Local Control/Relay for Receptacles

Can I use the red series switch to control receptacles? I have a room where a wall switch controls the outlets. Most outlets are rated for 15A, What is the red series rated at? Couldn’t find it in the manual on your website. Just want to check before I purchase @eric_inovelli @EricM_Inovelli

Hey @ny_robert – great question! Yes, you can control a receptacle from our On/Off switch for sure. I have one in my house that’s doing just that.

It doesn’t list Amps on there, but it should be good if it’s just turning an outlet on and off.

I’ll confirm with the manufacturer tonight, though!

Thanks for the quick reply @Eric_Inovelli. Please let me know, most switches are rated 10A which is ok for lights but 15A or higher is for receptacles.

What I want to do is keep all the outlets in the on position at all times and use scenes to control bed side lamps [single press down = off // single press up = On] Doable or am i asking too much here?

@ny_robert - I have a switched outlet for my bedroom lamp with a Inovelli On/Off switch. It has no issues operating, and the draw is very minimal. I suppose if you needed to run a vacuum, I would hook it up to the other outlet (if a duplex). That is usually hot all the time without needing the switch and should support the required Amps.

“Typical” switched outlet wiring - wiring-switched-outlet-2

However, I have a neutral in my box, so I was able to use my On/Off Inovelli switch.

Thanks @harjms for your detailed response. The room has 7 outlets, all the top receptacles are controlled by the switch. You’re saying once I have lamps/light bulbs in the top outlets it should be a problem?

The reason I asked this question is I originally wanted to use Zooz (ZEN26) with local control and they told me that their switches are not recommended to use with receptacles because they are rated at 8A.

So the concern is if you were to use an appliance or item that draws more than 8 Amps. A vacuum is a great example. Some vacuums pull more than 10 Amps. If all you were using the top outlets was for lamps (bedside or table lamp type), then I wouldn’t have any concern using the Inovelli scene to control the top outlet. I would just ensure no one plugs in a microwave, table saw, or anything like that.

For my example, I’m using it to turn on/off my bedside lamp at a specific time. It’s only 1 outlet (top part), and I have a LED bulb. The bulb is a 6.5W bulb. I can calculate Amps by dividing Voltage from Watts: 6.5/120=.054116 Amps. Plenty of room to reach 8 Amps.

Similarly the switch load can be calculated by taking the rated watts divided by voltage. The manufacturer will have to specify the actual load rating but 600w incandescent/120v would be 5 amps. Not enough for major appliances.