Looking for a 20amp outlet switch

I’ve got a couple of older Wemo switches that can handle 20 amps, but they require the haphazard ifttt integration to work, and they are very slow. Looking for a better solution, zigbee or zwave but not finding anything.

Darn hard to find 20 amp switches these days. I had a couple X-10's laying around but nether can I find a 20 amp wall switch. I think they are rare due to how US houses are wired with 15 amp circuits by default for lights and outlets. This is the closes thing I have found:

1 Like

I have 2 of the Aeotec Heavy Duty switches I would be willing to sell.

Yeah, those are kind of overkill for my use. I only need the 20 amps for motor startup spike, and after that it's less than 10 amps. But I may have no choice.

I've been thinking of one of those for my well pump. There's no manual switch on it, right, in case the hub is down? I guess you could directly associate a button controller like the Zen34 so you wouldn't need the hub. Are those wire terminals hard to come by, assuming you used them already?

I can't find the amp rating, but a zen15 should do the trick.

1 Like

ZEN15 is 15 amps.

https://www.support.getzooz.com/kb/article/271-zen15-power-switch-specs/

1 Like

Theoretically, I might not need 20A, but the only switches I've found that make it through the startup of the device are all 20A. It may be that smaller 15A just can't handle a sudden 15A load.

I'm not inclined to buy more to test, I've done plenty of that already.

There is a button which I believe is a manual switch but you have to remove the cover to use it. The wire terminals you just put the wire under the clamp. Can't say on the direct association as I never looked into that. I used these on my electric hot water tanks. I removed them when I moved and my new house has gas, so haven't had a need for them.

If you or anyone else is interested I would sell them for $50 each plus shipping.

It may not work for you, but I needed a switch for my well pump, so I installed a 20 amp contactor, wired the pump through it, and installed a Z Wave switch to control the contactor.

1 Like

PM sent.

I actually have that already, but would like to monitor power.

Also, I just realized I could throw the breaker if I wanted to turn it on or off manually.

Me too...but....I'm thinking this level of device for things like well pumps. Probably 20 amps overkill tho.

1 Like

Looks nice. Is it actually shipping? I was waiting for a while on their propane tank monitor which never seemed to happen.

I think it is, on their website and on Amazon. Thought it was at $108 for awhile during the sales (big whoop).

EDIT: Only complaint I have read about it (that I recall) is something about the wire screw downs not being as robust (confident feeling) as one would expect for a 50 amp connection.

There's this.

Aeotec Heavy Duty Smart Switch, Z-Wave Plus Home Security ON/OFF controller, 40 amps record electricity consumption https://a.co/d/hBY7V8o

2 Likes

Well, I just remembered that my well pump feed does not have a neutral-just two 10awg hot legs and a ground. So, unless I run the appropriate wire, I guess I'm SOL for using the Aeotec, or probably any other heavy duty switch.

Is it a 240V circuit? Ground is being used as the return path for the current in that setup, i.e. it is being used as a neutral.

Yes, it is a 240V circuit. Are you saying I would hook up the supply side ground to the Neutral terminal of the device? In searching, it seems that someone on another forum got his to work with ground to ground connection, although his response was a little unclear.

Ground is not used as return. In a 240V circuit the two hot wires are opposite phases of 120V each, for 240V delivered to the load. If the switch requires a (fourth) neutral wire, it is because it needs 120V single-phase power to operate somehow (irrespective of the load).

That Aeotec switch looks like junk, sorry to say. The Sinope switch linked earlier in the thread is much better engineered.

2 Likes