SkylinkHome PA-318 Plug-In Indoor & Outdoor Electrical Plug Outlet Remote Controllable Switch Receiver for Wireless Home Automation Lighting Appliance Christmas Holiday Electronics Control

This Skylink PA-318 is an excellent product and the perfect companion device to turn my WATTS (500800) model, hot water recirculating pump into an "on demand" type of recirculator.I needed a remote controlled outlet device that could turn on and run my pump for just 60 seconds to get hot water out to within a foot or two of all of my taps, then automatically shut off. It's the only countdown timer I could find with that short of a run time, plus it has more than the needed power rating required to operate such a pump.With my pump located on the water heater in the basement at the far end of the house, I needed to be able to control it remotely through one floor at 20 feet, 50 feet and 70 feet away, as well as from a 2nd floor bath 40 feet away. I bought 4 corresponding SkyLink remotes, model TC-318-1, to place at each location where I needed to reduce the wait for hot water. I programmed each one for 60 second countdown mode and every one of them works perfectly, every time.Now instead of wasting between 1 to 3 gallons of water each time I need hot water, I just press the one button on the remote, wait 60 seconds, turn on the hot water tap and it's hot within 2-3 seconds instead of 30-90 seconds. I also don't need to concern myself about pressing a button again to shut the pump off. It runs for the programmed 60 seconds, which is long enough to get the hot water to all of my taps, then it shuts off.This is the most affordable combination I could come up with for setting up an "on demand" hot water recirculation system, which prevents the pump from running any longer than necessary - like the programmable steady run windows of 15 minutes or longer using the built-in adjustable timers on most recirculating pumps.If you're planning on using this timer for this same purpose and have long pipe runs - if one minute doesn't get your hot water to your farthest tap, you can press the remote button again at any point in the initial 60 second countdown and it resets the countdown for 60 seconds from that point. If the initial countdown is complete and the unit is shut off, pressing it again will just restart a new countdown.If you desire a one press operation for a location where 60 seconds isn't long enough, you can also program the individual remote for that location to run for 5 minutes, which should be plenty of time. Once you get hot water to the tap there's no need for the pump to run any longer because normal water pressure feeds the hot water through the system.I might also add that this unit can be programmed/linked individually with up to 8 remotes and other different models of SkyLink remotes. Each of the single button remotes that I'm using (model TC-318-1) must be programmed as a single (but selectable) function. You can choose to use any one of them as either a manual on/off switch, which requires a button press to turn the unit on and a press to turn it off - or you can program each one individually for various countdown times. Available preset countdown times are either 1,5,15,30 or 60 minutes. You might also want to label each remote for whatever feature they've been programmed for so you or your kids don't get them mixed up.

Used this to operate 1500watt heater in green house. Greenhouse is apx. 300ft. from main house and it worked great. Problem is I ran this heater for over 24 hrs. straight and the receptacle in unit burned up. I guess its not rated for continuous duty. I'll get a smaller wattage heater and try again. At least its not made in China. Made in Vietnam

I bought two of these receivers to control low voltage outdoor lights. I was very impressed by their performance and relatively low cost. I considered using an X10 or Insteon system from [...], but that required more components and each was about double the price compared to Skylink.Range: With the receivers outdoors I did two tests: First, I tested the range in somewhat of a straight direction to be about 200 feet with a 15 foot high hill, a couple pine trees, a 6-foot high wooden fence and lots of shrubbery in the way. Second, I tested successfully transmitting on the opposite side of a 2-story house going around 2 corners, a distance of 100 feet (10 + 80 + 10 feet). There were 8 tall trees along the way. However, this must have been near the end of the range, as walking 2 feet to go indoors and closing a sliding glass door blocked the signal.This is essentially garage-door remote technology with rolling codes. You must buy a transmitter to go along with the receiver. I recommend going to the manufacturer's website to see the various combinations of transmitters and receivers available as there are many combinations ([...], click on Wireless Control Systems). The company also makes garage door transmitters, but their technology is different enough to not be compatible with the control systems components.You can have multiple transmitters and receivers working in a mix-and-match combination: Up to 8 transmitters can be used with a receiver, but I don't know if there is a maximum of receivers that can work with a single transmitter. In my situation I have two 1-button transmitters programmed to switch on both receivers simultaneously and go off after 5 minutes, meaning that pressing the button turns the receiver on but cannot turn it off. I also have a third 1-button transmitter programmed for on/off, meaning one press turns on, a second press turns off. Finally, I have two 2-button receivers programmed so button 1 works receiver 1, button 2 works receiver 2. The 2-button transmitter was bought from the manufacturer, as it was not available on Amazon when this review was written.)The receiver can be set to on/off or 1,5,15, 30, 60 minute timer. This is a function of the receiver, not the transmitter, so the transmitter does not have to be within range for the device to turn off automatically. You can also press the transmitter button during countdown to restart the countdown.I had reason to phone the company with a couple pre-sales questions. There was no problem getting through and getting accurate information, although the second time I had to wait an hour for a call-back.I have 2 criticisms, however: 1) off white is a dumb color for outdoors, as it will easily get dirty. 2) The company touts that repeaters can extend the range as needed, but they offer only one type, which is a combination dimmer and repeater apparently intended for indoor use only. They need an outdoor version without the dual function and priced accordingly.Update Nov 10, 2013: Two years later and everything has been working fine: two Skylink plug-in receivers (PA-318) and four remote transmitters (two TC-318-1, two TC-318-3).

This works but does not return to previous state after power failure. So if the power goes off and back on this leaves the power off no matter if it was on or off during power failure. So if you leave lights on when you are home and the power goes off your light will not come back on. I use it to reboot a router on a tower 2 miles from my house. I can power recycle it without climbing the tower, but every time the power goes off I have to drive over to the tower to turn it back on. I call tech support to see if it returned to previous state and they just put me on terminal hold, I sent three emails to tech support and none of them were answered. I asked three people that had purchased this device and they all seemed to think it it, so I bought it and low and behold it defaults to off, so guys! if you don't know the answer...please just don't...

My tractor is parked down by the barn (about 100 feet away) on a block heater and battery tender, both of which are connected to a triple-prong extension cord plugged into one of these receivers. Also connected is a string of low wattage LED Xmas lights along a nearby fence. The LED lights show me whether the receiver is on or off, and the whole setup lets me turn it on from my kitchen with the Skylink remote when I get home late at night and anticipate plowing snow or moving hay bales the next day. It's been reliable, and not having to leave the tractor plugged in 24/7, or on a daily timer, saves electricity.

I found the product worked reliably under mild usage only for 2 years before becoming unreliable in our Canadian winters. I used it in an unheated clean dry equipment shed to operate a 450 watt block-heater for a snow plow, which needed switching on roughly 8 times per season in the winter only. After 2 years, the product's over-air receiver range began to decrease in cold weather to the point where the remote switch had to be placed right beside the receiver's arial to get the switch to operate when the temperature was -25 centigrade. I believe that the product's electronics are not robust enough to handle Canadian cold weather despite the product being promoted as an outdoor product and sold in Canada.Despite the poor product performance, customer support from Skylink Home was not helpful, simply quoting the inadequate 1 year warranty as the hard-stop for the product. I've tossed the product in the garbage where it belongs, along with Skylink's reputation. Given the lack of product reliability and the lack of product support from Skylink, I don't recommend the product for outdoor use in Canada at all.

The first PA-318 I received was defective. The unit would not enter the programming mode required to link it with a TB-318 transmitter switch. Fortunately, Amazon's exchange policy was great and they shipped a replacement unit to me within 2 days and I sent the faulty unit back at no shipping charge. The second PA-318 would enter its program mode, but still would not connect to the TB-318 switch purchased with the unit. So, I had Amazon exchange the switch, assuming it must also be faulty. Again, the replacement arrived within 2 days and at no return shipping cost to me to send back the faulty unit. The second TB-318 switch connected with the second PA-318 receiver no problem. I am now very happy with the unit and switch, but I can't help but feel Skylink has some serious quality control issues. A purchaser be very careful to confirm right away that all of the Skylink items he receives operate as intended before the return period expires.

I am using the PA-318 with my Skylinknet hub. It works well. I use it for Christmas lighting and pool light. It was still working well at -30°C during the winter. If the appliance you're trying to plug has a really large plug, you may have difficulty because there is a small tab on top of the device to prevent water from going inside.

Works perfectly with SkylinkHome TC-318-14 remote.