Commercial here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXE9EelUjT0

I seen this and I just had to laugh at it. What it is is an outlet cover, that has two plastic tabs on the back with metal balls in them that are meant to just clip around and rest on the terminal screws on your outlet. This powers 3 little LED lights on the bottom of the faceplate which turn it into a nightlight via the built in light sensor.

To me, this hunk of crap is an electrical fire waiting to happen. "Let's put metal balls into flimsy plastic tabs that lightly rest on the screws on the sides of your outlet and run 120v though them! That's a great idea!" It creates electrical arcs between the screws and the metal ball which can melt and ignite the plastic not to mention possibly overload your house wiring with the arcing and cause wire fires, especially if you have an older house like mine with asbestos insulated ROMEX wire.

Also over time and the general flexible nature of the plastic, I wouldn't be at all surprised if you go to plug something in one day and one of the tabs moves and contacts the hot wire and shorts out. This is just a really bad idea.

If they had a little wire with a fork prong connector that came up and actually screwed onto the spare pair of terminals most people have on their outlets that would be a much safer and less risky idea, but then they wouldn't sell that well as most less-handy people would need an electrician. 

I laughed more at the voice speaking in the ad than at the product. And at the part where the dude is angst at the wiring. Makes the ad look stupid..



The current it draws is 20mA - No amount of bad connection can make any significant arcing there. You would need 750 of them to load a single 15A circuit to 15A

The tabs are Plastic backed - even if they break the metal contact wont be able to touch the receptacle screw and the side of the box at the same time

The tab on the Phase side is supposed to touch the Phase screw - Nothing is going to happen if it also touches the wire because it is the same connection point

The design that allows it to be installed without having to take out your receptacle is advantage for places like yours with the old Romex (and also with Aluminum), as you dont have to disturb the old wiring



I see some other problems though -

The screw position will vary with receptacles wired with 12 wire, 14 wire, or no wire under the screw (wired through the back holes) and might vary between manufacturers too. The tabs and the contacts in them dont look springy or elastic - So they may not be able to make good connection in some cases, or be pushed with too much force and break or bend tha plate in others

In receptacles that get 240V (the tab on the Phase side is broken and the upper/lower receptacles are on 2 opposite Phases, so i guess this applies to the kitchen counter ones) - When putting in or out the plate it might be easy to move it so its contact touches both Phase screws at once and shorts

If the receptacle connections heat (because they were not tightened well, not because of the LED plate), the heat from the screws will transfer to the Plastic tabs and they will melt to the receptacle. Then when you want to open the receptacle, the plate will be stuck. If you try to pull it with force it will break and might expose the LED circuit, maybe exactly when you hold it in hand trying to pull it out



If the tabs are made of high temp Plastic that does not melt and the contacts inside are solid, then i think this is better way than wire with fork terminal. With wires, when you try to push the wires in the box when closing the plate (and they wont go in because they push against the wires that are stuffed in the box from the wall side) thats a place when something can go wrong, like you squeezing a wire between the sharp edge of the box and the plate

Man I am so SICK and TIRED of ads with that annoying anonymous lady in the background. It's almost as if it's the same
lady regardless of what ad it is. I think that, surprisingly, is the biggest issue I have with the commercial. And that stupid
music too.

I've encountered in Israel, several different ads that had exactly the same woman speaking.

Wonder if that "voice" is computer generated-here that same "announcer" on other ads and YouTube videos.

In all radio and TV ads in Israel, the voice over, created by live persons. Only ads at public address systems at malls, large shops, pharms and supermarkets and when calling to consumer service via phone, have their voice over computer generated.
I can easily distingush between voice which is computer generated and voice which is from live person, at least in Hebrew.

Yeah this person in the background in the ad is definitely a real person... do they get trained to sound like that?
Sounds like some grocery shopping mom over excited. Are voice overs trained to sound exactly the same or something?

The ad campaign design agencies pick voice actors for different roles. So they do pick somebody who can make this voice and expression. Then there might be some filters applied on top of that

It seems like a good idea, but the problem is that the LEDs will keep you up at night.

It seems like a good idea, but the problem is that the LEDs will keep you up at night.

You're right, but I think the idea is for stairwells and potential areas in hallways that you could trip and hurt yourself on.

@ash, I never really thought about that... that's a good point. Maybe they use filters and sound edits to get the
voice to sound just right to their liking.
@Mercury lamps, I agree with you, although these LED's are incredibly pathetic. But in their short lifespan they
will be used for mainly hallways, stairwells, maybe living rooms and kitchen areas. Really depends on the person
buying them.

They can be made decent. It does not take any elaborate circuit to correctly drive 3 little LEDs

OHHH Yeah and your 120V supply is a BIIIG FIRE RISK! 240V is waaaaay better

I prefer 240V supply too, double the voltage, half the amps. 

In this particular device that would be double the voltage, same amps, double the voltage dropped on the capacitor