Hi, I have a coffee shop. I have a coffee brewer, hot water tower, and an espresso machine all on 220v and they turn on and off with rocker switches. I’m hoping to find a relay that I can wire up to the switches to automate turning the machines on and off. These machines generate a lot of heat and consume a good amount of power if they are left on. I’m thinking the relay would be the best option, but it’s a little bit intrusive to the electronics and might void the warranties. I’ve seen heavy load control boxes but I would have to get 3 of them and that would be over $500 and it would be big and bulky. I can’t seem to find outlet options for 220v, I’m in the US.
Anybody have some suggestions/links to options I should consider?
As long as you are sure that everything will be safe if SmartThings fails to either turn the devices off or on on schedule, as it’s not fully reliable, then there are some options. They are expensive, though. See the following thread:
Instead, again assuming that it’s safe if the schedule fails, I would look at the microbot button pushers. These will be $40 each, plus $75 for the bridge ( which can support up to 40 microbots) but they are very good for retrofitting existing equipment and won’t void any warranties. See the following recent discussion on an older air conditioner:
So that’s another possibility.
Look for the second generation of the microbots, they are actually cheaper than the first generation and have somewhat stronger gears.
I know some of the Amazon reviews are terrible, but my experience with them has been good. I don’t understand the people who said that it didn’t work and they couldn’t get their money back – – since the device is sold directly from Amazon, it’s covered by the regular Amazon return policy.
So I have to assume that some of the people with bad reviews bought from a third-party seller.
