Remote-Outlet

Tag Archive: power strip

A Neat Idea!

Plugged it to the wall socket with the iphone charger on it. Set it 3 hours and pressed the top button. Poof nothing worked. changed all the time configurations, changed wall sockets, changed load nothing. Refuses to start. The cost of the device is $9.99, I guess it would take me another 5 bucks to return it, ended up wasting my time and money on this. Will never ever buy Belkin products again, its not worth a try. I have to give 1 star for this dead device? Amazon needs to start with -ve or black stars to indicate that this is a useless product.

it work well for that. that said, I have a simple DIY solar electric system I’m setting up and was intending to use this to monitor how much power my system was producing, this meter does not seem to read power flowing in reverse. seem the common meter for the DIY grid tie solar crowd is the Kill A Watt. I’ll have to pick one of those up for my usage.

Plug the end into the outlet, and then plug in whatever device you want to test. That’s all there is to it. Then you will know how much it costs to use your toaster, computer, stereo – anything using electricity. What’s the carbon footprint? – push a button. What is the cost per month? per year? – again, push a button. My boss has been bugging all of us to shut off our power strips on the weekends to save electricity. I found out over one weekend that we save a whopping $.32 a year per strip (And the annual cost of running my computer workstation is around $33 a year. A great gift idea for the techno-nut in your family, or anyone interested in finding ways to save money.

All you do is plug it in the outlet then plug in your appliance. Immediately you can see how much it will cost, monthly or yearly, to keep the appliance plugged in but off. I found this to be a terrific feature. It made me realize it was time to put a few things on a power strip so that I can completely turn them off.

When you turn on the appliance you can then get an idea of what it will cost, monthly or yearly, but only if left on 24/7. Very few electrical items in our home are run 24/7. Even the refrigerator only runs periodically. This feature was only helpful in letting me know how different appliances compare. You can leave it connected for 45 minutes and it gives you an average but I am not sure of what. What do you turn on and off during a 45 minute period? Television, for example, is usually watched in half or full hour increments. Computers are rarely turned on/off in a short period of time. There are some devices that do fluctuate during use but that generally depends on how they are used not necessarily over time. And what is a monthly cost, 30 or 31 days? What would have been useful is a 1 hour cost mode. Then you could quickly calculate your own usage and get a better estimate.

Co2. How many of us have a choice of who or what source we buy our electricity from? Unless you are an activist, the only thing this may do is put the guilt on you and convince you to throw away a device which really creates more pollution.

I do think the most important thing we can do to both save money and help the environment is take concern on the items that are wasting energy plugged in but still using electricity. I found one appliance that cost roughly $5 a month plugged in. For that this device is very useful and could very well pay for itself.

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

Killawatt was a Waste of Money

“Perfect! We have so many things that draw power even when not being used!” and grabbed it. Yet I can’t find a practical use for it. All of my expensive electronics are plugged into surge protectors or UPSes (Uninterruptible Power Sources), and those are the things that draw the most power when they’re not turned on. Because you have to turn this power switch on and off yourself, it’s not useful if you can’t easily reach the outlet. And if you can easily reach the outlet, you can simply unplug whatever’s plugged in, like your toaster or a heating pad. I can easily see potential annoyance developing if you go to turn on an appliance that’s plugged into this, only to realize after your toast isn’t toasting that you forgot to flip the switch on this gadget. So really, it has very limited usage and is now going to be just another item in the junk drawer! I’d happily pay twice the amount for one that had a wireless remote control on/off switch…now THAT would be useful!!

For any plug not at eye level this is not the best choice. It looks like it glows in the dark but it does not. The switch lights up when its on which is just wasteful. Captain Planet would not be happy. I feel like it costs more because of greenwashing and I’m sure you could probably find a cheaper switch at a hardware store that does not light up when you use it. I brought a wireless remote control plug set made for Christmas lights by GE that was $5 instead of the $30 conserve remote power strip. It came with three remote plugs and they can be used outside. Its good to be green but do not let companies ripe you off.

Because it isn’t really the product or the manufacturers fault that the product didn’t do what I expected it to do. If anyone is to blame it could be the copy description on the website. I would recommend if you are thinking of purchasing this item that you go to the actual product’s website and read the features and benefits on that website.

I have been using it a little more and I changed my mind. I am using it to test the wattage on my computer and it does a great job. It tells you the real amount of watts it uses, how much does it cost you yearly to use it, and its carbon footprint. hopefully they’ll come up with a bluetooth version that connects to your pc or smartphone

I got a few of these and a few of the smart sockets (Conserve Socket F7C009q Energy-Saving Outlet) with built in 1/2 hr, 3hr, and 6hr timer. The advantage this has over that is the on off switch. I prefer the smart socket with timer. In the end I guess that is what I was looking for but I’m putting this socket to good use as a way to conserve energy when an appliance is not in use. But on that subject I think I would just as well get a power strip with on off button.

January 25, 2014 Outlet, , , , 0 Read more >

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 >

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 >

So Simple, Yet Such a Quality of Life Improvement!

I used it to light up different Christmas lights on my 11,000sqft yard and it reach all the switches with no problem but I cover them with electric water proof tape for rain just in case. Good product over all does the job.

Amazingly convenient, especially for Christmas lights and such, but also for turning on and off lamps and other things. Works VERY well through walls and floors. Turns on and off a Christmas tree that’s in one corner of the house from the opposite corner on the second floor.

worked fine and my wife enjoyed turning on lights in a palm tree, from inside the house. this 1st unit was fairly small and had a second plug built in. after getting some LED lights for christmas, i decided we needed more controllers, so i ordered the 5 pack. they work great even thru multiple concrete walls. my wife sits in the living room and turns on 5 lights inside and outside. don’t even have to air it. i gave it 4 stars because of 3 things. these things are huge. i mean huge. in a normal 2 plug socket they take up the room of both plugs, plus they don’y have the 2nd outlet built in. why the need to be so large is beyond me. it looks like there is a lot of empty space inside and they could of been less than 1/2 the size. lastly they take a really odd size battery. the battery is included but replacement might be tough except at a speciality store. never have seen that size before. looks like a AAA cut in half. don’t understand that either.

but overall they work great. the remote is kind of funky. it has 5 switches each with an off and on, however if you push the on to turn on and push it again it goes off. same for the off side of switch. it also turns on and off. you’ll get used to it. i did use a felt tip pen and mark initials of each appliance that was connected. i would reccomend, but make sure you understand how big these are!!!

My DD was visiting for the holidays and showed me how she could turn his tree and all the decorations on and off with the remote. I was sold. Got my set in the mail today and it works perfectly! Now, yes, they ARE big units and you cant use them in the same outlet as some large plugs or power supplies. And I found out that when I plugged my fully used power strip into one, it shut off (that was just an experiment, though….I have my fish tank hooked up to that strip and I don’t want to shut it off). But for a single appliance/light it is terrific And it does work with an extension cord plugged into it. I am very satisfied.

January 18, 2014 Outlet, , , , 0 Read more >