Randy,

The relays that I described in my other post came out of a house that
did exactly what you describe. The relays were made for just that
purpose. Most of the light circuits were switched with these relays
and low voltage wires were run to various places to control them. They
had 2 push buttons for each relay. One for on and one for off.

Thinking about it, that is better than using only one button. With one
button you are never sure if you are turning the circuit on or off.
Especially if the light happens to be remote from where you are.

Each switch location had a 3 wire cable run to it. The 24 vac
transformer was mounted where all the relays were mounted. Next to the
breaker panel. I think there were around 40 relays that I got out of
there. It was a big house.

With this setup you can control a circuit from as many places as you
want to without getting into complicated wiring.

Not trying to sell you relays, just telling how it was done.

73
Gary K4FMX


On Tue, 13 Apr 2004 22:47:38 -0500, randy wrote:

This type of relay would work depending on the coil voltage. However
I would guess that voltage is also 120 volt.

What I am trying to do is have the ability to switch 4-5 different
lights (150-1000 watt) from several locations within the same building
without all the hassle of 2 and 3-way switches.

My plan is to have a relay bank that these lights would source from
(total wire run of 60-75 feet) then have small low voltage/current
pushbutton switches activate the relays. 4-5 small pushbuttons could
control any light in the building from that location.

I have thought about X10 but have also read more bad than good about
the wierd things they do or don't do.

Randy

I'm looking for a source of new latching relays.

Coil needs to be 12 to 24 volt and contacts of 10 amps at 120 volts
AC.

The X10 Appliance modules contain a latching relay. At about $10 a piece
this might be your best choice.

The last time I looked at one of these, what I found wasn't a latching
relay in the usual sense. It's a solenoid which drives a rotating
two-position switching thingie. There isn't a separate "set" and
"reset" coil.