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I would like to what is the easiest and cheapest way of sending a signal through a 110 volt outlet wiring to another outlet on the same phase or on a different phase. I would like to know if a light, which is plugged into the outlet is on or off: I would like to send a signal to a relay or receiver.

W5VO
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ron simmons
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    It's difficult to tell what's being asked here. Please provide more details of your setup and what you're trying to achieve. A block diagram or schematic might be useful too. –  Mar 28 '13 at 20:02
  • Difficult to tell??? Are people here really that ignorant and inept? I have the identical problem/question for which I developed a solution. And I'm just a dumb CDL-A truck driver.
    Check out the HomePlug Alliance, made up of Broadcom, Qualcomm, STmicroelectronics and others, for Power Line Communications (PLC), aka Ethernet over Power, based on IEEE 1901 Standard for Broadband over Power Line Networks: Medium Access Control and Physical Layer Specifications. Plug in a WiFi or Ethernet enabled Solid State Relay (SSR) that reports whether the circuit is open or closed. Think Wink and Vera.     – Jules Bartow Mar 29 '17 at 18:43

2 Answers2

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There are numerous ways of transmitting a signal over a power line within your house. Since the power is 60Hz (50Hz outside of the USA), other frequencies can be mixed in and then filtered out from the power line frequency.

I don't think there is an "easiest and cheapest" way of doing this. There are various chips you can buy that require a few external components (inductors, capacitors, etc.) which you can use to transmit your own signal over the power line. Other than that, there are plenty of "plug and play" options for specific applications such as ethernet. (See these options on Google...) However, these devices are typically pretty expensive.

To know if your light is on or off, you would need some sort of custom circuit to either sense the presence of the light or sense the power supply. You will also need some sort of AC relay controlled by your custom circuitry to turn the light on or off. Again, these products exist, but they are kind of expensive. You could build it yourself, but you really need to know what you are doing to avoid electric shock and/or screwing up the power system in your house.

Kurt E. Clothier
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The Mamba Shield, which is based on AC-PLM-1 chip, might be a solution for what you are looking to do.

Nick Alexeev
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Kvegaoro
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