From: address@is.invalid   
      
   Mike,   
      
   > Second is something to switch mains safely - a full 13A to run a 3kW   
   > heater.   
      
   You could take a peek at so-called "solid state relais".  And as your heater   
   is a resistive load, it should be no problem to control it with even a   
   simple one (no zero-pass detection needed, as is needed for inductive   
   loads).   
      
   One thing to check is what your heater pulls in the first seconds or so (up   
   until its fully heated).  That current might well be more than the 13A that   
   it draws after those first few seconds.   
      
   The last thing to check is (ofcourse) the voltage those solid-state relays   
   "switch on" on.  The Pi's 3.3 volt is on the low end, so you will likely   
   need something to connect it to a higher voltage.  A simple open-collector   
   transistor should work though.   
      
   Regards,   
   Rudy Wieser   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)