If a product's involved with Seneye's Matt Stevenson, I take interest, says Nathan Hill. This is the man who designed the Seneye. In a world of sheeple following each other's designs, Matt is one of the unique minorities coming up with new stuff.
It's good...
The box can potentially save you money on outside electrical installations. If you want to run a multi-port socket in the garden, you can now get away with it without having to splash out on expensive outdoor sockets or the electrician needed to install them.
You can easily slip a four-way socket set inside, and the cables then run out through the sealing, watertight ports to your pump, lighting etc. Once the lid goes on and clips into place, those sockets’ll stay dryer than a Charlie Brooker sketch. And it clips into place very easily.
It’s made from UV resistant polypropylene, too, so it’ll not bleach or split in the sun. Seneye even throws in a couple of cable ties to keep things tidy.
But…
It is just a waterproof box. There’s not even a four-way plug included in the package, so that’s an added cost. The plugs would make all the difference to me!
I’m not even sure that aquarists asked for this piece of kit, so I suspect it’ll have a limited audience. I could be wrong. I hope I am.
It’s not quite as robust as it might at first appear. I reckon that a charging kid or bulbous bouncing dog in the garden might be able to break it open if they gained enough velocity.
The verdict
If it’s the difference between this and a £75-an-hour electrician coming to install my garden electrics, I’ll take this. Would I extend so far as to use it indoors with my aquaria? Maybe, but I’ll probably wait to see if the price drops any before I go that far. I think it depends on how seriously you take the risk of electric shocks.
Good:
- Easy to open and close.
- Cheaper than a sparky!
- More uses than fishkeeping.
Bad:
- No quick switching options.
- Only takes one four-way plug at a time.
- No sockets supplied.
Price: £22.94. More info from www.seneye.com
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