Cool Gadget!

[The Medway Handyman]

Wandering about my local B&Q today - looking for a 2 gang to 3 gang socket converter (which I later found at TLC for 60% less) I came across;

Byron Remote Control Sockets.

Basically three adaptors that plug into socket outlets and a remote control. You plug your appliance into the adaptor. Then you can turn those appliances (up to 3000w) on/off via remote!

We have two table lamps and a floor lamp in our lounge, all of which are a PITA to switch on/off. No I can sit there & pretend I'm Ernst Starvro Blofeld! Great fun & useful for £20!

[Roger Mills]

Yes, they are useful- but they've been about for quite a while.

I bought a set of 4 adapters plus remote (different make, and a bit more expensive) from Maplins several years ago. We use 3 of them regularly - and the fourth seasonally for the Christmas tree lights. One controls an outside light which illuminates the pond and is powered from an upstairs bedroom, but can operated from the lounge.

[Guy King]

The message from "The Medway Handyman" contains these words:

Aldi sell 4-packs for £11 sometimes.

[dennis]

One off the four was a dimmer last time. I use them to turnoff all the stuff that uses the little power bricks as that saves a little bit of electricity.

They are also good for garden lights.. just put a socket strip in a water proof box, plug in the remote switches and plug in the lamps. Meets all the legal requirements and you never need to touch a wet switch with mains behind it again.

[DMac]

Mate of mine bought the aldi ones but found his neighbours had same and they were forever switching each others stuff on/off

[jkn]

Also currently on special offer (as a single) in Maplin, for =A35.99. "Turn off your Christmas tree lights without leaving your sofa"

J

[Mary Fisher]

J

There's nothing like laziness carried out well!

I often see people frantically looking for remotes for their telly, isn't this just another thing to get lost?

Mary

[.]

In their most recent outburst: Mary Fisher ranted:

learning remotes

[Owain]

And if you superglue the adapters to the kids' tellies and playstations you can enforce bedtimes without having to pull the fuse in the CU.

Owain

[Helen Deborah Vecht]

"Mary Fisher" typed

Yes, but it's potentially a boon for a diabled person who is not too chaotic...

[Roger Mills]

Not if they're like mine (adapters, that is, not kids!) - which have buttons which enable them to be turned on and off manually. [Useful for people like Mary if they mislay the remote ]

[Mary Fisher]

Of course! but I suspect they're not all being bought by disabled people :-)

And I'm (relatively) able-bodied but still chaotic :-(

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

I don't mislay the remote - we haven't a telly!

Mind you, the Bose radio etc. can only be operated by a remote and it's very small. It hasn't been lost yet.

Yet being the operative word. When it IS lost I'll be bereft.

Mary

[Lobster]

Well in my case, the Xmas tree lights are plugged in the only available socket which is in the corner behind the TV and tree... over the festive season, every night it is the bane of my life to have to crawl behind the telly, reaching under the tree which either impales me with pine needles or drops them down my neck, as I stretch for the socket to turn the bloody lights off before bed. Every year I swear I'll sort out a better solution, but every year the lights go back in the box for another 11 months without anything being done.

So I'll definitely be first in the queue for one of these things... wWho knows, I might even actually enjoy Xmas as a result!

David

[Clive George]

There is a lower-tech solution : extension cable, with optional switched socket if you CBA to unplug/plug the lights.

cheers, clive

[Lobster]

Yep, that's the sort of 'better solution' I have had in mind for the past n years but have never got around to actioning... and I know, I could buy that kit from B&Q just as easily as this remote jobbie...

David

[Andy Hall]

Helen

Have you looked at the more sophisticated programmable devices based around PDAs which will cope with a range of target devices?

[Mary Fisher]

ARE?

Already/?

It's not even Advent yet!

[Mary Fisher]

Yes, darling, you're proving your manhood :-)

Mary

[badger.badger]

Yep, and yet another potential source of interferance to renault cowners and their keyless cars...