Using a voice switch.

[stanislav]

Hey. Can anyone tell me how electricity works on a sailing boat when I am connected to Marina, when I am disconnected from Marina, using only batteries and can I use a smart switch for a house on a boat that works 110 volts?
Use a smart switch that works with Alexa echo?

[john61ct]

Wow.

Complex matters can't be so simply answered. Dozens of ways to set up a boat's power circuits, you need to learn / know how **yours** is wired, then communicate the details here and ask more clear / specific questions.

A DC gadget like that can charge off an inverter or DC converter, just like a laptop.

What function do you think a "smart switch" performs?

[B23iL23]

you will need an always on internet connection for starters. don't think any of these devices will work off-line.

[Sailmonkey]

Yes, no, maybe.....can it be done? Sure. There is a cost associated with it though in terms of purchasing the correct equipment and then installing and operating it.

[deltaten]

How about the. "Clapper"

[captstu]

I have Alexa/echo with for Wemo smart switches.

Alexa runs or a portable battery attached to a space for about 10 hours.

The smart switches require a source of 110 V. This can be an inverter or the marinas means.

The entire set up requires a hub or router. Operation does not require Internet access, however the hub or router is needed for switching.

Alexa requires Internet access for much of its intelligence. Simple pushbutton switches can be accomplished by WeMo if you have a router router.

[stanislav]

Thanks, for the answer, I understand, you can say one more thing, I'm a beginner, so I don’t know how the 110 volt network on the boat works. When I turned on the power switch from Marina, then my 110 volt sockets work, when I unplugged the switch from the marina sockets do not work?
Now I can’t be near my boat to study all this only in February, so I have to ask on the forum. You can briefly say how the electrical circuit on the boat 110 volts and 12 volts from the boat batteries.
These functions are completely separated by switches on the remote?

[captstu]

The 110 V and 12 V circuits are nearly completely separate.

Your boat may have a battery charger that makes 12 V 110 V is present from the marina.

If you want to have 110 V when you’re not at the marina, you must either have a generator or inverter installed on your boat.

[billknny]

You have a Cal 29... you can (almost) reach everything in the boat from one spot.

Why on earth would you want to add such complexity to your life???

[waterman46]

Alexa could be of great use to a person with limited mobility, even on a Cal29. But even on my boat it takes more time to say "Alexa . . . ." than to go to the switch and push it. Short answer, install an inverter with automatic transfer swich then your 110V Alexa switch should work like at home.

[stanislav]

Thanks for the reply you will laugh. But I am fond of cybernetics. And so I want to endow my boat with artificial intelligence, with the help of Alex. This is my experiment

[hellosailor]

stan-
There is no way to guess how your boat was wired up. Pretty much every boat, even production boats, are custom done.
You may have a boat where things were done the simple way: The 110 outlets on the boat are only powered by a 110 shore power connection, which is made manually. The boat is new-ish, there will be at least ground fault protection near the point where power comes into the boat, and there should be AC dual breaker(s) as well.
If you invest in one of the books on marine electricity, there are options for isolation transformers and other equipment as well, there's no telling what is on your boat.

The next more common and expensive option is to have an inverter on the boat, which makes 110VAC from the boat's own 12VDC power. In some cases that is MANUALLY turned on when it is wanted. In other cases, there's an automatic transfer switch and the inverter turns on whenever the shore power is disconnected. And either way, there are some inverters that can actually sense when a 110 device has been plugged into a socket--and then they fully power up the inverter to supply 100 only when it is needed.

Plenty of options, plenty of things past owners might have done right or wrong. You really need to crawl around, pencil and pad in hand, and take some notes about what you have and how it is connected.

As for Alexa? Any of those systems only control devices that have software drivers written for that system. So all you can control, are devices made to work with Alexa. Unless you're using generic devices (like relays and switches) that allow you to hook up any load to them. And these days, there are a lot of devices where "just" throwing the power on or off won't turn the device on or off. You'll have to explore specific equipment to find out your options.

Having heard my friend's "Alexa" speak up with inane questions when no one asked it anything...I wouldn't trust one with anything important. They've been proven to do almost anything (including sending out audio to random parties) without any real reason. Great concept, but like many Amazon and Google products..."In need of adult supervision".

[stanislav]

Thanks for the reply, I will take into account all your information, the switch is connected with Alexa. I need it when I return late from work, it is dark on the boat, I go inside and ask it Turn on the light.....

[hellosailor]

"I need it when I return late from work, it is dark on the boat, I go inside and ask it Turn on the light....."
Ah. See, to many of us that would be anathema. Before I leave the boat, the Big Red Switch kills all power. When I come back, the Big Red Switch needs to be re-engaged. Nothing (except the bilge pump) is allowed to be powered on if someone isn't there.
Leaving Alexa there, and powered on? Who knows where she might go, if a seagull crowed the wrong way.
I know a lot of folks who either keep a flashlight by the companionway, or a light switch, or they carry a small light that's sufficient for coming into a dark boat and waking it up. Alexa reminds me of Peter Pan: No matter how good the dog is with children, you just don't leave a dog as their only babysitter. You never know just who might enter the picture, and the dog is, in the end, only a dog.

[john61ct]

Lots of people are motivated by their own interests and passions, to add to the complexity and reduce the reliability of their boat's systems.

Not everyone wants to base decisions on simple practical functionality, and ICT can be an outlet for creative, even artistic impulses.

Especially if like most boats, it rarely spends much time away from the dock, why not?