[sisukid1975]

When our house was built, it was originally furnished with gas lamps.

Later on, it was upgraded to electric, but, all the light fixtures in the rooms were operated by pull chain.

As part of our renovations, we've updated every foot of wire to modern Romex type, installed a new breaker box, 3 prong grounded outlets throughout...

But, we wanted to put light switches in the rooms. (no more stumbling though the dark reaching for a pull chain while tripping over the dog. stubbing your toe on the dining room table) Problem is, according to the electrican, the way the floor joists run in our house, it's not necessarily impossible to install light switches on the walls, but it certainly is expensive. He'd have to tear into plaster and all sorts of other stuff.

He suggested wireless remote light switches. They're not cheap, but they're cheaper. He runs a 110v wire though the wall up the the switch, then installs a receiver in the light fixture, so when the switch is manipulated, the light turns off and on, and he avoids having to tear out our plaster ceilings and stuff. Looks and works exactly like a regular light switch.

Anyone have these? Any thoughts on reliability? He says it'll take a couple weeks to order them, and we're trying to decide wheterh or not to go this way, or just live with pull chains.

Fred

[GeoRoss]

You need a clapper or two

I have a ceiling fan that has a remote, if that helps.

Ross

[Zimm]

it's a signal to a low grade relay. you're an engineer. do you want relays at every light?

if it's a two stoy house, then the upstairs can be rewired from the attic down. not a problem for an experienced guy, just a pita.

unless you have hand painted wallpaper, i'd opt for the damage and do it right. figure out which way the joist run, folow to the nearest wall (outside preferably, if it's balloon consruction = outside walls are open from basement to attic = easy fishing) do a little plaster damage, fish the wire to the basement, and pull up to the switch box. If youre lucky, the switch box will be in the same joist bay and you can skip the basemsnt fishing.

you can also lift up the floor boards on the second floor with a sawzall, to get to where you need to go. wall to wall carpeting makes it easy, as you don't need to be as neat.

i rewired about 9 million old houses in pittsburgh as a teenager.

i'll pm you with my phone #. feel free to call with questions.

[sisukid1975]

Originally Posted by Zimm

it's a signal to a low grade relay. you're an engineer. do you want relays at every light?

if it's a two stoy house, then the upstairs can be rewired from the attic down. not a problem for an experienced guy, just a pita.

unless you have hand painted wallpaper, i'd opt for the damage and do it right. figure out which way the joist run, folow to the nearest wall (outside preferably, if it's balloon consruction = outside walls are open from basement to attic = easy fishing) do a little plaster damage, fish the wire to the basement, and pull up to the switch box. If youre lucky, the switch box will be in the same joist bay and you can skip the basemsnt fishing.

you can also lift up the floor boards on the second floor with a sawzall, to get to where you need to go. wall to wall carpeting makes it easy, as you don't need to be as neat.

i rewired about 9 million old houses in pittsburgh as a teenager.

i'll pm you with my phone #. feel free to call with questions.

Thanks, Zimm. I'll have to do it from home tonight though, cause the Sphincter General here at work watches the long distance bills like a hawk.

Fred

[lowenbrau]

Shouldn't need to run any wire to a wireless switch. Thay are battery operated and work fine.

Years ago I re-wired a lot of Victorian houses. I'f pick a central room or hallway and run all the wire around the top of the wall. I'd punch holes in the wall were required to fish down to plugs and switches ( both sides of the wall ) and in the ceiling to fish to light fixtures. When all the wiring was done the room got some nice wide crown molding. Often you can do everything you need to in a house by just adding molding to the hallways.

[sisukid1975]

Originally Posted by lowenbrau

Shouldn't need to run any wire to a wireless switch. Thay are battery operated and work fine.

Years ago I re-wired a lot of Victorian houses. I'f pick a central room or hallway and run all the wire around the top of the wall. I'd punch holes in the wall were required to fish down to plugs and switches ( both sides of the wall ) and in the ceiling to fish to light fixtures. When all the wiring was done the room got some nice wide crown molding. Often you can do everything you need to in a house by just adding molding to the hallways.

These switches aren't battery powered: they run of 110 v household current.

Fred

[loeky]

we installed one in the 102 year old victorian house we are renting and it's worked perfect for the 1.5 years we've used it. completely recommended. the controller is battery operated and the receiver is wired in obviously.

[Zimm]

battery powered stuff devalues a house. the only good use for that stuff i've seen yet, is office toilet flushers, when the building doesn't have a generator, but it does have an in house maitenance staff.

sisukid's stuff may be addressable. the signal from the switch unit is sent from the switch to the houses electrical system grid, where a relay in the light box receives (it has its own address) the signal over the line and turns the outlet on and off. you can run a whole house in this manner. (we set up a buddies house to turn on lights and switch his tv's to the front door camera, when the doobell is pushed. he ran out of cash getting divorced and never bought the damn head unit.) anyway, the good stuff aint cheap, increases maitenance, and uses proprietary parts. i wouldn't want the house in 20 years. it'll be worthless, like the old 60's low voltage relay systems. and if he's running 110 to the switch locations now, he's half way done. why bother with the fancy stuff?

[Hondo]

Quote: "These switches aren't battery powered: they run off 110 v household current. Fred"

Yeah, but how do you turn on the light when the power is out?






J/K