Can this be done?(Turn off upstairs lights from downstairs but..)

12 years ago

This is my first post on this forum. I'm a longtime member at GW and frequent several other boards. We've finally started building. Since our kids will be the ones upstairs, we'd like to not have to double check after them. I'm sure a master switch can be put downstairs to shut off the lights and media for upstairs, right? But once we're back home, can those items that were turned off then be individually turned back on again without said switch being flipped back or will they interfere with each other or not turn on at all if the master switch is still off? Is that possible? We would just like to be able to shut stuff off conveniently from downstairs before we leave, etc from the door. I wonder if this will be a logistics issue once we're back home....kids go run upstairs and everything's off because the switch is off. How would this work effectively?

Thanks!

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Comments (6)

Ron Natalie
12 years ago
You might want to look at the X.10 or ZWAVE devices for controlling lamps and other appliances. I have just about removed all the X.10/Insteon devices and replaced them with Z-wave that are more reliable (Smarthome's switchlinc stuff has terrible long term reliability (near every one of my rather expensive highend switchlinc/keypadlincs have failed by n ow and they have sucky customer support).
btharmy
12 years ago
You could interrupt all circuits you want to turn off and on with a multiple pole conactor controlled by a set of 3way switches. One up stairs, one down stairs.
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wayne440
12 years ago
I respectfully suggest that you might be better served by teaching your kids not to leave things on, as opposed to an electrical solution that allows you to intervene in the issue remotely. I had the same issue, my children viewed a light switch and TV as something you turned "on" when you entered a room, then never touched again. IF I wanted a solution as you propose, Z-wave or similar would be my initial choice.

Here is what I did-After failed attempts at verbal instruction, when I found a TV playing to an empty room I disabled it for a day, then 2 days etc. Lights that were left on resulted in lower wattage bulbs, to the point that my son had a 7w incandescent light for a brief period. The problem cleared up fairly quickly.
weedmeister
12 years ago
You might think about occupancy sensors. This is similar to motion sensor switches, but detect when someone is in the space and turn off when no one is there.
dim4fun
12 years ago
The simplest way to do this is vacancy sensors. If no one is in sight the devices turn off and you can set the time to wait from last sensed presense to device off typically from a minute or so so half an hour.

There are power strips that can turn off outlets if the space is empty.

Lutron's Maestro wireless dimmers and switches install like regular devices and listen for commands from wireless sensors which makes the sensors easy to place and move as needed.

Consider a lighting control system if you want to turn things on as well as off.

Here is a link that might be useful: power strip with sensor example
mike_kaiser_gw
12 years ago
I don't know what you mean by "media" but you don't want to be flipping switches on computers, they need an ordered shutdown. Probably also true of the the gaming consoles like XBox and PS3.

Can this be done?(Turn off upstairs lights from downstairs but..)

Comments (6)

Ron Natalie

btharmy

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weedmeister

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