Relay driven Outlets, can they stay on 100%

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I have a new sengled outlet. Clearly has a relay in it by the click noise when turned on. I plan to have it on 100% of the time and only cycle off to reboot a device(my internet modem if it locks up) which could be months apart. Is this thing going to last with mechanical relay active all the time?

Also hate thee idea of pissing away 0.5w 24/7 to run it on always. Place runs on solar only. I supposes a 'NC' relay 120VAC outlet would be best but haven't seen something like that in a outlet form.

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I have had Zigbee relay-based smart outlets left on for years. No issues whatsoever.

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There is a power draw for using a smart outlet. Zigbee and Z-Wave consume less in standby (between 0.3W - 1W). The Wi-Fi smart plugs use a little more or double than Zigbee/Z-Wave depending how you look at numbers (1W -2W)

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Yeah, I measured it. ~0.1w in standby (off), and ~0.5w On, self consumption.
Sengled ZigBee NB7W single outlet. SSR would be better.

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But presumably raises costs - if the SSR is to handle current draw up to 15A @120V.

I’ve only seen SSRs in low amp devices like Smart thermostats.

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At work we use SSR's for 208v high amp heaters that run on PWM signal all days for years. Presumably like you said cost, and maybe packaging.

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Good to know they can stay on 100% with out failure. Will bite the bullet on the 0.5w draw until someone makes one that has NC/NO switch. Sure I can use a Zooz relay or something but trying to simplify things.

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I have had about 2 dozen mixed Zigbee/Wi-Fi outlets in use (some) for nearly 10 years, haven't lost one - 100% on and 100% reliable.

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I have a couple that stay on permanently. The washing machine outlet being one (it's under the plinth and inaccessible). The other is the NVR for my CCTV. This is located in a loft space - it remains on permanently and is there so I can power cycle (after a shutdown) if necessary.

Regarding the internet modem power cycle - there's a better way......I had an issue last year where I was away and the router/modem locked up. Because of that I had no access to my CCTV and no access to control anything connected to HE. It's pointless having a device that's going to reboot a router/modem being controlled in such a way you can only control it locally....

Get a 'GSM Gate Opener" from Amazon £25/$25 (search 'RTU 5024). It takes a PAYG SIM card. You switch one leg of the DC power to the router/modem through the NC relay. The phone app allows you to set the timer on the relay (3 seconds off on trigger or whatever you want) and lets you program the white list of phone numbers. When you call the number of the SIM from your phone, it checks your number against the whitelist, hangs up without any charges and toggles the relay. So now if I'm away and can't connect to anything at home I can do a power cycle of the router/modem without being there.

Oh and it texts a test message to your phone every couple of months so that the Pay As You Go SIM card doesn't get deregistered by the mobile network.

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