Power Return Alarm, Briidea Utility Power Back on Alert for Generator, Loud Siren with LED Indicator

Works well. Easy to install. Very loud signal.

Got this alarm to warn when power came back on in an interlocked main panel generator setup. Works very well for the task. When power comes back you will know it, the siren can be heard throughout the house. Being in the same room as it is quite literally deafening until you turn it off. Installation is simple. Mount the device near your panel. Run the antenna into the panel and wrap it tightly around one of the hot legs you want to monitor in you panel. Use a zip tie or electrical tape to hold it in place and tightly coiled. There is a sensitivity adjust if needed, but my setup works fine with the default setting.

Bought this for my back up generator to alert me when power is restored. Works like a champ. Highly recommended.

A very handy device for generator owners to be alerted when the electric service has been restored to your house. The unit emits a tone that the product description claims is 100dB. This occurs once the “antenna” senses the electromagnetic field in the service line. Then turn off the unit to quiet it and then you can safely shut off your generator breaker and then flip your main breaker back on and you’re back on the grid. No more looking to see if the neighbors lights are on etc. my electric panel is down in my garage. The reason I’m only giving it 4 stars is that the sound does not carry as far as you’d think it would be at the claim of 100dB. In order to hear it on the floor above, you have to really listen very hard to hear it. Very loud in the garage! Installation was not too bad. BUT remember, unless the meter has been pulled or the grid is down, even with the main breaker OFF, the lugs that the two hot legs are secured to, are ENERGIZED, and you need to be careful. If you aren’t comfortable, contact a licensed electrician or someone who is comfortable working in an electric panel. The white antenna (wire) is very springy so you’ll need to hold it securely or it will easily unwind. You will need to wrap it very tightly around one of the hot legs before the breaker. At least 4 wraps. Once you have it wrapped secure it with either the supplied zip ties or use electrical tape. I used both. The green wire will need to be secured to the ground bus in the panel. You’ll need to punch out one of the knockouts and feed the wires from outside the panel to inside. Secure it with a knockout clamp to hold the wires in place. The white control box needs secured to the wall near the panel. The unit comes with a piece of 3M two sided adhesive to stick it to the wall or use the supplies wall anchors and screws to hold the mounting bracket to the wall. The box slides up off the mounting bracket, so that you can replace the 2 AA batteries (not included). The face of the control box has a power switch, a sensitivity screw (includes a small screwdriver to adjust the sensitivity) a power light and a low battery light. I’m not sure how long the batteries last, but most times the unit will be off and not in use. Since the service line is energized, even with the main breaker off, you can test your installation to make sure it is done properly. It does seem that if the white tip of tue wire is not wrapped securely and enough times it may not be able to sense the electric files and it will not alarm even if the power is on. Another issue some folks noted is that I’d the two hot legs are too close together, the one without the antenna wrapped around it may “offset” the electric field from the one that is wrapped. So even though the alarm is ear ringing when you are in the vicinity of it, when I’m upstairs, I may rely on my garage camera’s microphone to listen for the alarm. For the low cost and fairly easy (when safely done) installation, this is a great way to know the power’s back on!! Sorry for the long windedness of what was supposed to be a product review but morphed into a hybrid review and installation tips.

Very simple solution to use when you have lost power, have a manual generator running and want to know when the utility power has returned (NOTE: if you are not comfortable opening your breaker box, DO NOT attempt to install it yourself). The device runs on batteries and has a low battery indicator. It is a manual device so when i have a power failure and need to run my generator, i will make the switching changes on my electrical panel and then turn on the device while i'm running on my generator. when utility power returns, it blasts out a 100dB alarm that lets me know that it returned. I then turn off the device and switch back to utility power and turn off my generator.

Easy and safe to install. You never actually have to connect to or contact any live wires. A simple ground connection and wrap the inductive antenna on one of the main commercial power legs and you are in service. It works. All forms of power have an induction field around it and this is simply a sensor of that. No problem for a diyer with an understanding of what not to touch in a breaker box. It is LOUD. You can hear it over a generator just outside.

Does exactly what you but it for. Tested multiple times after install. I dont keep batteries in it until i need it. nice loud sound you can hear from inside the house.

The alarm installed and operated perfectly. We lost power after bedtime, got up, connected the generator, turned on the alarm and went back to bed. Several hours later (4) my phone seemed to have internet via LAN. I got up, went down 2 stories to find the alarm making a faint chirping sound, the power had ben restored. I'm sure i didn't hear the alarm over the generator. There is no use in fixing it without a way of sounding the alarm near my bedroom.

Works as intended. It's LOUD like a fire alarm. If you are not comfortable working inside an electrical panel you should definitely call an electrician. The installation is not for the average person.

Our power line is 220/240 VAC, 50 hz, while the item operates with 120 VAC, 60 hz

The instructions in the box say that the max voltage is 120V, although this had not been mentioned in the advert. I guess this is for the USA domestic market reasons. However, before returning it, I tried it on our 240V supply (the UK domestic voltage) and it worked fine. It’s easy to mount on the wall with the sticky pads supplied. I would have preferred to use screws but this would have required taking the unit apart to use the backplate holes. Once mounted on the wall, installation is very easy. Overall, a great little unit but the supplier could perhaps clarify in the advert that it works on 240V.

Installed without any issue. Power has not gone out since, so I cannot confirm sound or operation.

Does what it says on the tin. Easy to install, just wind the sensor wire around your mains line in, connect up the earth and away you go. Nice loud siren to warn you when the mains comes back online. Saves chewing through fuel on your generator for no reason. Quick delivery from the good ol' US of A.