Hi, I was thinking of getting that stupid Clapper light turner off thing. I read it was not too good. Is there something else I can get to turn off the light from the other side of the room? Thanks for help.
You can get all sorts of devices for home automation, from simple outlet switches to dimmers, and controllers that hook the your PC. These units run on RF (meaning the signal can go through a wall, just like your radio), and you can have a hand held remote to turn it on and off.
You can use lamp wire with a plug/receptacle on one end and a switch on the other, wired as appropriate. They are sold pre-made in 12 foot lengths and probably longer longer. Or you can make one yourself with easy to get parts.
My mother suprised me enormously by liking the Clapper, although I can't remember what she had it connected to, even though I was the one who disconnected it after she died.
I figure that the act of clapping, which takes some effort, even in the commerical, would be more than enough to wake someone up who was almost asleep. I think my mother used it for some other purpose. OTOH, I've used for decades a regular cord with a swtich on the end for lots of things, including tv's, except for the tv's that lose position when they are unplugged. Some don't do that, and even some electronic tv's remember whether they were on or off, and what channel they were on, and everything else, even after the power is disconnected.
(There is a group around here that collects used wheel chairs and all kinds of other medical supplies and gives them to needy people,, and I gave them the Clapper too.)
Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let me know if you have posted also.
often the tv cable box remote has a switched outlet on the back. some tuner amplifiers have this also. or, battery wireless remote turns a 110v module on/off. check the seasonal gardening/swimming pool or seasonal outdoor christmas lighting departments for these. i saw at canadian tire store.
I have a half dozen lights on it and three controls, (one timer, two manual) as well as being able to turn on two lights from my car if we come home late.
X10, the protical is X10 also used and intercompatible with Radio shack PlugnPower, GM 3 button built in garage door openers, many 3 button garage units, Smart home, luetron , and the list goes on and on, to backward compatibility. I use radioshack and even slow fans with the lamp dimmers.
I had bad luck with a Radio Shack starter kit (controller, lamp control and appliance control). The lamp controller gave out constant RFI for my radios. Later, it started turning itself on at random times, and no amount of changing the "addressing" settings stopped it. Finally, the appliance controller gave out and stopped responding altogether. Elapsed time, about one year.
I hope they don't do away with either of those things. How else could I tell that the Christmas season is upon us. I put both of those commercials on the top of my most hated ones - not because of the content or artwork, but because of the unending repitition every friggin year.
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