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.

  • czardestructo@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    Enocean has been making battery free wireless light switches for almost 15 years. I’ve personally used them for about 8 years and love them. They’re a lot more expensive then the $1 quote in the article but still cheaper than an electrician. They work with a strike to a piezoelectric element to make energy and transmit the signal.

    • FooBarrington@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      I’ve worked with these professionally, but never actually found a way to purchase them myself. Can you recommend a supplier?

      • czardestructo@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Various companies repackage or license the enOcean parts. I’ve used this one from Amazon for about 6 years and haven’t thought about it. I’ve also used others from this brand for 8+ years and had no issues. I bought an old house around Boston that had power in the ceilings but no switches anywhere so this worked perfectly for me and I was able to do it all myself.

    • Buck@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      I use something like this for my wireless doorbell because people kept stealing the battery. I’ve had it for years and it works really well.

    • Integrate777@discuss.online
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      11 months ago

      Oh nice. My parent’s doorbell is a wireless one and I thought it was a trick. That they hid the battery and sold it with false advertising.