While I share NOTCOT’s worry about the lack of wireless security—and will add my own quibble about someone’s inability to reach down and flip a physical switch—the Belkin Conserve surge protector with its wireless switch is a cute concept. Six of the ports on the power strip are turned off when you flick the remote switch, while two stay on for things like alarm clocks or routers. And because the switch has a magnet in the back it can be hung up nearly anywhere, making it as convenient as possible.
There are six separate channels the Conserve can be flipped to to prevent interference, but that won’t do much to stop accidental or malicious disconnects of your power by someone with another unit.
BELKIN CONSERVE SURGE PROTECTOR [Notcot]
Somewhat incongruous, considering the remote function requires the power strip to be always-on – even if you don’t need the always-on ports.
This is also great when you want a switched outlet, and don’t feel like rewiring your house.
Though you could also just get a clapper.
Does the remote work in line-of-sight only? It won’t be much help if the remote can’t reach the protector when it is behind a home entertainment cabinet.
Re cost savings, it might take a while before what you save in reduced electricity bills makes up for the cost of this device. But for some people (like me), reducing energy consumption is not just about saving money, it is also about helping preserve the air and water and reducing global warming.
Better to keep the remote out of the hands of your pal Mr. Lam.
http://gizmodo.com/343348/confessions-the-meanest-thing-gizmodo-did-at-ces
Some of us have been doing things like this with home automation hardware, which sometimes has similar crosstalk risks. Mostly it tends not to be a problem — there aren’t that many people playing with the stuff and it has limited range, and if you happen to pick a code that has interference issues you’re also interfering with someone else’s stuff so there’s incentive on both ends for someone to shift their setup to an unoccupied code. (The issue gets more complicated if you’re using more than one of these codes in your own place…)
My main solution was to put power strips where I can easily reach their switches when I want to shut everything down. Hardwired switches also work, of course, as do the boxes which notice one device being powered off and cut power to all the accessories.
Lots of solutions; what’s new here is just embedding the remote/radio switch into the power strip.
If I’m running three turntables, a mixer, and a 400W amp which are usually in an always-on state due to inconvenient switches, how long would I have to use this powerstrip and lovely remote before it pays for itself in electricity savings?