Power sockets

[Paul_B]

Hi all,

It has been a while since I last posted mainly due to work.

Current project is to completely gut and re-decorate the downstairs WC. It has suffered condensation since we moved in with the hot humid kitchen on one side and cold integrated garage on the other. In removing all the plasterboard to improve insulation and use fermacell boards it was also apparent that howling gales were coming through the window fitting (large gaps) and poor jointing on the walls. All now rectified and with the addition of a heat-recovery extraction fan this should be the end to the condensation. With the ceiling down this gives me an opportunity for other work.

I have a teenage son who spends way too much time on the various game consoles. I'd like to make him more aware of the time he spends on games and reduce my electricity bill. I can give him a quote and setup hourly announcements. But ultimately I want to be able to turn off the equipment if he leaves to go out or if the quota is reached. My though are as follows:

• Multiple QRH-001 - 6M DIN rail enclosure with 4 x 16A SPCO relays
• Change sockets from ring main to radial fed from the QRH
• Add more sockets say 4 banks of six
• Feed QRHs with need radial circuit direct from the CU
• For the main components, TV, PS, Computer, Monitor use fused spur to replace socket

Thoughts, anyone done something similar?

Paul

[Paul_B]

I've come to the conclusion that running 24 cables within the room would be too much effort and probably impractical due to number of holes in joists. Now I'm thinking of placing a QRH or two in the floor void and buying some floor boxes to gain access. Still use a radial circuit fed from the CU but run the cable in series from one QRH to the next. Result is individual socket control but a bit less hassle

Paul

[Karam]

Another possibility I suppose is to use radio based HomeEasy socket adaptors.

[chris_j_hunter]

Did wonder if QRIs or QTIs might be sufficient - either way, don’t forget fusing ... also wondered how to provoke tidy unattended shut-downs of PC & PS ... but warnings via DFP / MFP and/or flashing the Lights might be OK when attended ... changing to Radial might be unnecessary, given Cortex would look after the switching ... payback period money-wise might be long, and promoting other distractions might have other unwelcome consequences ...

Chris

[Nad]

I'm just starting a major renovation at home and have been thinking about this too. I'm considering replacing a socket in the ring with a fused spur and a DRH then place 2 double sockets that are fed from each of the DRH relays. This way I get 4 usable sockets in 2 Cortex controlled circuits. I may be able to hide the FS and the DRH while leaving the sockets visible.

Thanks,
Nad

[Paul_B]

Nad,

That is pretty much how I started although I went for single sockets rather than double sockets. But that means four pattresses to control two sockets individually. I'm re-thinking my original approach to have more controlled sockets and less patresses.

Paul

[Nad]

As Karam said, the HomeEasy solution may work.
Not sure if it has any sort of 2 way communication to let the system know if the socket actually activated or not and not to mention their less than desirable aesthetics.

I haven't had a meeting with the electrician yet but I get the feeling he's going to freak out when he sees my plans for an average sized house

[toscal]

someone years ago did something similar with homeseer.
If their son wanted to play on his playstation he had to type in a 4 digit code (via a keypad in his bedroom), the system would turn the sockets on for a preset amount of time then give a warning about 5 minutes before switch off. The guy had set it up, so that if his son had finished playing before the time limit and had remembered to enter the 4 digit code (again) then the remaining time got added to the next days quota etc.
Would something like this be possible within the Idratek ecosystem.
A rather simple approach would be to use a staircase timer set to 1 hour. So you press a momentary switch then if you want more time you need to press it again before the time runs out. Or interface this to Idratek.

[Karam]

Yes I think a password object + time accumulator object + perhaps a logic gate or two should be able to implement a function whereby, for a given day, every time you enter the password you toggle a time accumulator and when its threshold is exceeded it then disables access to operate the socket from that particular password object lets say. So this would give the 'up to x hours per day' kind of effect. Adding unused time to the next day would be more tricky but I'm not sure so desireable in the sense that usually it is recommended you only spend x hours/day rather than per week say.

[JonS]

Love the idea of having this type of screen time control. Will have to experiment with objects per child and for parents on main TV too. Trouble is kids are smart enough to spy each others pass codes a d that could lead to other issues!!