Researcher has developed, at a cost of less than one dollar, a wireless light switch that runs without batteries, can be installed anywhere on a wall and could reduce the cost of wiring a house by …::A U of A engineering researcher has developed a wireless light switch that could reduce the cost of wiring a house by as much as 50 per cent.
Zero details bullshit article. How would it reduce the cost by 50% considering you’d need a smart relay board with connectivity and then wire all the light fixtures to them OR have separate wireless relay boards at every light fixture OR have smart bulbs and a gateway.
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So the product already exists, what is novel here is a concept to harvest RF energy I stead of batteries.
I wouldn’t call it “harvesting” if you have operate power transmitters on each floor of the house. “Energy harvesting” usually means you are using something that is already present in the environment.
“each floor would have one or two RF (radio frequency) power transmitters to powe r up all switches inside the house.”
I imagine replacing the battery in your light switch in the dark (because you can’t turn the lights on) is probably rather annoying. This sounds like a cool idea.
Replacing the battery in your light switch is something you do maybe once every 3 years.
And you can still use your phone as a backup remote.
Seems like a solution to add light switches for people who have homes that weren’t wired properly with switches for their lights.
For those of us with proper wiring, this probably falls under “ain’t broke, don’t fix it”
Copper wires are expensive. And you need to house those wires in aluminum pipes. That’s a lot of metal that you no longer need to buy. Especially considering how many light switches in our homes.
The fuck are you talking about? Romex is just run in your walls. There’s no aluminum pipes in your wall.
Presumably they are in an area that requires armored cable, such as Chicago
Because of all the shootings?