1 Channel 5V Discrete Relay - 250VAC 5A / 30VDC 5A

Controlling and operating circuits allows Makers like us to do all kinds of awesome things, but if you’ve ever tried to make your Kettle or other AC appliances automated with Arduino Boards or other microcontrollers, you’ll understand that mixing circuits with differing voltages (especially when trying to mix AC with DC) can lead to a lot of potential problems. Fortunately, despite the fact that we typically interact with voltages ranging as low as 3.3V DC and as high as 220V AC, there are clever Components that can make “mixing circuits” easy, with Relays being some of the key players in this area.

These 1 Channel 5V Discrete Relays offer a pretty beefy 5A @ 250VAC and 5A @ 30VDC, and are designed to let you integrate different circuits together with ease, whether they operate on the same voltage, a different voltage, or even if one is AC and the other is DC. It does this by utilising a clever bridge and electromagnet system within the enclosure, which acts to isolate the circuits from each other, while allowing the electromagnetic coil that’s controlled by one circuit to switch the other circuit on and off. This means that you can easily integrate a timer or smart system into your old-school kettle, extractor fan and other appliances, with both resistive and inductive capabilities to make it ideal for almost any application up to around 500VA for inductive loads and 1250VA for resistive loads.

Of course, while you could use Relays like these to integrate home automation into all parts of your home or office, or perhaps for other even grander plans, they can also be used for simpler applications too, and their discrete nature makes them rather easy to install directly onto a PCB or protoboard. Additionally, because these relays operate on the ever-common 5V DC, they can be used in conjunction with a very wide range of different microcontrollers like Arduino. These features make them not only versatile in their potential uses, but also surprisingly easy to integrate into almost any project.