Remote-Outlet

Outlet

Works Great for Coffee Maker or Other Appliances

I thought this switch can be programmed to come on and go off at regular intervals at a time of our choosing. Well, it doesn’t do that. However, what it does is allow you to set a time when you want it to go off. There are 3 time increments for this purpose. This works great when we want to leave the light on in our kids’ room to automatically go off after an hour once they have fallen asleep. This switch performs this function perfectly without a glitch. It’s a nicely made switch and is aesthetically pleasing.

Immediately shuts off the power once the time is up. The unit itself doesn’t draw any electricity when it’s off (according to the manual). Ideal for charging your cell phone overnight or when the wife uses her curling iron or hair straightener in the bathroom. The frustration-free packaging was a nice touch.

My roommates would get upset at me about leaving the toaster plugged in among other things. They work just as promised, one is used with the toaster. The other 3 are used with our phones and personal electronics.

My biggest complained is that they are too big. They they cover whatever sockets are near by (above or below them) so you can’t plug in anything right next to them.

We bought one for the breakfast area, where we tend to be on our laptops surfing or working on our work laptops. We liked how it worked, but kept unplugging to also use in the living room. So, we decided to just buy two, which may be worth it at the end since I heard laptops have pretty high vampire consumption loss.

I just wish we knew just how long it would actually take us to pay off the 9.99 cost (per unit) with the money we’re actually save on electricity. Guess we can plug in the laptop chargers through a Kill-A-Watt analyzer thingy that analyzes vampire power consumption, but we haven’t quite gotten there yet.

I just hope it was all worth the money we spent on these things. If anyone knows how long it may take to recoup the amount spent for these items, please let me know. Thanks!

Regardless, it’s nice to just push a timer button and know it’ll shut off in 30mins, 3hrs, or 6hrs. I wasn’t able to find any other similar product in the market, especially not with the trusted name as it!

I bought this so I could get an idea of the actual power usage of these appliances over a few days (the stickers only give maximum rated current draw). Comparing this to a Kill-a-Watt meter, the decision-maker was the remote display.

This unit works exactly as described – the documentation is a little thin, but it’s accurate. It would get a solid 5 stars if it had a function to display average and cumulative power use, and not just “cost-per-month” and “cost-per-year.” I cannot understand why the power-use figures are not available for display, since they clearly have to be tracked and recorded in order to compute the “cost.” It’s easy enough to do the math and derive the numbers I’m looking for, but it’s silly that that step is necessary.

I guess it was trying to make this into a device to “wake up” lazy consumers, but it’s still geeky enough that it should be able to display the raw data, and the CO2 function is just somebody at stroking their ego. My electricity is generated with a shifting mix of natural gas, wind, and nuclear. At no two times during the week does a single watt of electricity create the same amount of CO2. That particular display on the outlet is going to be such a poorly educated guess that I doubt I’ll ever even look at it, and the real estate on the device and in the software could have been better spent.

It’s functional and good enough that the above gripes are certainly not a deal breaker. You won’t regret buying this, even if you’re looking for raw numbers. It just seems like they should acknowledge that control-and-information-freak nerds are using this.

March 6, 2014 Outlet, , , 0 Read more >

Good for Arthritis

Has an on/off switch, and emits a pleasant clear green glow when on. I use one for my microwave to stop it from flashing messages at me (and turn on a light bulb to warn me that the door is open) when I expect it to be off, and another on my Toaster McMuffin Maker to keep it from sucking in watts for the 23.5 hours a day when not in use. Some fellow shoppers have complained that these things cease functioning or otherwise malfunction after a spell. I’ve been using my two for a month now and I hope they never give me any grief.

I use this product on my radio. I set the outlet for 30 minutes and use it at night so I can listen to the radio for 30 minutes before I go to sleep. I also have another one in the bathroom to control my toothbrush sanitizer. After 30 minutes, it goes off and does not stay on all day long or until the next time I use it.

I turn off the switch in the morning and turn it back on when I use it to heat up my bedroom. I also use one in the kitchen for my hot water kettle. I turn off the switch for safety reasons. I do not want to accidentally turn on the kettle when there is no water in it. Great product.

This just makes it convenient without having to tug at my cell phone plug all the time. I have arthritis pain in my wrists, so it’s much easier for me to flip a switch than grab and pull at my power cord. I don’t use this on my computer mostly because it’s plugged into the surge protector. It’s a great switch if you know anyone who has arthritis issues or just appreciates the convenience of a switch.

I toss my equipment on a rack and hit the button on the unit to power the fan. I can set it and forget it. My hockey equipment dries 10x faster and the fans turn off automatically after the time I set. I used to have to let fans run all night because my games end late, but now I’m saving time and energy.

So far it seems to work great. She was a little concerned about 1/2 hour being too short of a time, and unfortunately there is no way to adjust the time beyond the 1/2 hour, 3 hour, and 6 hour times, but so far it has been fine. It’s a good concept, and it is nice that it draws zero power after it shuts off (not that that is very applicable to curling irons and straighteners).

I was a little surprised at how bulky it is, but it doesn’t block the outlet below it, so that is nice. The green light is also so dim that I wouldn’t be able to tell if it was on or off at a glance.

Overall this is a good product. It’d be nice if it was trimmer, more adjustable, and the green light actually lighted, but for the price it’s a great way to keep your house from burning down. Let me know if you have any questions. Hope this was helpful!

March 5, 2014 Outlet, , , , 0 Read more >

Simple and Effective Power Switch, Great for Christmas

Nice little gadget to check how much all of your other gadgets is costing you on electric bill – your computer, laptops, toaster, microwave, desk lamps, desk fans, window acs, tv, clock radios, WiFi router, iPhone chargers… Good quality and is easier to use than energy watts monitor.

The battery needs a 3 hour recharge and this outlet can be set for different lengths of time. This prevents overcharging. This outlet works as promised.

It’s awesome. I use it in the kitchen for my lights and appliances and in my bedroom where the socket is handier to reach than my reading lamp.

I have often worried about my poor habits with regards to battery conditioning. For example, I nearly always have my laptop plugged in when it’s at the house, regardless of whether it’s running or not, and I generally leave my cell phone plugged in all night long–even though both of these things really only need a couple hours to charge, and then “best practices” say to remove the power source.

That’s where the Converse Socket comes in. No, it doesn’t do some fancy detection of the power draw from the plugged-in device(s) like some of the more expensive devices, but rather it has a simple timer switch that will turn off the power after the configured time. The design is easy to understand: on one side is a switch that you set for 1/2 hour, 3 hours or 6 hours; and on top is a button that you press as you are plugging in whatever device needs the charge; while the countdown is running, the little green light remains lit, and when the timer has expired the light goes off along with the power.

The simplicity of the design makes it mindlessly easy to use–it’s not like programming one of those awful plug-timers with the dial of 48 tiny buttons that divide the day into 30-minute segments of “on” or “off”… just plug in and push the button, then forget about it.

My only wish is that the Conserve Socket were a little cheaper, or they would sell it in packs of 3 or something to bring the price down–then I’d buy more for all around the house. Currently, I only have one that I sometimes move between different plugs and devices, but I’d love to get some more so that each device or wall socket could have its own dedicated power-conserving socket.

The power switch creates a gentle green glow when the device is powered on. As illustrated, two of these fit well into a standard wall outlet. The frustration free packaging made it easy to open and protected the product well in shipping. Overall not a bad purchase at a reasonable price point.

March 4, 2014 Outlet, , , , , 0 Read more >

Simple and Effective Power Switch, Great for Christmas

This is a perfect little device to shut off power to chargers, lights, and audio equipment when you no longer want it. I set it for 3 hours when charging my laptop and cell phone so they don’t overcharge and I don’t waste vampire power. I also put one on my night readnig lamp so it shuts off after I fall asleep. Liked this gizmo so much that I got a bunch as stocking stuffers for each of my (grown-up) kids.

I set my electric toothbrush for 30 minutes, dust buster for 3 hours, and the rest for 30 minutes (mainly if I forget to unplug them–for safety purposes). If you buy the Conserve Power Switch (non timer switched version of this) and intend to use it on the bottom outlet, don’t bother–you can’t get both to fit, it’s one or the other on the same wall panel. Otherwise, it’s perfect.

I have one for my toaster, espresso machine, coffee maker, and iphone/ipod speaker dock. You can stack to fill both outlets, but will not fit on the bottom outlet if you try to use it with Conserve Socket Energy-Saving Outlet (the timed switch version of this). I sometimes forget to switch it off, but it’s not too long before I noticed the green light glowing and then I promptly switch it off.

The actual switch part lights up when in the on position. I’m using it with an external hard drive’s AC adapter that I only turn on during backups. I’m picking up a few more when this goes on sale.

I wish they also made another version with the plug rotated 90-degrees so it fits on power strips.

The cell provider said that it was due to the battery charging too long since I charge at night. I got a new battery and now charge with the Conserve Socket. It is great. I set it for 3 hours and it charges and cuts off. The unit can be set for 1/2 hr, 3 hrs, and 6 hrs. Hopefully, I won’t be buying any batteries any time soon.

The design allows for two to be used over/under in a normal outlet and it also looks fine. Price is also very good but again the functionality, appearance and design for this model is the best I have found/used. A must for those who are reaching behind things to unplug from the outlet often for items like Christmas lights.

Electric toothbrush usually takes an hour to full charge, but the charger continues the draw power even when it’s not charging. Instead of remembering to unplug the charger after an hour or so, I simply use the Conserve Socket. With one simply click I can initiate an one-hour charge.

March 3, 2014 Outlet, , , , 0 Read more >

Electronic Vampire Slayer

I can now easily turn of my TV and components after using them and leave them off 20 out of 24 hours. Also using one on our coffee pot, eliminating that energy drain too (It has a digital clock). Love, love, love this switch!

Just set the $/KWh and then you’re ready to go. I plugged my home theater power strip into this and it shows me how much electricity my whole setup uses. The long cord attached to the screen is nice and you can leave the device on a desk or table while your electricity socket is further away.

Its a little wide but it only covers one outlet and it should fit well anywhere. my favorite part is the switch itself. The switch flips easily and clicks making it easy to tell it has been activated. The light on the switch is also great to confirm if it is on or off without any guessing.

I always felt guilty for leaving my night stand lamps and such plugged in (never enough to unplug them) so I thought I’d give this a go. My energy bill has gone down and I loved it so much that I just bought another one for the kitchen. I’ll probably end up buying another one next year, besides with the energy savings it pretty much paid for itself several times over. As you saw with the other reviews it’s a no brainer to use and easy on the eyes. Buy a couple you won’t regret it!

After scanning for vampire devices using the Beling energy monitor I settled on installing thie first switch in my Keurig – which appears to draw 5-10 watts even when turned off. Looking to get another one for a fan we have in the hallway for white noise for the kids – the switch makes it much safer for them to turn it off and on.

I have a multi-adapter plugged into this switch which then goes into the outlet and with one click I can turn off all the devices connected to the adapter via this switch. This gives a nice alternative to using a power strip with a off/on switch.

I hated that it drew electricity even when I wasn’t using it. Then I got one for the flat iron and the clothes iron. I have a large closet where my ironing board is up all the time but the iron is rarely used. Thirty minutes is more than enough time and this allows me to leave the house with no worry that an iron was left on. I use on also on the bedroom TV. I set it for 3 hours but usually I turn off the TV earlier. I like that it stops the draw for the rest of the night/day when the TV is not used at all. I would improve it with an “off button” but it’s not too hard to reset by pulling it out of the socket. Rarely do I need to stop it anyway. Just a nifty discovery for me!

March 2, 2014 Outlet, , , , 0 Read more >

Pretty Simple and Effective Product

Given that the GFI sockets in my kitchen are mounted sideways (I’d have to replace them to get them mounted vertically, that’s too expensive) I can’t see the lighted switch too well because it’s facing the top of the counter instead of being out to the side.

It’s an excellent concept of item but I don’t see why they did not add some kind of plastic reflection that would use the same light in the device for the switch to also add some light to the face of the device. That would make it a lot easier for people in my situation, seeing as a lot of homes built only 20 years ago will have similar sockets as I have in my kitchen because that was all that was available.

I had to reduce it by a star because of this. If you have plugs in your kitchen or wherever for that matter that don’t have this issue by all means pick it up, it works pretty good and will help reduce useless power consumption on items that don’t need to be sucking power all the time. I’ve been using a multitude of power strips for this very purpose for years and it does help to cut down drastically on power consumed when you do it all over your house. I had done calculations before on how much power I was saving by this method about a year ago and I found that the bills were about 10-20 dollars different each month I had all the extra items “unplugged” by turning off the power strips to those devices when they weren’t needed, it also depended on how much I was using those devices as well. It also means less wear and tear on items as well. So you end up saving even more by not having to replace things as often. I’ve used a wattage consumption tracker on a few occasions to test how much some of the items that I turn off with this little plug in switch use and it was substantial when added up.

Be smart about your power usage and turn off and unplug items that don’t need to be used 24 hours a day… You’ll spend less and replace less.

It also does not block the other plug in the outlet. The product saves energy by not leaving devices drawing power longer than necessary. I like that because it saves me even more money.

I paid $25 and had 2 day free shipping before christmas, it made two other good Christmas presents. I really wanted a battery backup model, but not sure why (!) This model doesn’t have a battery, but its not needed. I am pleasantly suprised how good this model is. I really like the long cord between the plug and the output lcd screen. It comes preset for 11.6 cents a kilowatt hr, which is pretty close to what we pay here in the panhandle of Florida. I was amazed at how many watts my large barn fan uses on low let alone medium and high, (145 watts). It will tell you watts per month or per year and how much it will cost per month or per year based on that rate per kilowatt hour that you can manually change. If you want a really accurate estimate you have to wait about 45 minutes with the device plugged in while your energy monster chows down. Now here a another good marketing money maker, they need to make a cheap one to measure the costs per room instead of each individual appliance. They are out there but I don’t want to spend $200.

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