I have wall switches that are in an inconvenient location. Do you have devices that will allow me to control wall switches from other locations in the room?

Oh yes, the problem of the inconveniently located light switch. Most of us did not design the homes we live in so we have to put up with the placement of the light switches. Sometimes, a piece of furniture may block access to a wall switch.

You don't need to call out an electrician and bear the high expense of relocating a wall switch. Thanks to some cool home automation products, you can effective relocate a wall switch to wherever you want!

We have several products that can solve this problem. We have solutions are inexpensive and easy to install and some that are somewhat more involved. The simpler ones will be 'bolt-on' solutions to your homes existing switches. These products will look somewhat different from your home's existing switches, so some folks may want to use these products in basements, garages, or attics. The more expensive products will blend right into any home décor and visitors will not even notice a difference.

The Wireless Approach - Moving a wall switch that controls an incandescent light is most easily accomplished with our Wireless 3-Way Decora® Switch Kit. This product converts a regular wall switch into a virtual three-way wall switch. A three-way wall switch is a lighting circuit that has two places from where the lights and be turned on or off. You probably have this type of circuit in your home now as they are commonly found in hallways, stairwells, or any room where there are two switches controlling the lights.

The kit includes a wireless wall switch and an in-wall switch receiver. You will need to remove the existing wall switch and replace it with the new wall switch receiver in the kit. This receiver will work like a regular mechanical switch so you can still control the lights from the existing location. This receiver switch also has a radio frequency receiver installed to catch signals from the companion transmitter switch. The transmitter switch is surface-mounted to any wall within 50 feet of the receiver. It runs on four AAA cells and should last can about a year or two depending on usage.

Installation is pretty simple, even if you don't have much experience with electricity. After turning off the power from the circuit breaker, removed the old mechanical switch from the wall box and disconnect the wires. With two bare copper wires sticking out of the wall box, connect them to the two wires on the new wall switch receiver with the supplied wire nuts. Once everything is nice and tight, slide the new switch into the wall box.

The transmitter switch can be place anywhere within 50 feet of the receiver. It is secured to the wall with two screws. Since this switch is surface mounted, it will stick out from the wall by 3/8 of an inch. The trade off for this protruding switch is that you don't have to punch a hole in your wall.

We also have this same kit available for a plug-in lamp. The Wireless Plug-In Decora® Switch allows the same type of wireless wall switch to send signals to a plug-in module. A table lamp with up to 300 watts of incandescent lighting can be controlled. This is a great solution for rooms that don't have a light switch. After adding this kit, you won't have to fumble in the dark to reach for a switch on a table lamp.

Along the same lines as the previous two products, our Wireless Screw-in Light Switch Kit will easily add a light switch to a room without one presently. This product is ideal for closets, attics, basements, and garages or anywhere with pull-chain fixtures. The kit consists of a screw-in light bulb base which screws into a light-bulb socket and a wall switch transmitters that sends radio signals to turn the bulb on or off.

The hardwired approach - There are some issues faced with using the previous kits. Often times, the surface mounted wall switch is objectionable to the home's users. While it looks like a regular switch, it may look out of place since it is surfaced-mounted to a wall. If the wall switch is in the basement or garage, this isn't much of an issue. When installed in a home's entryway, it is more noticeable. Also being battery operated and wireless, there may be times when the switch transmitter doesn't communicate to the receiver. Lastly, the receivers are limited to incandescent loads of 150 or 300 watts.

Using X10 technology, it is possible to have a solution that uses the AC power lines to send signals. We also offer wall switches that are mounted in the wall and have the look and feel of a regular wall switch. The SwitchLinc 2-Way Wall Switches are the only wall switches that look like a Decora style switch and have the ability to transmit X10 signals. Normally, SwitchLinc 2-Way switches are able to control a light load directly, but they can also be used to control other X10 receivers.

SwitchLinc 2-Way Wall Switches will send X10 on, off, and dimming signals when a user presses the wall switch. These X10 signals will be sent throughout the home's AC wiring to all outlets. (Click here to learn more about X10 technology.) If an X10 receiver module, be it another SwitchLinc Wall Switch, a plug-in module, or any X10 receiver is dialed into the same X10 code as the transmitting SwitchLinc; it will react to the signal.

Installing the transmitting SwitchLinc can be the tricky part. The SwitchLinc will need AC power to operate unlike the wireless solutions that used batteries. It will need to be installed in a wall box, like the retrofit boxes pictured. These boxes are easily installed into existing drywall and meet UL and NEC safety requirements. The power can come from a nearby outlet or wall switch box. You can also use the double or triple retrofit wall boxes to replace a single wall box so that it can hold the original wall switch and a new SwitchLinc 2-way.

At the receiver end, an X10 receiver module will handle the X10 signals coming in from the SwitchLinc transmitter. If you are automating a wall switch, use another SwitchLinc 2-way, SwitchLinc Lite, or SwitchLinc LS. Doing so, you will have the ability to dim the load from the SwitchLinc transmitter. To control a plug-in module, use any of the X10 modules on our web site here: X10 - Plug-In Modules

This type of project is only for those who are most comfortable working with electricity. Depending on where the source of electricity is coming from, this project should take an hour or two for a handyman or an electrician.

Do these solutions really work?
They actually work better than one might think. We often get calls from licensed electricians looking for a way to control a light from another location in the home. Often times, it's easier for them to use this magic versus tearing into a wall, running wires, and then patching the wall. We once had a call from an electrician who needed to put in a switch at the bottom of a stairwell in a lighthouse. Because of the construction of the lighthouse, it wasn't possible for him to run wires from the bottom to the top of the stairs. Our solution, which is similar to the example above, fixed his problem at a minimal cost to the lighthouse owner.