ᐅ Switched Power Outlets / Ideas and Tips

Hello everyone,

The house is slowly but surely taking shape. I am currently discussing the final details regarding the electrical work with the electrician.
One question that came up is where I want to have switched outlets installed.

Background information:
Smart home system with Busch & Jäger.
In every room, there is 5-core cable as well as bus cable.

Do you have any tips or ideas from your own experience on where you would place the outlets?!

Thanks and best regards

In the living room, children’s rooms, and bedrooms, we usually make the very left socket switchable, in case you want to connect floor lamps or something similar. Additionally, there are sockets installed in some window reveals. All outdoor sockets are switchable and will be grouped as needed in the later visualization. I initially considered this for the kitchen as well, but upon closer inspection, it didn’t really make sense to me. Just in case the idea comes up: I wouldn’t make the TV switchable, as most current models don’t really like that. There are much more elegant solutions available for multimedia devices.

In general, I think the topic of switchable sockets indoors is highly overrated unless you’re filling the place with floor lamps. I prefer to use smart relays with power measurement for critical devices—switching is then just a nice bonus. If you plan your distribution panel smartly or have someone do it for you, you can always add this later on if you realize something is missing (which will almost certainly happen). Smart relays can be retrofitted quickly, provided there is enough space left in the panel. On the other hand, I find switchable sockets sensible in the laundry or utility room, if you have one, for the iron, assuming you define a dedicated "ironing spot." That way, there’s no risk of leaving the iron on, and thanks to power measurement, the device can be automatically switched off after, say, 60 minutes (and thanks to server logging, your partner can nicely keep track of how long the ironing took, while you were just lounging around 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀).

As an addition:
In the kitchen, the outlet for task lighting is usually installed at the height of possible upper cabinets. If you are not yet sure, I would probably install a switched outlet at the back in every living area for potential floor lamps. Also in the hallway.

In my opinion, practical locations for switchable outlets:

- Media area in the living room, such as TV, AV receiver, projector, etc.
- Kitchen (e.g., appliances with higher standby power consumption and/or power monitoring, dishwasher, etc.)
- Utility room (HAR) for various switchable devices, such as white goods
- Outdoor areas, carport, garage—for switchable devices for various reasons
- Towel warmers
- As with untergasse43, a dedicated switchable outlet in every room
- Recessed sockets or outlets near windows for possible decorative lighting
- Accent lighting in other locations (kitchen cabinets, furniture, staircases)
- Switchable devices at strategic points (humidifiers, fountains, etc.)

Mycraft schrieb:

- Media area in the living room, such as TV, AV receiver, projector, etc.

I wouldn’t really recommend that—at most, it might be useful to prevent standby power consumption during long absences (like vacations), but not for switching on and off every time you use the devices, as the operation would become quite inconvenient. With most projectors, you’d also usually have to wait until they cool down. Nowadays, devices regularly download updates in the background, and unless you fully integrate media control into the home automation, the frequent switching on and off of power outlets will quickly become annoying. If you want to control these devices through home automation, using switched outlets is really not an ideal solution. If at all, then possibly with power monitoring to detect the device status. For media systems, I strongly recommend a proper solution, such as Basalte, Control4, Crestron, or on a smaller budget, Logitech Harmony or CEC. By the way, for the cost of a switched outlet, you could keep the devices in standby mode for many years without issue.

Mycraft schrieb:

Towel radiators

In new buildings, towel radiators are usually hardwired at a wall connection anyway. Models with a plug are more for retrofitting, and in those cases, you generally don’t have switched outlets anyway.

Yes, depending on the budget and the requirements. Switched outlets are, in my opinion, the simplest and most cost-effective solution of all and can be considered a starting point, especially since anyone with basic skills can install and operate them.