I don’t think wireless power will be coming to market any time soon, probably because of the whole electricity going through the air thing, so, for the time being, we’ll just have to make do with what we’ve got. And we’ve got some pretty cool things, one of them being remote control outlets, which can give you up to 100 feet of range and can be used inside and outside of the house.

This particular package comes with two units, both with 3 prong AC plugs; one is outdoor/indoor, and the other is indoor only. The outdoor one has a handy 8″ weatherproof cord that can be used to get around a corner or get below something in the yard. The other just has an outlet on the back of it and plugs straight into the wall. Fortunately, these things don’t use IR, otherwise the range would be pitiful, limited to line of sight only. Instead, they use RF which lets the signal travel up to 100 feet, even through walls, ceilings, doors, floors, and anything else you might put it up against. The remote is small enough to be stuck onto your key chain and runs off a 12-volt L1028 battery (1 included). If only I found these in early December, then they would’ve been perfect for my Christmas lights. Rather than going outside in the cold to turn them off, I could just hit a button on the remote from the kitchen (the warm kitchen) and the dirty deed would be done. Another use would be for turning some outside lights on when coming home late at night.

The remote control outlets are the closest you’re going to get to wireless power for quite some time, and they’re cheap at only $30 for a pair of two (1 outdoor/indoor, 1 indoor).

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