Best Electrical Wall Switches
Command complete control over your outlets. The Etekcity Remote Control Outlet Switch lets you remotely control hard to reach appliances and devices. A strong RF signal works as far as 100 feet and through doors and walls without interfering with other electronics, allowing convenient control over small household appliances from across rooms or on second floors. With this level of control in your hands, you'll increase the efficiency of your household easily and conveniently. Sync remote outlets together, regardless of frequency differences; Seamlessly expand your system with any Etekcity learning remotes or outlets.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I solved this by marking each unit with a black marker in large numerals. With a little less attention to styling, and more to functionality, the manufacturer could have easily solved this problem."
"These remote control outlets are fantastic! Even though these things work even better than expected, I'm knocking off one point for the two cons below (neither of which is a huge deal, just a little inconvenient): Cons: - These remote control outlets are just a little too big, so if the other plug you are trying to fit in a shared wall outlet is anything other than just a simple plug, it won't fit."
"Although it is possible that I received a different or updated model, I thought I should correct, or rebut, some of the misinformation that I read in other reviews. In another case, I had a three pronged plug that I was using in the spare outlet, which had to be relocated, as it would not fit after installing the remote switch. But, very easy to just add the remote switch into a short extension chord, and the problem is solved. After the Holidays, most of these units will be relocated to my basement workshop where they will be subject to much higher loads and more demanding use. I will use one on a dust collector (about 12 amps draw), one on a vacuum, and even one on a strobe light so my wife can summon me if she needs to, without me cutting my hand off if she yells at me to come to dinner. So now my wife just hits a button upstairs and my strobe light in the basement lets me know she needs me to come up!"
"Additionally beyond that, the remain 4 that were functional out of the first set have been cycling daily (via RPi) for about 4 months now."
"When you plug your appliance into the Etekcity outlet, in this case a lamp, into the front of the Etekcity outlet, the Etekcity body will either cover the top wall outlet when plugged into the bottom of the wall outlet. Or, if you plug the Etekcity Outlet into the top wall outlet you may find it difficult to use the bottom wall outlet if you were to want to use the bottom outlet for something like a Vacuum Cleaner or any other appliance that has a large plug."
When WeMo works with Nest Thermostat, you can set your lights to turn off automatically when you leave the house. Plug in a Wemo Mini Smart Plug, download the free app, and control your lights and appliances from your phone and your voice through Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. Pair with Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant built-in devices like Google Home and control your lights and appliances with your voice. Nest can sync with Wemo for automatic home/away control.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This light switch and the other outlet style plug has worked reliably for over 3 years. However, you are at the mercy of your internet connection and if you happen to be away while the network crashes, you won't be able to communicate with the switches. They do support security password keys, but if you want an extra layer of protection, turn on your router/basestation's MAC address control to enable only recognized and authorized devices access to your wireless network. IFTTT will integrate all the functionality of your smart devices with WEMO and ALEXA (NEST and others too). The GPS in a smart phone can be used to create an invisible fence that can turn WEMO switches on/off as you pass in/out of its perimeter."
"After receiving two defective units from Amazon, and before returning the second, I decided to play around with it more and do some more research online. I spent over an hour with WeMo tech support, who offered no solutions, and made me jump through a bunch of hoops in the process. The issue with these early units lies in the fact that they seem to get "confused" if you have other WeMo devices in your home. So long story short, if you have other WeMo devices in your household, and have trouble getting this WeMo mini to connect, try unplugging as many of the other devices as you can (they will automatically reconnect online after you plug them back in), factory reset the mini, and go through the setup process again."
Offer Type: Light Switch. Wemo Light Switch seamlessly replaces your old wall light switch. Control you lights from Wemo Light Switch on the wall, the Wemo app, and even your voice with both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. Pair Wemo Light Switch with Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant built-in devices like Google Home to turn your lights on or off with just the power of your voice.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This light switch and the other outlet style plug has worked reliably for over 3 years. However, you are at the mercy of your internet connection and if you happen to be away while the network crashes, you won't be able to communicate with the switches. They do support security password keys, but if you want an extra layer of protection, turn on your router/basestation's MAC address control to enable only recognized and authorized devices access to your wireless network. IFTTT will integrate all the functionality of your smart devices with WEMO and ALEXA (NEST and others too). The GPS in a smart phone can be used to create an invisible fence that can turn WEMO switches on/off as you pass in/out of its perimeter."
"After receiving two defective units from Amazon, and before returning the second, I decided to play around with it more and do some more research online. I spent over an hour with WeMo tech support, who offered no solutions, and made me jump through a bunch of hoops in the process. The issue with these early units lies in the fact that they seem to get "confused" if you have other WeMo devices in your home. So long story short, if you have other WeMo devices in your household, and have trouble getting this WeMo mini to connect, try unplugging as many of the other devices as you can (they will automatically reconnect online after you plug them back in), factory reset the mini, and go through the setup process again."
Best Ceiling Fan Wall Controls
Style: In-Wall Paddle Fan Control. ALEXA COMPATIBLE - REQUIRES AN ALEXA SUPPORTED HUB for voice control with Echo Products (Alexa device and hub sold separately).
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Unlike the others out there, your house wires plug into the switch. The others out there have wires coming off the backs of the switch and add more of a mess inside the electric boxes."
"Some of my light switch boxes do not have a neutral and our electrician could not get the switch to work."
"My only complaint is that when I installed one of the units, the head snapped off the screw to re-attach the switchplate which is now unfortunately forever stuck inside the device. I may be able to remove the entire switch and remove from the back end, but for now I intend to use "super glue" and attach it to the switchplate itself since it was only one of the 4 attaching to the wall."
"The GE primary switch is the only switch in the circuit that has 110V in it. What this means is if your 3 or 4-way wiring has power on one end, and the light on the other, you need to wire it up to pass the power all the way to the switch with the light, directly, and then wire up the low voltage communication wire to reach the switches in the other direction. On 4-way you will have two wires coming into the switch and two going out called travelers, these are used to switch the four way circuit. So, for all the 4-way switching in your circuit connect the red in to red out with a screw cap, then black to black. So, connect ground to the white ground bundle in the outlet, connect the red wires to your only other terminal (low voltage signal) in your add on switch, and you're done with this switch. Connect the incoming black traveler to the 110V terminal, white bundle ground to ground, connect the wire to the light to the light terminal, and the incoming red traveler to the low voltage signal terminal after you remove the tape. You will use an add on switch here, and connect the red traveller to the low voltage terminal."
Best Dimmer Switches
Wemo Light Switch seamlessly replaces your old wall light switch. Control you lights from Wemo Light Switch on the wall, the Wemo app, and even your voice with both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. Pair Wemo Light Switch with Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant built-in devices like Google Home to turn your lights on or off with just the power of your voice.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This light switch and the other outlet style plug has worked reliably for over 3 years. However, you are at the mercy of your internet connection and if you happen to be away while the network crashes, you won't be able to communicate with the switches. They do support security password keys, but if you want an extra layer of protection, turn on your router/basestation's MAC address control to enable only recognized and authorized devices access to your wireless network. IFTTT will integrate all the functionality of your smart devices with WEMO and ALEXA (NEST and others too). The GPS in a smart phone can be used to create an invisible fence that can turn WEMO switches on/off as you pass in/out of its perimeter."
"In my experience, most switches don't require the extra "white" constant power line. It's rare enough, it has never caused any trouble for me, but assuming it is the fault of the switch, it could be a problem for some."
"Connecting to the WiFi was also not difficult for me. The initial firmware update took quite a long time and the initial iPhone app version that I downloaded was *very* slow to detect the switches each time I loaded the app, but they seem to have fixed the latter issue. In between each question, she would tell me to "hold on a second" and mute her line, before often (at least 10 times, no exaggeration) returning and asking me a question I had already answered. For now, I have two switches that cannot connect to WiFi and one that cannot even turn the lights on. To make it worse: they only provide (poor) customer service for free for 90 days! I really wanted to like the product, and I would have if there was some quality control or better customer support, but unfortunately for me it didn't work out."
Best Electrical Light Switches
Plug in a Wemo Insight Smart Plug, download the Wemo app, and control your lights and appliances right from your phone and even your voice through Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. Nest’s “home” and “away” modes sync with Wemo Insight for automatic control.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This light switch and the other outlet style plug has worked reliably for over 3 years. However, you are at the mercy of your internet connection and if you happen to be away while the network crashes, you won't be able to communicate with the switches. They do support security password keys, but if you want an extra layer of protection, turn on your router/basestation's MAC address control to enable only recognized and authorized devices access to your wireless network. IFTTT will integrate all the functionality of your smart devices with WEMO and ALEXA (NEST and others too). The GPS in a smart phone can be used to create an invisible fence that can turn WEMO switches on/off as you pass in/out of its perimeter."
"After receiving two defective units from Amazon, and before returning the second, I decided to play around with it more and do some more research online. I spent over an hour with WeMo tech support, who offered no solutions, and made me jump through a bunch of hoops in the process. The issue with these early units lies in the fact that they seem to get "confused" if you have other WeMo devices in your home. So long story short, if you have other WeMo devices in your household, and have trouble getting this WeMo mini to connect, try unplugging as many of the other devices as you can (they will automatically reconnect online after you plug them back in), factory reset the mini, and go through the setup process again."
Best Motion-Activated Wall Switches
This 2 pack of Lutron's Maestro Occupancy Sensing Switches is a simple way to save energy and add light automation to any room of your home. Uses advanced XCT sensing technology, offering the most reliable on/off performance up to 30 ft. Works with all bulb types; 150-Watts of LED/CFL, 250-Watts of incandescent/halogen, 200-Watts of MLV, 2 Amp Ballats.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This switch will allow your lights to turn on when a person's movement is sensed, or alternatively, turn it off when there's daylight. Its settings allow you to have the light stay on for 1,5,15, or 30 minutes after it no longer senses movement. Unlike many earlier sensor switches on the market, this one works with fluorescent, incandescent and LED lights. Although it requires a ground wire, which typical standard switches may not have, it doesn't need a neutral (white) wire, unlike many sensor switches. The switch senses when a person is in the room and if it's dark enough, the light goes on. I had a twin Decora plate from a previous sensor switch, but in one location I changed from a standard toggle switch and used a Leviton 2-Gang 1-Toggle 1-Decora Combination Wallplate. UPDATE 9/2012: This switch allows you to set the amount of time after sensing no activity before the lights turn off. So if you use one in a room where you sit very still such as while working at a desk with your back to the switch and a high chair back, a short setting could leave you in the dark until you wave your arm around."
"I installed these in my laundry room, stairway and garage."
"From the light switch location on the bedroom wall, the motion sensor will pickup any movement in the hallway if the bedroom door is left open. When I initially installed the switches in the bedrooms three months ago, I set the time to leave the lights on after there was zero motion for 10 minutes. But if you quickly hit the switch within 5 seconds of turning the light on, the switch will remember the environment (how light it currently is in the room) & the next time you enter the room with the same environment (or lighter even), the switch will leave the light off."
"I'm hoping it will be sensitive enough to detect the motion of a cat, so the light turns on when it's out there to do the duty. If I had to do this purchase over again I think I would have spent a couple extra dollars on something with a bit more quality feel to it."
"I felt like a burglar hunkering down behind my car in the garage and moving around slowly, trying to trip the sensor."
Best Wall Timer Switches
Compatible with LED and CF Bulbs, this easy-to-install Honeywell 7-day programmable timer switch handles motors, all types of lighting (compatible with electronic ballasts, compact fluorescent lights and tungsten lights up to 5 A), and offers the flexibility of 7 programs per week. This easy-to-install Honeywell 7-day programmable timer switch handles motors, all types of lighting, and offers the flexibility of 7 programs per week Works with motors and all types of lighting (compatible with CFL and LED bulbs) LCD shows time, day and load status Manual override enables load to be turned on/off without affecting program. For use with lights and motors up to 2400 W.Light switch timer functions on a 120 Volt line wire, load wire, one neutral from line side and one from the load side joined together with a wire nut.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"If I were to purchase it again I'd spend a couple extra bucks to get the version that adjusts to dawn and dusk times throughout the year. The photo compares this basic version (center) vs. an automatic one I bought from Home Depot a couple years ago (far right, with light)."
"Unit had black wire (line) and blue wire (load) reversed coming out of switch."
"I wanted something that I could use to put my porch light on a timer with a CFL bulb, and this works perfectly. There is another model that works with CFLs -and- can be set to vary its on/off times to match your local daylight calendar (Honeywell Econoswitch RPLS740B 7-Day Solar Time Table Programmable Switch) but for the extra cost, I didn't need that feature. As a side note, this switch has some sort of capacitor inside that saves your programs during power outages. Edit: Lost power for over a week from some nasty storms this summer (July 2012), but the timer remembered all of my programs and the clock was still correct."
"It was easy to install. The directions were easy to follow."
"There is a sticker that states to use a paper clip to reset the switch. There are seven separate programs, so each day the light can come on at a different time if required. I will save a ton on the electricity as earlier we would not realize we've left the light on for so long."
"A programmable light switch that easily transitions between Manual and Automatic just by holding down the button for a few seconds. Used it while we were on vacation and two nights out we got a call from our neighbor asking if we had returned already...they saw the lights come on."
Best Foot Switches
This all-purpose Linemaster foot switch has a reinforced polymeric pedal, a 6' power cord, and a single two-prong outlet for connecting with lights and other electric devices. Under the foot switch's cover, an integrated adjustable strain relief clamp helps to hold the 6' stranded parallel thermoplastic (SPT) type 2 cord in place. Foot switches are commonly used with power tools, sewing machines, musical instruments, dental equipment, and lighting, and in the construction, laboratory, production, and medical fields, among others.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"We remodeled our family room earlier this year and, as a result, moved our Christmas tree to a new location. Since we get a live tree every year, not only is it inconvenient to plug/unplug it, it rains needles on your head when crawling on the floor underneath it."
"We have a floor lamp that came with a switch in the cord."
"I've used this switch daily for over a year and it is still rock solid."
"I use this in a baby's room to turn on a small lamp (convenient when I'm bringing a newborn to a changing table and have my arms full)."
"Perfect for our Christmas tree."
"You just plug this foot switch in to the wall and then your lights into the appropriate spot on the switch and put the switch somewhere you can easily press the foot."
"This switch is excellent for plugging wifi routers into if they don't have their own power switch on them."
"I use this to help with aquarium maintenance; instead of trying to connect and disconnect pumps when I have my hands full (or when they're just wet) I can click the pedal on/off instead."
Best Plug-In Switches
Plug in a Wemo Mini Smart Plug, download the free app, and control your lights and appliances from your phone and your voice through Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. Pair with Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant built-in devices like Google Home and control your lights and appliances with your voice. Nest can sync with Wemo for automatic home/away control.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"After receiving two defective units from Amazon, and before returning the second, I decided to play around with it more and do some more research online. I spent over an hour with WeMo tech support, who offered no solutions, and made me jump through a bunch of hoops in the process. The issue with these early units lies in the fact that they seem to get "confused" if you have other WeMo devices in your home. So long story short, if you have other WeMo devices in your household, and have trouble getting this WeMo mini to connect, try unplugging as many of the other devices as you can (they will automatically reconnect online after you plug them back in), factory reset the mini, and go through the setup process again."
"Relevant background to my skill levels: I bought a couple of the plugs so that I could experiment with how to automate my home. I have an advanced router with repeater, fully LAN & WAN connected house, with network switches, POE devices etc. The WEMO devices were not recognized by the app on my phone, until I switched it to the same wifi network as they were running on. I cannot set up a smart house with devices that require a full factory reboot and me to delete the app, reset all rules from scratch, every time the power fails or blips. Sorry Belkin, but you also have a lot of people on your own Community pages with many similar problems & your own support is not the one finding solutions, it is other users who have more time to do this than most of the rest of us have. So, folks, if you read this far, don't waste your time & money, these devices are great in concept, but are far from Implementation Ready for mainstream use. Updated 3/17 to add rules screenshot showing the app issue with no days selectable. I still struggle with the concept that I am the only person with this issue & that it is identical on 2 unrelated Apple devices that are on different accounts. Just a side note - when Customers are on the phone with your reps, when discussing the product, it really makes a better impression of your company when they are aware of who your major competitor(s) are. So I was really very angry about how much time & energy I had spent on this whole exercise & I was absentmindedly tapping my phone screen repeatedly, when I suddenly noticed that it was highlighting days of the week. I have still lost significant confidence in the product & am very unsure if I want to invest in any more of them to automate other parts of my home at this time."
"I have 2 out of 5 switches that constantly crash - one won't work at all anymore. I have 3 switches that seem to be okay however they show up greyed out on Cellular - however they work through the Alexa App."