I'm looking for opinions that this is or will become legal in NZ.
Obviously any individual device will need certification - but is the concept legal ?
Much of the world doesn't require a mechanical switch on each mains power point (wall socket). True for 240 V countries eg: Spain, UK as well as (AFAIK) all of the 100-120 V world. Traditionally, NZ has required switches.
Moving into the future, with App/voice controlled devices... people are going to become interested in switching a power point wirelessly. For example, I have about 8 devices (TV, Amp, Voda box, media devices & hub) which I turn off remotely when not needing them. Motivation is surge protection & parasitic losses over days of non-use.
Now, I do this legally by plugging a smart switch into the standard kiwi power point - and leaving the PP's mechanical switch in the 'on' position. So, the wireless switching is 'downstream' of the PP's 'legal' switch. In this way, wirelessly switching this circuit 'on' does not over-ride the mechanical swith (which never moves). So, legally, no problem.
In a new house build, there are points I would choose to automate. To do so tidily, I would use a double PP with wireless switches. Such powerpoints are easily available from China (using our plug geometry) - but the inherent manual/'mechanical' switch is over-ridden by the wireless 'on' command. No 'off' mode is mechanically enforced.
Checking the exhibitors at the Auckland home show yesterday, there was exactly one double power point with wireless (WiFi) capability on show - arrived 2 weeks ago. They had no idea it might be problematic. The PDL stand's tech guy said their Zigbee dimmer/switch is expected in February and he's seen a mock-up of a Zigbee dual power-point. But PDL's bigger market is Australia. PDL were exhibiting two Bluetooth wall switches (for lighting circuits) - but they had no Bluetooth PP.
Anyone got any deeper / behind-the-scenes understanding of this ?