Looking for hardware to turn on and off devices

[dzirkelb]

I am looking for some hardware that will give me the ability to turn on and off devices. Two devices will be fans that are in my AV rack, and they are on when they are plugged in, and off when unplugged (no on / off switch).

1 device is the same, on when plugged in, off when not. They are sensor eyes for my Wii.

The third I am not certain on if it will automatically turn on when given power or if I will have to physically turn it on. It is an air purifier I purchased from Lowes. I am thinking I will have to manually press the on button when that recieves power, but not sure.

That drives one question...for items that have an on / off button, is there any hardware that will turn it on when given power, and turn it off when power is taken away? An example would be a coffee maker that does not have any sort of timer on it. Could you turn it on using some sort of automation hardware?

On top of this, I would like the ability to have them in a surge protector, or, have the surge protector have the ability to control individual outlets on the surge protector itself. I have a lot of stuff plugged in around my AV rack, and I require surge protectors to plug everything in.

I would prefer to use UPB technology if at all possible as that is what I have had the best luck with. I will be using Homeseer as the automation software. If not UPB, then I am open to other alternatives that Homeseer has the ability to control.

 

[oberkc]

I have several power strips that would serve your purpose (as I understand it). One plug is sensed for power. The others are switched on and off based upon whether power is sensed at the first plug.

I plug a TV into the sense plug. Turning the TV on sends power to remaining audio/video equipment. Turning the TV off shuts off power. I do something similar for computer equipment.

 

[dzirkelb]

Yes and no that will work.

Yes it will work if I can have the sense portion turn on only some of the outlets. For example, I have an HTPC in my AV rack that I need to be on at all times, but the rest of the stuff can have the power taken away.

For the Wii connection (and for that matter, my subs), I need the ability to turn them on as there will be nothing else with the ability to remotely turn them on.

So, one powerstrip will contain one sub, and a Wii sensor mod (not the wii itself). I would need the ability to turn on the first outlet in the strip for the rest to turn on.

 

[ctbaker]

This probably isn't exactly what you are looking for either but I'll throw it out there anyways....

Belkin BG108000-04 Conserve Energy-Saving Surge Strip

Or this... Smart Strip LCG3 Energy Saving Surge Protector with Autoswitching Technology, 10-Outlet

Or one that you can control via computer connected with a USB cable (rerelease in Jan 2011) PowerUSB

 

[dzirkelb]

The PowerUSB one appears to be the only one that allows the use of home automation. But, my htpc will be in the opposite corner of the room, so I will not be able to control anything as it is not near it.

The first option seems to be a potential candidate, but another remote is not ideal.

I like the 2nd option for other places in my house, but not for what I want in my theater room.

If the first option could take wireless signals, then it would be ideal for what I have planned; however, I have a feeling it is IR or RF, which is not ideal for what I want to do.

An example of a macro that will need to be ran is this:

Watch TV:

Turn on DVR (this needs to always have power to be able to record when off)
Turn on Receiver x 2
Turn on subwoofer x 2 (these subs will be in a seperate area of the room)
Turn on AV Rack Fan x 2 (these will just need to be given power, when power is taken away or unplugged, they turn off)
Turn on Projector (this is in a different area of the room also, behind where I will be sitting)
Turn on air filter (this will be below the projector, and I am not certain if just giving it power will turn it on or not, I will test that)

So, I will esentially have 4 different zones in the room which need to be given power upon a command given by me in one central seating location. If I could find something that home automation does, then that would be ideal, opposed to any sort of remote using IR or RF.

 

[oberkc]

Yes it will work if I can have the sense portion turn on only some of the outlets. For example, I have an HTPC in my AV rack that I need to be on at all times, but the rest of the stuff can have the power taken away.

I have different types of these devices in my house. Some have a sense outlet with the rest switched. Others have a sense outlet, some switched, and others always on. It appears that the smartstrip suggested by ctbaker is an example of the latter. Or you can have a normal power strip for those devices requiring continuous power and a switched strip for those that need to go on and off with another device.

You should also check how your wii responds to power interruptions, also. I have several electronic gadgets that would would not come back on after a power interruption, making a device like a UPB module unsuitable for turning it on or off.

Also, I am surprised that your subs don't power themselves down upon loss of audio signal.

 

[dzirkelb]

The main problem right now would be the subs / wii sensor. The subs do power themselves off, yes, but they are in a state of ready, aka, sucking power. And, I have no device that will be plugged into the same strip that I can power on via any sort of remote.

I can work with the strips that power on other devices when one device is on, but I would really rather have the ability to power only certain devices at one time. I will have roughly 10 devices in one area, 3 may need to be on at once, 2 at once, 8 at once, etc...it all depends on what is going on.

 

[dzirkelb]

For the Wii sensor and two subs, could I use an appliance module to power a regular surge protector? That way, I in essense turn on the surge protector, and then the surge protector filters to everything else?

I think I will be able to use the one surge protector that says if one is on, then turn on the other ones, and when they are off, it cuts power for the other devices in my AV rack. I am fine with the devices that are not powered on to have power, and be turned off...I will not be saving that much more money (maybe cents a year!).

And, same goes for the projector and air filter. I can power on the projector, which in turn will power on the air filter, and also give power to the reclining seats (I forgot to mention them).

I would basically do this:

If AV receiver 1 is turned on, then AV receiver 2 is turned on (just an amplifier right now), wii is given power, two AV fans are given power, and other amplifier is given power. Then, when the AV Receiver 1 is turned off, then the rest loose their power.

Then, on my other strip I'll have my HTPC, router, DVR, and phone which all need continous power.

But, for the wii sensors and subs, these are still giving me a problem. But, I might be just fine with leaving those on all the time, they can't draw that much power.

That leads me to another question. One side of my screen will have a wii sensor and a sub, the right side. The right side will have just two items that need to be plugged in, but I would like them protected with a surge protector. Are there any one or two pront surge protectors out there? I don't want a big huge surge protector to only use two plugs.

ON the left side it is only one plug in (the sub), so same question over there.

 

[oberkc]

For the Wii sensor and two subs, could I use an appliance module to power a regular surge protector? That way, I in essense turn on the surge protector, and then the surge protector filters to everything else?

I do this with Insteon modules. I don't know why this wouldn't work with UPB.

Speaking of insteon, they have modules that would allow them to detect the power status of one device, and turn on another module in response. Perhaps UPB has something similar. This could work with your wii sensors and subs.

I don't want a big huge surge protector to only use two plugs.

I have seen surge suppressor devices that are no larger than a typical UPB plug-in module and, like the module, are not at the end of a cord. IN fact, my earliest surge suppressor is a cube no larger than 2" each side with one plug. I can't speculate on their effectiveness, but they are certainly out there.

 

[tmbrown97]

Just out of curiousity, have you purchased a kill-a-watt yet to see how much money each device is costing? It'd suck to waste $50 to save $5/year.

I use the first two strips ctbaker listed - the conserve is in my office, so that if I'm not in there working, I can shut off all the LCD's (it's a quad monitor setup), plus the audio system and my IPPhone that hooks into the office; it keeps things quieter and saves power. For the 2nd one, it has an adjustable range that lets you choose the input sensitivity - seems to work ok for turning things on/off with the TV like stereo amps, etc. There are smaller versions that may fit better (like 2 outlets) with the projector/air purifier.

For the AV Fans, why not instead look at a temperature controlled switch? That way the fans come on when needed, and go off when not needed - allowing them to help with cooldown after equipment is used. I'm pretty sure rockler.com had some of those.

I can't imagine that wii sensor costing more than $3/year - but that's the reason I suggest a kill-a-watt, so you can prioritize your attacks and understand ROI. I had some cisco chargers that I expected to be an issue, but they won't even register they're so low.