More power socket fiddling
I just noticed this MAKE: blog piece (which links to a site that’s currently down) about using outdoor sensor light fittings to give other gadgets motion triggers. They’re talking about using this trick in a haunted house context, given the impending arrival of this year’s Satan Day/nocturnal orgy, but you could plug in anything you wanted.
Well, within the current capacity of the light fitting and its wiring, anyway. A motion-sensitive bathroom heater, for instance, might be a neat idea but could easily pop a fuse or smoke some insulation.
The Edison-screw-to-standard-receptacle adapters they use are, I note, neat little off-the-shelf items - just screw ‘em in to turn any light socket into a power socket. Apparently you can even get three-pin versions, with the earth pin unconnected.
And fair enough too, I say. What kind of crappy haunted house lets all of the kids come out alive?
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why we have relays! The same $5-off-ebay solid state relay that my Pentium-133 uses to turn on my coffee machine in the morning could easily be adapted to let motion lights control a whopping 40 Amps at 240 VAC.
What, exactly, you intend on controlling that draws 40 Amps via motion sensor is another topic entirely…
Comment by Nick1911 — October 16, 2006 @ 2:34 pm