, it works anywhere you go, even outside! I haven’t seen how far away I can go yet but it lets me go as far as my car and… well… how much further do I need to go? Sometimes might have to press the button twice for it to “hear” me but that’s not a big deal… I just click again! It’s not that hard!

It installs in seconds and has excellent on/off response from the remote switch that comes with this product. My only caveat is that this is an RF device so it can not be “learned” by a standard universal IR remote controller.

I have one for an incandescent stand lamp and now have a new one for a compact fluorescent (CLF) desk lamp. The switches for both lamps were in a location that was hard to reach. This wireless remote control switch did the trick.

When we pollute the air, we can turn it on for a bit to clear it, and turn it off again from the couch. Plug is about 6 feet away

When I plugged it in… or rather, when I tried to plug it in, I found it had a formed piece of plastic, undoubtedly intended to shield the outlet itself from the elements, that made it impossible to plug in the router without first plugging in a three-outlet adapter.

This works, but it’s a little less than elegant. It’s not clear from the photos that this little overhand exists, and it wouldn’t make any difference to a lamp or a string of holiday lights. But the plugs for technology devices are sometimes exotic in shape, to try to make it easy to plug into power strips.

Ah well, I was able to make it work, but it’s lightly irritating (and would have been moreso had I not already had a three-plug adapter).

January 21, 2014 Outlet, , , , 0 Read more >

Great Idea, and Almost Perfect Execution

Came across this one at a good price and 5 outlets. I attach the remote to the wall and use the outlets for various lighting setups throughout the main floor of my house, and also my Wireless router that I use with a mobile broadband card. To get good signal I have to set it up quite high, and would need a ladder to reset it as needed. Now I just click the remote off and on to restart.

Why I gave 4 stars.

Pros:

More outlets than most with 5.

Slim remote with front loading batteries so I can attach it to the wall and still change them.

Distance seems good, the furthest I have is about 20feet.

Price is right.

They have a manual on/off button on the outlets.

Cons:

The outlets themselves are quite a bit bigger than the other units I have had. Basically they are ugly, and you will want them hidden from view. No idea why they are so big because it doesn’t appear that the casing is full of electronics. Meaning most of it appears hollow.

Overall, if you want a simple setup like I described, and your outlets will be mostly hidden, you can’t beat these for the price.

I choose this one because it had on and off button right on the units so the remote control is not required. Remote has good range and units do what they are suppose to do…. well sort of.

The knock I have against this is that they too drain power even with in the off position. For instance, I figured I’d use on the microwave for when it’s not in use, which is like 23.5 hours a day. Although the microwave only drained about 0.8 watts when plugged in, I though I’d attempt to save even that by turning it off with one of these units. The problem is that each of these units also drain 0.8 watts per hour when connected. That’s not so bad right? not at all except in the case of the microwave and a few other items, it makes no sense to use these.

However, if you have say an entertainment center or at a minimum a flat panel digital TV, the 0.8 watts is nothing. Many people don’t realize that just having the average LCD/LED/Plasma screen TV plugged in and turned off drains 40-60 watts per hour.. Again, that’s turned off. That like running 3-4 CFL light bulbs 24 hours a day. If you simply connected that TV and any other items nearby (say DVD player, cable/sat receiver, or TIVO) to one of these units and turned it off when not in use, you’d save upwards of 70-90 watts per hour during non use times.

However, since have most of my electronic on a surge strip that has an on/off switch, I simply turn off the switch and it uses no additional power. So now I find myself looking for a place to actually use these that will save me on power.

I realize the power is needed, probably, for the wireless remote communications…. so you give a little for the convenience.

I did find a home for a few of these. I put them in the kids’ room. I already had power strips in them but found another convenience. Because we have the power strips and plugs in hard to reach places, these make it easy to shut the power strips down. Also at night, we can easily turn of the TVs, DVD player, cable box, and etc… from our bedroom, after the kids fall asleep. We can also turn them off as we prepared to walk out the door.

Between using this and a number of power switches with on/off switches, we’ve seen a decrease in our power consumption/bill of between around 16-19% over the months following the installations. I accredit most of the drop to the use of power strips and us diligently turning them off when not in use, but these controllers make it easier to turn of several of those switches.

Good luck and think GREEN!

January 20, 2014 Outlet, , , , , , 0 Read more >

Loved These for Controlling Christmas Lights!

I had the tree, mantel swags and stairway garlands all hooked up it. For years I have used outlet timers but they can be hard to sync and can be noisy. This also gives you the power to turn them on or off whenever not just at specific set times. The only downside is the bulkiness of the plug in unit. But they are well worth it!

Remote does not have to be line of sight to work!!!!! Able to control recepticle in garage from anywhere in the house. Well worth the investment.

I hate fluorescent lighting and so I only use lamps. I have the remote on the back of my door. I don’t have to turn on all 5 lamps individually every morning. And when I step out of the office for lunch, I can easily flip them off to save energy. They work awesome. Every time. I would buy more sets for every room of my house if I didn’t have light switches. And even then… Christmas lights will never be the same.

Highly Recommended!! Bought the cheaper 3 unit set and #2 would not shut off. It would turn it on, but that defeats the purpose of “Wireless Remote”. My point is, spend a few more dollars for a much better Quality Product as these Are!!

We have all 5 of our bedrooms set up this way with their own set of remote controlled socket sets. Having the ability to choose just how much light you want is also fantastic.

I use the two remotes to switch on my dust vacuum when I am using my table saw and router. It’s durable and it works. One suggestion is that the vendor include a third remote for a slightly increased cost.

I almost feel guilty about being lazy and just pressing the button to turn it on/off from the delicious comfort of being under the covers…. almost.

Product works fantastically, had it for about 8 weeks, and no issue so far. It is a bit bulkier than other similar products I’ve had before, but that’s not really a dealbreaker. Battery’s included, which is always a good thing.

I use them to turn on my shop dust collection system. It sure is easier than rewiring a remote switch system. And they can be moved to accommodate various work stations. The plug base requires NO Battery. That confused ma at first. Highly recommended. Will buy more

Does exactly what it’s supposed to do. I bought 2 remotes and one outlet. The outlet is in a closet outside the house, and I use one remote control from the 1st floor and the other from the 2nd floor. No issue. It works perfectly all the time.

January 19, 2014 Outlet, , , 0 Read more >