Wireless remote light switch?

[roger wiegand]

I've built a new building that includes some flood lights that illuminate my driveway and parking area much better than I had before. The switch for those lights is in the new building. It would be great to also be able to turn them on from in the house, when visitors are coming, for example.

Do any of you know of a good solution for this? The distance is about 150 ft, with a couple walls in the way. There is wifi signal at the new building pretty reliably from the barn router. The new building is fed from a subpanel in the barn. I'd prefer to have something I could install as just another switch in the wall with the rest of the outside lights, rather than as one more remote control to lose.

Running a wire would be pretty expensive and disruptive at this point.

Thanks!

[Matt Meiser]

I've been pretty happy with Insteon for lighting control at my house but have no experience running it that far. Its both RF and powerline.

[Ed Aumiller]

Do a search on "X10" controls... they simply replace your light switch and the signal is sent over the wiring so distance is no problem as long as both buildings are on the same electric company power transformer
These have been around for 20-25 years or so and are reliable... been using it for my garage & shop buildings for years..
This is one company (no affiliation) but there are many sources..
http://www.thehomeautomationstore.com/

[Yonak Hawkins]

Also .. I'm sure others have their version too but, here's a Home Depot page about smart phone controlled switches.

Home Automation (http://www.homedepot.com/b/Electrical-Smart-Home/N-5yc1vZc1jw)

[Keith Outten]

I use a dust collector switch to turn the exterior lights on my barn on and off. I purchased two controllers and keep one in my shop and the other in the house.

[roger wiegand]

Hmm, my dust collector switch barely works across the shop, I really doubt that it would work at 150 ft distance.

I've been reading the x10 site and have to admit to missing something fundamental about how these work. I would expect to need a pair of devices to control a light remotely, but their site doesn't make it obvious how the various modules they sell pair up to create a control circuit. Would it be the case that if you were to use a switch like this http://www.thehomeautomationstore.com/ws467.html you'd get a pair of them, mount one in the house connected only to power and the other in the new building connected to the lights I want to control?

I'm afraid the logic of this system is escaping me-- I'm sure it's simple, but their stuff seems more like it's oriented towards having a receiver that your thing to be controlled plugs into and then a handheld remote to operate it-- like the dust collector control.

[Matt Marsh]

I have several X-10 and Insteon devices throughout my house and property. The sky is the limit as far as design and application. Earlier this year I installed an Insteon hub, and three wifi security cameras. With the Insteon app on my iPhone, I can view and pan the cameras and control any and all of the other devices I have installed. You can also set up special "scenes" so that you can combine devices. With some limitations, Insteon is backwards compatible with X-10 technology. For example, I use an X-10 6-button keypad in my house to control the lights on my pole barn, about 100 yards away. An additional benefit to Insteon, is that every device you install becomes a repeater. There is a slight learning curve to understanding all of the ins and outs of it all, but well worth it. Your system may require a bridge unit to reliably work if your transmitters and receivers are on opposite lines (hots). One of my cameras looks out over my deck. I think I'll add a loud air horn or buzzer to one of my Insteon switches to scare the bears and wild turkeys away.

[Matt Meiser]

That sounds pretty similar to what we did Matt. Our outdoor lighting is on a dusk-midnight scene, and we have various living room scenes since all the lighting in there is on different switches. I'm even controlling a gas fireplace. And I have a plug-in module where our hot water heater plugs in. When we leave on vacation I can turn it off, then turn it on a few hours before we get home. We're thinking of getting the valve for our incoming water supply so we can shut it off if any of the leak sensors we have by the toilets detect anything.

[roger wiegand]

The Insteon people tell me that if I use two of their switches and can get them on the same phase of the panel they should talk to each other and it should work. Now to decide if it's worth a hundred bucks.

Thanks!

[Roger Feeley]

Look at Insteon but the whole wireless switch world kind of discouraged me. I looked into this a while back because my kids live in a 160 year old house. They want to control some lights across a room and I don't want to dig into the plaster walls to run the wire. What I found on the market didn't get very good reviews. People said it lasted 6 months and then quit. I certainly don't want to replace a $50 switch twice a year. I figure time is on my side so I'm on the sidelines.


I can't give specifics but there is some Bluetooth meshing stuff coming. Meshing is where you talk to a device and the message is relayed from device to device until it finds the right one. It's been around a long time in Zigbee but it never really took off. Now the heavy hitters behind Bluetooth are getting into it. I would expect to see something by next year.

[Matt Marsh]

Look at Insteon but the whole wireless switch world kind of discouraged me. I looked into this a while back because my kids live in a 160 year old house. They want to control some lights across a room and I don't want to dig into the plaster walls to run the wire. What I found on the market didn't get very good reviews. People said it lasted 6 months and then quit. I certainly don't want to replace a $50 switch twice a year. I figure time is on my side so I'm on the sidelines.


I can't give specifics but there is some Bluetooth meshing stuff coming. Meshing is where you talk to a device and the message is relayed from device to device until it finds the right one. It's been around a long time in Zigbee but it never really took off. Now the heavy hitters behind Bluetooth are getting into it. I would expect to see something by next year.


Roger, I really think a lot of the negative reviews are a result of people just not fully understanding how to set up the systems correctly. Some components are definitely better than others, but all in all they work great when installed and used as they were intended. I've had my X-10 pro stuff installed for 12-15 years, and have yet to have a single failure. I added the first Insteon device about 4-5 years ago, and have had the same success.

[Matt Meiser]

A "wireless" switch is what got me started. I use one of the wireless keypads installed in a mounting bracket on the wall to control all the scenes from our living room. We've had it about a year. I just have to pop it out and plug it into a USB cable every 3 months or so to recharge the battery, and any of us can use our phones if needed while the battery is dead.

[Matt Marsh]

A "wireless" switch is what got me started. I use one of the wireless keypads installed in a mounting bracket on the wall to control all the scenes from our living room. We've had it about a year. I just have to pop it out and plug it into a USB cable every 3 months or so to recharge the battery, and any of us can use our phones if needed while the battery is dead.

Matt, I have two of the wireless keypads that I used as portable remotes. I kept one on my ATV, and the other in my pickup truck. The only thing with these is their relatively short range. I haven't used them at all since I installed the hub. My smart phone will work anywhere I have cell service or wifi.

My old water heater sprung a leak last summer, so I replaced it with a new Rheem model that has a wifi module on it, otherwise I'd be doing the same thing as you did. I also have Honeywell wifi thermostats in both my house and my shop that work exceptionally well. I have them set up to text me if the temperature goes above or below the preset temperatures, or if they lose communication. I like your idea with the water valves, I think I'll be looking into that further.

[Ed Aumiller]

Regarding X-10... cost is less than $40 to control 1 light and less than $15 per light after that... Reliability is great..

Use 1 of these for each light you want to control… just replace the wall switch with it..
XPSS Decorator Companion Wall Switch
$14.99
You also need a unit to tell them what to do.. This unit that plugs into any outlet will control up to 8 lights/devices…
MC10A White Plug-in Mini Controller
$22.99

X-10 works by sending signals from the controller to the light switch via a signal put on the house wiring sent by the controller and picked up by the light switch..

The basic system is NOT wireless… you can optionally buy a hand held transmitter which will require a receiver plugged into an outlet to make it wireless, but the controlling signals are all done via existing house / garage wiring so distance is no problem as long as the house and garage are on the same power company transformer.
You can easily control up to 256 devices (lights, dust collector, etc)..
I have been using them for over 25 years for many remote applications… There is a wide range of options you should explore after you try it..

[Curt Harms]

Look at Insteon but the whole wireless switch world kind of discouraged me. I looked into this a while back because my kids live in a 160 year old house. They want to control some lights across a room and I don't want to dig into the plaster walls to run the wire. What I found on the market didn't get very good reviews. People said it lasted 6 months and then quit. I certainly don't want to replace a $50 switch twice a year. I figure time is on my side so I'm on the sidelines.
.............


Lamps or fixtures? We've had a switch like this for some years. My only concern is that it uses sort of an oddball battery, it looks like an 'N' size but it isn't. This isn't heavily used but it's still on the original battery.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_141615-207-RFK100L___?productId=3369148&pl=1&Ntt=wireless+switch

332927
Each pair comes with one of 3 letters. The letters pair the devices so you could only have 3 of these switches per house. I presume you could have more than 1 switched module/wall switch as long as the letters match.

[Matt Marsh]

Regarding X-10... cost is less than $40 to control 1 light and less than $15 per light after that... Reliability is great..

Use 1 of these for each light you want to control… just replace the wall switch with it..
XPSS Decorator Companion Wall Switch
$14.99
You also need a unit to tell them what to do.. This unit that plugs into any outlet will control up to 8 lights/devices…
MC10A White Plug-in Mini Controller
$22.99

X-10 works by sending signals from the controller to the light switch via a signal put on the house wiring sent by the controller and picked up by the light switch..

The basic system is NOT wireless… you can optionally buy a hand held transmitter which will require a receiver plugged into an outlet to make it wireless, but the controlling signals are all done via existing house / garage wiring so distance is no problem as long as the house and garage are on the same power company transformer.
You can easily control up to 256 devices (lights, dust collector, etc)..
I have been using them for over 25 years for many remote applications… There is a wide range of options you should explore after you try it..

Ed,

X-10 and X-10 Pro will eventually be phased out and replaced with Insteon or some other future technology. Many of the old X-10 devices are already unavailable.

All Insteon devices are dual band, meaning they transmit/receive via powerline like X-10 does, but additionally they also transmit/receive RF. Also, X-10 technology is much more limited by distance, often requiring the use of signal boosters and bridge units as a way to increase reliability. With Insteon, each device becomes a repeater that re-transmits the signals both via powerline and RF, greatly reducing the need for boosters and bridges.

[Dan Hunkele]

Chamberlain WSLCEV is supposed to work up to 600 feet.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Chamberlain-Remote-Light-Switch-WSLCEV/202894597

[Ed Aumiller]

Matt, agree that X-10 is old tech and others are better technology...
But the OP only wanted to remotely turn flood lights on and off from his house... He can do this for $40 and anything else will cost more...
There are enough sources of X-10 modules that it will be around for years...

[roger wiegand]

Thanks for all the suggestions, this thread has me thinking about additional applications-- for example the basement lights are perpetually left on and having a switch at the top of the stairs without having to fish wires through the walls would be great. Leak detection near the furnaces, HW heater and washing machine could have saved a lot fo trouble in the past. I'd also really like to have a smoke detector in the barn/shop and in the new garage building that would call me when triggered. Much more to learn!