Hi all, I'm looking for any suggestions for a 220V 2-phase remote switch. I would prefer Wi-Fi, but Z-wave might work. I am looking to remotely turn on/off a water heater and a pump. I found these:
I use 240V/80A relays with a 120V coil to control my water heaters. I have the coil wired to a plug that plugs into a Leviton zwave outlet.
This setup has worked flawlessly since 2014-2015.
This would be similar to your RIB relay solution. The only difference is that the RIB relay you linked to is rated at 20A. My water heaters have 4500W and 5000W elements (so 18.8A and 20.8A at 240V), and are connected to 30A breakers. So I wanted a beefier relay.
The second one is precisely for water heaters, and includes a temperature probe to ensure the temperature of the water heater remains warm enough to be safe.
Thanks for the suggestions. I'm really looking for a cost effective solution as I think I will want quite a few of them. I'm going to play with one of these relays and a 120V smart switch all stuffed in an electrical project box. Hopefully it'll be around $35 per device.
That is the relay I have used since 2014. My costs were a little higher, because I chose to have each relay controlled using an in-wall Leviton outlet. But you should be able to get away with an inexpensive zigbee outlet - for eg. the Third Reality ones, which are UL listed, and work with Hubitat, go for about $15 or under.
FWIW, I assembled mine to look like this commercial unit sold by Elk.
I really like the Kasa WifFi outlets. They are reliable and cheap, especially if you buy them in a 3 pack. WiFi works better for me as I don't have a good Zigbee mesh, and don't want to buy repeaters just to get Zigbee out to the garage.
Amazon will bring them to my front door tomorrow for $11, hard to beat.
Yes, I'm familiar with ETL certs. But, what about the smart plug's status with Mike/built-in drivers? Is the issue just something related to power reporting only?
That’s the only thing my original comment noted. There’s nothing in there about power reporting. And the third reality plugs I’ve used don’t power report,
If you already knew of the equivalence between ETL and UL then I’m left unclear as to why your response specifically quoted the bit about UL certification, indicating curiosity over the basis for that comment.
Since you already know the basis, I guess my response was not necessary.
The other question pertained to an apparent issue with the power reporting version of the device. Apparently, you're not using that version and haven't seen the post I hyperlinked as part of my second question. So, thanks for your input.
The problem discussed with Mike in that thread is that current firmware for the power-reporting version of that plug doesn’t honor cluster configuration requests, so power reporting can’t be turned off and intervals cannot be changed.
A related but distinct issue is some users feel the plugs are too “chatty” due to frequent power reports (I observe every 30s). Other users consider them “quiet as a fish”. I’m not aware that HE staff offered an opinion either way.
I just built a DIY On/Off switch using this contactor: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088PY31GC?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
and Zooz dry contact relay. Everything is monunted in the electrical enclosure box.
The contactor ic NC (Normally Closed). Since the intention for this switch is to be
almost always On the NC Contactor coil and Zooz Relay will be basically unpowered.
