Wiring a remote switch

[Robert Hayward]

I have an out building with a 300 watt light high up at the entrance. The wall switch is just inside the walkthrough door going into the out building. I want to be able to turn that light on from inside my house so I can walk out there in the dark without tripping over a forgotten shovel or one of the feral cats that hang out out there. My jointer is out there and I do work on the entrance concrete pad that is too dirty to do in the garage shop. I know I can buy an RF controlled wall switch but the range is short and they seem to come only in Decora style.

My ideal would be to leave the current wall toggle switch and use an RF switch that I already have with one fob, like this one. I guess what I want is a three way switch with the second switch being my RF switch. I realize I could get a second fob and use that in the out building but I would like to keep the wall toggle as is and use the fob only from the house.

So how do I wire this so either the wall toggle or the fob will turn the light on and off? Do I add a contactor or what?

[Maurice Mcmurry]

You could leave the hardwired switch in the on position and hang a 2nd fob next to it. Grand dad had a hard wired low voltage circuit that had a series of little brown Bakelite button switches with a glow in the dark crescent moon icon on the buttons. There were at several key places around the farm. you could press any one of them and the yard lights would turn on or off.

[Aaron Inami]

I think once you said "3 way switch" things got complicated. I would do as Maurice said and just use a single standard on/off switch as a "master power switch". Then use the remote FOB relay as your turn on/off device.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

There are also light bulbs that can be turned on and off with a smart phone.

[Jim Becker]

If your outbuilding is on the same electrical service as the house, you can change out the existing switch(s) for "smart switches" and add another one that transmits on/off from the house.

[Doug Garson]

Further to Jim's suggestion, this Kasa smart switch should work if your wifi network reaches your outbuilding. https://www.amazon.ca/TP-Link-Requir...01EZV35QU?th=1 You could then turn your light on with either the switch or your smartphone. I've had two installed for over a year to control my house and front yard/Christmas lights. They are programmed for on off based on sun times but I can also control with my phone anywhere I have wifi.

[Jim Becker]

Yea, some of these devices are really making life a lot easier, getting switches where you actually need them. I'm even leveraging that in my temporary shop because the actual switch for the overhead lights is on the opposite side of the space from the entry door to the house. A wireless switch at that door solves the problem without changing anything with the physical wiring. I'll be faced with a similar situation relative to the new shop building for the outside lights and plan on dealing with it similarly.

[Robert Hayward]

Here is what I ended up doing. Recall I wanted the wall switch in the out building to remain in place. Did not want a fob hanging inside the door that I had to fumble around in the dark to locate. It dawned on me that a three way switch is nothing more than a double throw single pole switch. Found a double pole double throw relay for $10 and a metal pull box for $20. With my existing RF remote switch and the relay I was able to make a remote controlled three way switch. I also had to replace the existing wall toggle switch with a three way wall toggle. The fob will hang on the wall beside the back porch light switch in the house and the wall toggle in the out building is the second half of the three way switch setup. I mounted the remote/relay box next to the electric mount box for the light in the attic of the out building. Works perfect. I can operate the light from at least 150 feet away.

I looked at several of the various types of switches mentioned in the comments above and they looked good, thank you for the suggestions.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Brillant!
This thread started me looking for replacements for 300 watt incandescent bulbs, which I used to love (I have burn scars to prove it). There are some really bright, big, LED bulbs that sip power and run fairly cool.

Mom reminded me that Grand Dad's multi location yard light circuit was powered by "Juice" from the windmill.

[Robert Hayward]

The 300 watt light I have on the out building is LED. The 300 watt rating is an incandescent equivalent number for the LED bulb. The bulb is four or five years old and I do not recall the exact cost but I think it was around $50 back when bought.

[Alan Lightstone]

When we did our house renovation before moving into our new house I had every fixture replaced by LED bulbs/cans. Looking at my energy management software, it is stunning how little electricity the lights in our house use. Money VERY well spent and a huge savings.

And a quick tip. HD has much better quality LED bulbs than the big box blue store. They are made by Cree (they now stock both the CREE and their house brand is made for them by CREE.) Much better visually than the name brands carried by the Blue store. CRIs all in the 90s. And trust me, I purchased a ton of light bulbs, A/B compared them, and returned a bunch.

Also, we have the Lutron smart light switches all over the house/workshop to control lights. Works extremely well for dimming lights, remote on/off, and scheduling (so nice to have a routine that turns off all the lights you forgot at midnight every night). Cost a fraction of what our last house's AMX automation system cost, was self install and programmed, and we love it. Problem - each switch is expensive. Sigh..

[Alan Lightstone]

Actually, I have to alter that last response. I went to HD today to pick up a replacement Cree LED light bulb. They no longer carry them in the stores. Aaaargh!!!

On their website you can find a few that they will ship to store or you, but not in the store. Not a clue why. The Ecosmart (their house brand) supposedly is made by Cree for them (or perhaps was) are good, but the CRI of the Crees was 90 and above (mostly 94), and they just looked better.

[Barry Versteegh]

I have been using these remotes on dust collector and air cleaner with no problems.AC 110V-240V 30A RF Relay Wireless Remote Control Switch + 433MHz Remote AH611## from ebay. Very easy to wire up. less than $15.00 each.