suzukir122
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| Ok, so the only plug in portable remote controlled outlets I keep finding are the ones with the "plug 1, plug 2, plug 3" buttons.
This includes the one I spoke about in my previous post.
That's not really what I'm looking for... I mean, those are nice, but I want the option of starting all my fixtures up at the same time,
as soon as I walk in my apartment, without having to individually press button 1, 2, 3, etc.
Maybe I have no choice but to try the phone app plug outlets...
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Interests:
1. Motorcycles, Cars, Women, and Lighting (especially fluorescent)
2. Weightlifting/staying extremely athletic
3. Severe Thunderstorms of all kinds
4. Food and drinks. So gimme them bbq ribs
Lighting has ALWAYS been a passion of mine. I consider everyone on here to be a friend
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sol
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| The easiest to program in this case would be X10 modules. You probably won’t find them in hardware stores but they are available online. You only need a screwdriver to program them. There are two rotary selectors, one for the house (to separate yours from your neighbour’s) and the unit number to identify your different items. You can program all your F30 modules to the same unit number and they will all switch together.
You can also consider Z-wave but they are more expensive and you need a programmer controller unit. Electrical supply houses sell them and they offer plenty of options.
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suzukir122
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| @Sol, are the outlets that come with X-10 modules only for two prong plugs? If so, that might not work for me since my F30T12 fixtures would
all be using 3 prong plugs. I live in an apartment as well, no house yet... so if there's any particular wiring modifications I'd have to make
in order for the X-10 to work, I can't do it.
In my loft, I've got two plug outlets on the wall where my idea would take shape. Downstairs there's another wall where I'd also be setting up
F30T12 fixtures, and that wall also has two plug outlets. Those outlets upstairs are about 16 feet from each other. About 12 feet with those ones
downstairs. I was hoping to plug in about 3, maybe 4 portable plugs that could all be activated by a single remote, or even a "stick to the wall"
light switch, if at all possible.
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Interests:
1. Motorcycles, Cars, Women, and Lighting (especially fluorescent)
2. Weightlifting/staying extremely athletic
3. Severe Thunderstorms of all kinds
4. Food and drinks. So gimme them bbq ribs
Lighting has ALWAYS been a passion of mine. I consider everyone on here to be a friend
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sol
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| Yes, X10 is available in 3 prong. They are referred to as appliance modules and have a relay. You don’t want the 2 prong ones as they have a built in dimmer which obviously won’t work for fluorescent. The appliance 3 prong ones can handle motors, fluorescent, HID, LED, etc. Your setup as you describe it is feasible with X10 and with Zwave although the latter is more complicated and expensive. If programming can be a challenge for you (it is for me) then X10 is the way. I learned that when I setup my small Z wave…
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suzukir122
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| @Sol, is there a way you could link an available video tutorial of the X-10 you're referring to?
Also, to everyone viewing this post, if this ends well, I've got a treat for LG soon.
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Interests:
1. Motorcycles, Cars, Women, and Lighting (especially fluorescent)
2. Weightlifting/staying extremely athletic
3. Severe Thunderstorms of all kinds
4. Food and drinks. So gimme them bbq ribs
Lighting has ALWAYS been a passion of mine. I consider everyone on here to be a friend
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sol
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| I just typed ‘x10 home automation’ in the Youtube search field and had plenty of results. There is one about a vintage controller that interfaces with obsolete computers that I don’t think you want but the others show products that are still readily available and would work for you. Some of the controllers have an updated appearance but they still work the same as the older ones in the videos.
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joseph_125
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| The phone app plugs do let you group outlets into a single button but perhaps X10 might be a better option if you don't need wifi control.
The remote ones with the plug 1, plug 2, plug 3 buttons can sometimes be turned on all at once if you press all three ON buttons at once. Not as polished as a X10 or phone app system though.
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suzukir122
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| I'll be looking into the X-10 module as well as time goes on, but as of now the app plugs look as if they'd be the simpler idea between the two,
at least to someone with a brain of a pebble... like me.
My WiFi should be able to handle it...
Question is, what would be the highest quality app plugs? Would those plugs be able to handle no more than 120 watts each? (I would hope so!)
And will they be reliable in terms of all day operation? Etc...
These are dumb questions, but I'm very wary of new technology.
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Interests:
1. Motorcycles, Cars, Women, and Lighting (especially fluorescent)
2. Weightlifting/staying extremely athletic
3. Severe Thunderstorms of all kinds
4. Food and drinks. So gimme them bbq ribs
Lighting has ALWAYS been a passion of mine. I consider everyone on here to be a friend
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suzukir122
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| I'm going to try and get Teckin smart plugs soon and test those out before I start buying shelves and F30T12 fixtures and ballasts.
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Interests:
1. Motorcycles, Cars, Women, and Lighting (especially fluorescent)
2. Weightlifting/staying extremely athletic
3. Severe Thunderstorms of all kinds
4. Food and drinks. So gimme them bbq ribs
Lighting has ALWAYS been a passion of mine. I consider everyone on here to be a friend
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suzukir122
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| Update.. I just bought two "Geeni" smart plugs from Walmart, and set it up with ease using my phone. I've also found the way to
GROUP other similar smart plugs using the app. Just need two more plugs and then I'll be able to start my lighting idea with the F30T12 fixtures...
...just to confirm though, using smart plugs and hooking up seven F30T12 fixtures to them... (two 2 lamp F30T12 strips to 3 smart plug outlets,
and one 2 lamp F30T12 strip to the 4th smart outlet) is this a bad idea? Could this prove to be too much for the electrical panel/circuit breaker
at my apartment, despite using different plug outlets? Or should this idea work fine?
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Interests:
1. Motorcycles, Cars, Women, and Lighting (especially fluorescent)
2. Weightlifting/staying extremely athletic
3. Severe Thunderstorms of all kinds
4. Food and drinks. So gimme them bbq ribs
Lighting has ALWAYS been a passion of mine. I consider everyone on here to be a friend
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sol
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| Assuming that all fixtures are 2 lamp and that there is nothing else on that circuit, very rough calculations would be 14 lamps x 35 watts each (accounting crudely for ballast losses) is 490 watts. Typically it is not advised to go over 80% of the circuit capacity which is about 1500 watts for a 15A circuit. If that is the case, you should be good. The only thing to watch for is the capacity of your switches and the gauge of the cabling. You don’t want to burn out the switches or overheat the wires. The switches should have a maximum wattage on the label.
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suzukir122
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| @Sol, the smart plugs each have a maximum wattage of 1250 watts, and 10 amps each. There will be four smart plugs used in total.
I forgot to mention this, but I'd be hooking up two 2 lamp F30T12 strips to one three pronged power cord. I'll be doing this three times,
for six of those F30T12 fixtures. The maximum wattage each smart plug should see, should be no more than 140 watts each, using different plug
outlets, instead of one single plug outlet, unlike my current plan with my PL-L Sadelite desklamps.
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Interests:
1. Motorcycles, Cars, Women, and Lighting (especially fluorescent)
2. Weightlifting/staying extremely athletic
3. Severe Thunderstorms of all kinds
4. Food and drinks. So gimme them bbq ribs
Lighting has ALWAYS been a passion of mine. I consider everyone on here to be a friend
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sol
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| With those ratings, you should be fine.
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suzukir122
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| Friday begins my journey of purchasing possibly 16 F30T12 lamps of different brands, for living room lighting in my apartment. I'll start with Home Depot,
then Lowes. (Philips and GE... Sylvania if I can find them.)
I may be adding an additional fixture downstairs, so that's four fixtures in tandem in my downstairs living room instead of three.
Next thing I'll do, possibly next paycheck, is look around for identical F30T12 strip fixtures that look perfect in tandem. Then cords for the
fixtures, then removable "floating" shelves, which will possibly be the trickiest part of all of this. After that, I'll get laser levels... to help me
straighten out the shelves during installation.
Hopefully this won't be... too much for the circuit breaker...
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Interests:
1. Motorcycles, Cars, Women, and Lighting (especially fluorescent)
2. Weightlifting/staying extremely athletic
3. Severe Thunderstorms of all kinds
4. Food and drinks. So gimme them bbq ribs
Lighting has ALWAYS been a passion of mine. I consider everyone on here to be a friend
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