Does this exist?

[BellyUpFish]

Ok here's the scenario:

I've got a detached garage I'd like to put flood lights and exterior lights on, but I'd want them to come on with the switch in the house, rather than having to go outside and turn them on.

I am not sure the best route to go getting them on the same circuit as the house floods/exterior lights.

So, to the does it exist part, I'm wondering of someone makes a switch with a built in wireless transmitter so when the inside switch goes hot it will activate the outside circuit as well?

If that's dreaming too much, how would you guys solve the issue?

 

[eljefino]

X10.com sells a bunch of gadgets to do this sort of thing. Worst case is you could use the x10 "switch" to control both the inside and outside lights by setting them to the same code.

A more elegant way would be with a "contactor" (relay) and switch loop of a 2nd wire coming back to the house from the garage.

 

[James-W]

Many years ago I built a remote control to turn the garage lights on and off. Today you can buy these remote control systems. The power to the unit is on all the time, but with the remote hand unit you can turn the lights on or off from your car or from your house. We have 3 remotes, one for each car and one for the house. The cost for the system is minimal, the one I have now came packed in the box along with my new Chamberlain garage door opener.

 

[Blk88GT]

The Belkin Wemo Switch does what you're describing. Have a look.

I've got 3 of them, one for controlling the outdoor lights on my shop from the house.

 

[BellyUpFish]

Can the Wemo switch be programmed to activate another wemo switch?

If I have 3 in the house, can I turn on 1 and all three "outlets" go live..

 

[_Dock_]

I have two wemos now. They work great, I use one to control the garage outside lights and one for the landscape lighting. Fairly reasonable price also.

 

[BellyUpFish]

Looks like I'll be checking out the WeMo. If we like it, more to come I'm sure.

 

[Jess]

Check out Smarthome. They have lots of products that may suit your needs and some good technical information about the different types of controls. I have purchased a few things from them over the years and price, shipping and support have been good.
http://www.smarthome.com/_/index.aspx

Jess

 

[Dugan]

If you just want them on at night, you could go the route of the lights that use RF to determine daylight vs night and turn on at night.

 

[Blk88GT]

Can the Wemo switch be programmed to activate another wemo switch?

If I have 3 in the house, can I turn on 1 and all three "outlets" go live..

I haven't tried it, but they support IFTTT which I would think would cover that scenario.

I have 3 of mine set up to come on in the evening and stay on until a set time. They do the same in the morning, although it's less important now that it's bright so early.

 

[Yarz]

Does it have to be wireless? There is a way to hardwire it:

or

Found here: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=222238

 

[jawnd393]

X10.com sells a bunch of gadgets to do this sort of thing. Worst case is you could use the x10 "switch" to control both the inside and outside lights by setting them to the same code.

A more elegant way would be with a "contactor" (relay) and switch loop of a 2nd wire coming back to the house from the garage.

If you can't run wires out to the detached garage to use regular 3 way switches, I would also recommend X10 stuff.

 

[gatchel]

Doesn't running another circuit between the detached garage, along with the sub panel feeder violate the NEC? Maybe a Certified Electrician can comment....as I am not...



I use Insteon (Smarthome.com). I have 8 button controllers in the house and garage that can control multiple things. All of my garage and shed exterior lighting can be controlled from multiple locations. When exiting my house to go to the garage at night, I can use a standard wall switch to turn on the back patio lighting. If I double tap the on side of the switch (Fast ON Command), the back patio lighting and the exterior garage lighting turns on to create a path from point A to B. I have "Bed Time" Button that I hit at night that turn off all lighting (that can be controlled) and locked the deadbolt on the doors that are unlocked.

With Insteon or other home automation technologies, you can get some pretty cool control capabilities when adding switches and having a central controller like the Universal Devices ISY-994i.

The possibilities are pretty much unlimited. Just take the time to educate yourself on the technology you decide with.

The switches are about 1.5 times the cost of a nice dimmer switch. If going with Insteon you will need two "Access Points" up front to couple the 2 legs of the electrical service together. You may also need filters for heavy "signal suckers" like UPS Backups, and other computer equipment. YMMV.

STAY AWAY FROM X-10! It is unreliable in most environments at bets. I had X-10 at one point and had 50% reliability on a few devices. Changing to Insteon without changing any other variables tool my control reliability up to 100%.

If you plan on possibly adding other devices in the future invest in a proven technology now. If you only want this one device controlled, then there are probably other lower cost options that will work for your situation.

 

[sands35]

I am doing nearly the exact same thing.

You can't run a switch from one building to another if they have separate power sources. Basically it is un-safe to not be able to fully kill power within say the house and have a live wire coming in from another source.

The wireless solutions have already been mentioned.

You could run a class 2 low voltage circuit to the switch in the house from the garage. Closing the switch will close a relay or contactor in the garage which then turns on the lights.