What is the Utilitech Wall Mounted Switch and Plug In Receiver For?

Utilitech are mostly known for their lighting fixtures. While the Utiltiech wall mounted switch and plug in receiver can be used with a lighting fixture, it is not exclusively for this purpose.

So what is the Utilitech wall mounted switch and plug in receiver for? Well for any device that uses a conventional plug that you want to activate remotely. A popular application for this device is using it to turn a standard plug in lamp into a wall switch activated light while negating the need to drill holes and run cables.

The switch and receiver communicate via wireless radio technology, this could be a problem if there are other radio devices in close proximity but we’ll have to see if the issue arrises in practice.

Ordering and First Impressions

I purchased the Utilitech switch and plug in receiver from amazon.  The unit arrived un a small vacuum sealed box.

I was impressed at the compactness of the unit, the toggle style switch is small enough to be mounted inconspicuously to any wall. The receiver does not add too much bulk to the wall outlet it is being used with.

One thing that may prove to be an issue in the future is the build quality of the toggle switch. While it doesn’t feel cheap the switches action is very light, only time will tell how long it will last for.

Installation

This is one of the easiest products I’ve ever installed, the fact that there are no wires to run makes everything very simple. Just plug the receiver into a wall outlet and connect the device that you want to activate remotely.

The toggle switch transmitter simply sits on mounting screws that you affix to the wall. My walls are made of plasterboard so I used raw plugs, something you need to be wary of.

Set Up

The Utilitech wall mounted switch and receiver that I purchased came pre-programmed to a specific radio frequency. This means that there is literally nothing to set up, just put batteries in the transmitter and you are ready to go.

If you want to use more than one of these units within close proximity of each other, you need to ensure that each transmits and receives on a different radio frequency. Utilitech label each of their frequencies by letter, so if you have one device that transmits and receives on frequency A and another that transmits and receives on frequency B, everything should work fine.

A word of caution, Utilitech’s safety advice states that the receiver should not be used with a device that draws more than 1200 watts of power. There are not many household devices that draw this much power, but something like an air conditioner or heater may require a lot of power.

In Use

I tried the transmitter and receiver out in a variety of situations. Utiltiech claim that the device has a range of 100 feet, I am happy to report that it exceeded that range. I even tried plugging the receiver in at my neighbours house across the street and managed to activate the device from my house.

The unit seems to have endless applications, one particular use that I found this unit worked for was helping my young son. He is only 5 years old is not yet tall enough to reach the light switch in the hallway. Not wishing him to trip over and hurt himself in the dark, I mounted the switch at a height he could reach and connected the receiver to a shelf lamp. Now whenever he gets up to go to the bathroom at night he can safely cross the hallway.

After having the switch and receiver installed for over two weeks, I am happy to say that I encountered no problems with interference from other radio transmitting devices. I even put my wireless router next to the receiver to see if anything would happen, nothing did.

Conclusion

I really love this device, it works exactly as describe and after a couple of weeks of usage I have no problems with the build quality.

The applications for a device like this are endless, I will definitely be purchasing a few more.

If you need to activate an electronic device remotely, don’t hesitate to purchase the Utilitech wall mounted switch and plugin receiver.