Amazon Alexa and smart plugs in workshop

[Lard]

Yes, I have a sonoff 4 channel relay (rev 3) that allows up to 4 remotes to be connected. It controls my dust extraction. You can, of course, use the 4 relay buttons as well if you want.
The remotes only cost about £3 each (yes £3) so don’t get sucked (pun unintended) into paying any more.

I also have an Alexa ‘button’ that I use for music and radio and calling the house for tea and this will also allow me to tell ‘her’ to turn on the extractor but i rarely use that function as the remotes (hung from wires around the workshop) are too easy to use.

Each channel is rated at 10A and so I’ve never had any issues electrically……I know Peter Millard had an issue……although I am able to completely switch off the power on my consumer unit as I leave the workshop and so never have to worry about inadvertent remote control switching.

I’ve put a link to the sonoff switch below if you’re interested…..you can get them cheaper than this if you shop around. The original version only allowed one remote to be paired BUT, having installed an older one for a mate, was suprised to find that I could ‘clone’ the remote and so even overcame that issue (again only for a few £s).

BTW apart from obviously losing alexa radio/music, the sonoff switch itself doesn’t need an internet connection/router to operate the relay/remotes.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Compatible...t=&hvlocphy=9046326&hvtargid=pla-991322448887

 

[Doug71]

I use these from Dewenwils, you can mix and match with remotes, switches, plugs etc works really well for me.

I have one of their light switch type switches right next to each machine so you just turn the extraction on and off when you are using that machine, much easier than trying to find where I put down the remote fob each time

https://www.amazon.co.uk/DEWENWILS-Switch-Control-Wireless-Programmable/dp/B07YKFD952

 

[Garden Shed Projects]

Yes, I have a sonoff 4 channel relay (rev 3) that allows up to 4 remotes to be connected. It controls my dust extraction. You can, of course, use the 4 relay buttons as well if you want.
The remotes only cost about £3 each (yes £3) so don’t get sucked (pun unintended) into paying any more.

I also have an Alexa ‘button’ that I use for music and radio and calling the house for tea and this will also allow me to tell ‘her’ to turn on the extractor but i rarely use that function as the remotes (hung from wires around the workshop) are too easy to use.

Each channel is rated at 10A and so I’ve never had any issues electrically……I know Peter Millard had an issue……although I am able to completely switch off the power on my consumer unit as I leave the workshop and so never have to worry about inadvertent remote control switching.

I’ve put a link to the sonoff switch below if you’re interested…..you can get them cheaper than this if you shop around. The original version only allowed one remote to be paired BUT, having installed an older one for a mate, was suprised to find that I could ‘clone’ the remote and so even overcame that issue (again only for a few £s).

BTW apart from obviously losing alexa radio/music, the sonoff switch itself doesn’t need an internet connection/router to operate the relay/remotes.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Compatible...t=&hvlocphy=9046326&hvtargid=pla-991322448887

Hi Lard. Where can you get the remotes for £3?

 

[Sporky McGuffin]

I have actually taken the time and trouble to check. Without the trigger word (we use the default A word), there is zero WiFi traffic between our Echo dot and the router/mesh network. I concede that there will be accidental triggers, if we're discussing the frozen wastelands of North America, for example, or buying the upmarket Toyota brand, but that's acknowledged by Amazon.

Because of some of the things we do at work (not as dodgy as that sounds - more about the sorts of sites we work at for a fairly small fraction of the business) I have restrictions on what can be on the same network as my work laptop. Most people in my team therefore have two network connections, one for their normal home stuff and one that the company pays for that is just for the work laptop. I decided it'd be more interesting to see if I could make my entire network conform to the security level required. Turns out it's not terribly difficult - Alexa is fine, my networked CCTV is fine, the printer is fine, Spotify and the bits that use it are all OK, games consoles and TV and phones and tablets are OK, and so on.

The only bit that has to be in the guest network is the robot vacuum cleaner, which is odd as we got one of the ones that doesn't have GPS and doesn't map the house.

 

[Kinz]

I use remote control sockets from Amazon to control extraction. A single remote controls up to 3 (13A) sockets. Whilst not voice activated, they do not suffer the associated voice/noise conflict

 

[Lard]

Hi Lard. Where can you get the remotes for £3?

Hi,
Can’t provide you with the exact seller I bought mine from but I‘ve just done a quick search and here’s a link to one (of dozens) although the delivery time does look rather long .

From memory the ones I bought took a few weeks but, to me, was worth the wait simply because I didnt have the system ready for fitting at the time anyway. If you keep scrolling down there are many others that may well have shorter delivery times.

[3.96US $ |Sonoff 433 MHz 4 Channel Wireless RF Controller 4 Buttons Sonoff Switch Accessories Electric Remote Key Fob Control|Smart Remote Control| - AliExpress

There‘s another option in that it seems that some UK sellers could well be buying the above in bulk and then making a few £’s by selling them for few quid more over here…..much quicker delivery and may suit you time-wise. Here’s a link to one example.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/31363307...l7FXst0vUgqVSw%3D%3D|ampid:PL_CLK|clp:2047675
Also remember that these are ‘simply’ remotes. There are others that look identical but they are able to ‘clone’ (ie learn) the ‘code’ from another remote. I can’t confirm if this works on every device but it certainly did for me when setting up my mates system with the ‘older’ R2 sonoff 4 channel. It enabled him to use 2 remotes on the R2 when only 1 was supposed to work. I didn’t think for one minute that it would but for a few quid it was worth trying…..amazed that it did!

Hope this helps!

 

[Daniel.l]

I was looking at a remote system yesterday actually. I came across this video



It looks a good system but when you look up all the stuff it works out a bit expensive I really liked the idea of the large switches though