WiFi power strip longevity vs. heater controlling

[darkxerox]

Do we know approximately how long the strips last based on on/off cycles for individual outlets? E.g. if I have a heater turning on and off 3-4 times a day, should I rotate the outlets it's plugged in every few months or so to lengthen the life of the power strip?

Or should I balance the number of devices getting turned on and off across the two power strips?

 

[JeffB418]

If you are using a wifi strip for a heater, you really should use hydros as the backup control and plug in a secondary heater controller like an ink-bird into the wifi strip. In this case, the wifi strip only toggles in the case where the inkbird has failed on, and your temp sensor reads a higher temp than your inkbird usually controls to.

as for the XP8 outlets, the relays are rated for at least 100k cycles, and can last up to 1million cycles. At the low end that's 55 cycles a day, every day, for 5 years.

 

[darkxerox]

I use a Jager heater so it has a built in thermostat as another level of protection. I figure if it fails on, both would have to fail on. If it fails off, I still have the hydros temperature sensor to warn me. But I could plug my aqua logic controller back in.

With the XP8 is that each relay being rated for 100k cycles or the whole unit's total cycles?

 

[Danny]

Do we know approximately how long the strips last based on on/off cycles for individual outlets? E.g. if I have a heater turning on and off 3-4 times a day, should I rotate the outlets it's plugged in every few months or so to lengthen the life of the power strip?

Or should I balance the number of devices getting turned on and off across the two power strips?

It will depend a lot on the size of the heaters also. I use two 50 watt heaters. I had them on a wifi strip for over a year without any issues. I still use the wifi strip but I switched the heaters over to a XP8. A 300 watt heater draws more current which will put more strain on the relay contacts. So the higher the wattage the more likely of a failure of the contacts with numerous on and off cycles. With a lower wattage it is a matter of mechanical failure than the contacts going bad. Most relays are rated for 100 thousand or more on and off cycles for the mechanical mechanism in the relay.

 

[Shred5]

If you are using a wifi strip for a heater, you really should use hydros as the backup control and plug in a secondary heater controller like an ink-bird into the wifi strip. In this case, the wifi strip only toggles in the case where the inkbird has failed on, and your temp sensor reads a higher temp than your inkbird usually controls to.

as for the XP8 outlets, the relays are rated for at least 100k cycles, and can last up to 1million cycles. At the low end that's 55 cycles a day, every day, for 5 years.

Agreed, I have used a separate heat controller for all my controllers that I have ever used, Digital Aquatics, Apex, Hydros.

Those outlets just are not rated to handle how many times a heater can turn off and on depending on the surrounding temperature because it can shorten their life.

I use the tank controller for alerts and a failsafe.

 

[tmcca]

I would only use WIFI strip for outlets not really important; I use mine for GFO Reactor; Scrubber Pump; Fan and Feeder (When I am away on vacation).