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I have a lamp that is on one side of the room. I have a half-hot plug on the other. I'd like to flip the switch (that connects to the half-hot) and have that turn on the lamp.

Can anyone recommend a smart plug or other thing that would allow me to achieve this arrangement? I imagine one Bluetooth plugin telling another to turn on, perhaps. I don't know what I'm looking for, though, or if there are easier ways to achieve this (besides snaking an extension cord across the carpet / room from the lamp to the half hot).

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6 Answers 6

Reset to default
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Bluetooth isn't very common in that area. Most switches use ZigBee or Wi-Fi. I assume that you don't want to interfere with the actual function of the half-hot in the first place. If you'd use this plug and this switch you could use IFTTT to have the plug activate whenever you activate the switch. However that requires an internet connection and that command will leave your home.

If that's a no-go you might want to look into solutions like FHEM which could run on a RPi and issue that additional command for you.

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    Thank you for your reply! I don't want to change the switch on the wall. I just want to be able to flip it, have it turn on the half-hot, and then have the component plugged into the half hot turn on another plug. It sounds like you have given me 50% of then solution (much more than I already had so thanks)! Is there a way to avoid replacing wall switch?
    – Josh Long
    Commented Aug 6, 2017 at 16:37
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You could do this with Sonoff smart plugs, these can be flashed with custom firmware. So really you could make them do anything...

Utilizing the MQTT protocol it's easy for one smart plug to publish a command to another, even multiple, smart plugs. You could program one smart plug to turn on other smart plugs as soon as it booted up.

Now the Sonoff smart plugs are WiFi, so they need to connect to the wireless network before they can do anything so there might be a delay. But in my experience they are pretty quick.

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The simplest way to achieve this would be to use a common 433 MHz remote control outlet on the receive side, and have something plugged into the switched outlet which transmits an on command on AC power-on, and has just enough reserve capacity in a large capacitor (or else backup battery) to transmit an off command when power is removed. This could effectively be a phone charger + Arduino + 433 MHz TX level of project.

There is no reason to go outside the home to an external server/service to accomplish this communication, and plenty of reasons ranging from privacy to reliability (when your Internet modem is down, etc) to avoid doing so. Further, for a such a simple task complex stateful operating systems are unwarranted and their notorious delicacy disadvantageous - this calls for a flash micrcontroller and simple RF solution, not an operating system and wifi level one.

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  • Seems like a nice project
    – Helmar ♦
    Commented Aug 7, 2017 at 7:29
  • Of course you can also just stick the remote outlet's 433 MHz transmitter to the wall next to the existing switch, and skip the Arduino transmitter project plugged into the currently controlled outlet; but then that wouldn't literally answer your question, as you'd be using a new switch rather than the current one.
    – Chris Stratton
    Commented Aug 18, 2017 at 17:06
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There are also smart power outlets that work over Wi-Fi. The cheapes is about 20 dollars and you can control it with your smart phone. You can also configure time scheduling, and a set of configuration to creat different ambient in the room depending your activities, e.g. cinema, morning, bedtime, etc.

smart plug

Now I recall having seen this IoT device, it is called Microbot Push Maybe it is not the cheapest option but it is simple and you avoid modifications. Otherwise it could be used as an idea to implement your own version. Additionally there is a DIY kit for raspberry pi

two pictures of installed microbot pushs

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I would suggest smart switches. That can be controlled by Mobile application.

Like the Sonoff Basic WiFi Wireless Smart Switch (Cheaper in terms of price) or Caséta Wireless dimmers & switches.

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You can also use Zwave or Zigbee devices. These can be configured to directly influence another device in the network. In Zwave, they call them associations.

You do need a server or just a ZStick (temporarily plugged into your PC) to program this. But it opens up more opportunities for automation.

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