I've seen these inserts for light bulbs that essentially sit between the bulb and the socket with a string coming out of them. They let you pull the string to turn the light on and off. Does such an animal exist for a two prong outlet rather than a light bulb socket?

Dave

I've see the screw in sockets that have outlets on them that are controled by the string. Do you have outlets in your ceiling you want to turn on and off?

You could easily turn the outlets into light sockets.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/18/2006 12:33AM by C(-)ris.

You can get a two-prong socket and screw the pull-string socket into it, but pulling on the string will often yank the whole assembly out of the wall outlet. What are you trying to do?

I have a ceiling fan in my bathroom that turns on whenever the light is turned on. It can be annoying. I had an electrician come out and he said to put it onto it's own switch would involve tearing up the wall etc due to the way the wiring was done. The ceiling fan sits in an enclosure and uses a normal two pronged plug so I was thinking a pull string would be a satisfactory solution. There's maybe an inch to a inch and a half of clearance between the plug and the cover so using some sort of light socket arrangement wouldn't work. I'm open to any suggestions, thanks.
Dave

Is the outlet in the ceiling? Is that why you want a pull string?

you(or electrician - depending on your electrical skills) should be able to add an inline switch, somewhere between the fan and the outlet. It might take some rigging to set it up...

Steve

You can probably replace the wall switch with a remote fan/light controller.

The wall switch always sends power up to the fan/light unit. Two remote relays in the fan shroud are controlled by the wall switch that will turn power on to the fan or light independent of each other.

I think they are light $40-$50 at Home Depot / Lowes.

- Shadow

Yes, they make switches both which use either a pullchain, or a regular toggle switch, which go from having a regular AC plug to another AC plug.

You could get more sophisticated -- Radio Shack sells a remote-controlled AC switch, I am using one of those for a fluorescent floor lamp, in a situation where it's more convenient to be able to turn it on/off from multiple locations without having to switch it on manually.

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Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)

Thanks Peter, do you know if there is a name I should call these gizmo's when I go into the hardware store?

Dave

Dave, look in the electrical department-- if it's a good hardware store, they should definitely have them. GE makes a type which screws into a lamp socket and provides a single outlet (no lamp socket) and a pullchain-- I am using one of those in my bathroom because there is no electrical outlet inside the bathroom itself... only the bathroom light sockets (stupid, stupid design!). The downside is that the outlet is obviously only on when the lights are turned on, regardless of the pullchain.

For things which don't have an easy-to-reach switch, look for something like this:



(he just calls it "a plug adapter that contains a switch"; they also make versions of these with extension cords built-in, or with dimmers instead of switches)

For remote control, here's the one I have from Radio Shack: [www.radioshack.com]

... it's possible to buy extra remotes for this, so as to be able to switch on/off from multiple locations. The only downsides to it are that: 1) it's somewhat limited in terms of wattage; 2) sometimes I find it turns off by itself-- possibly one of my neighbors is on the same frequency.

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Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/18/2006 12:08PM by PeterB.

davemchine Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks Peter, do you know if there is a name I
> should call these gizmo's when I go into the
> hardware store?
>
> Dave

X10 or X11 technology is what it is. Can't recall which. Even Radio Shack sells it.

Racer X, but isn't X10/X11 for automation? I didn't get the impression that that's what he was looking for...

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Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)