You Can Make Your Home Smarter Without Buying Completely New Appliances.
If you’re just getting started with smart home technology, you might be overwhelmed by the plethora of devices and protocols automating every aspect of your life. But you don’t have to spend a ton of time and money replacing all your electronics. Instead, consider installing Wi-Fi-enabled smart plugs throughout your home to transform your “dumb” devices into smart ones.
Smart plugs, offered by renowned brands like Wyze , TP-Link , Amazon , GE , and many others, transform your regular outlets into smart alternatives that can be turned on and off remotely, scheduled, and even controlled with voice commands. Simply plug them into an outlet and connect them to an app, and your lights, small appliances, and other electronics become smart.
Some of the best smart plugs offer useful features like timers, sunrise and sunset scheduling, energy monitoring, and away modes, as well as compatibility with smart home platforms from Google, Amazon, and Apple.
Automate your daily routine
With smart plugs, you can set up automatic morning routines by configuring various devices to activate at specific times. For example, you can program your bedroom lights to turn on to wake you up and your coffee maker to brew coffee at the same time (make sure to set this up the night before). You can even use a smart plug in your bathroom to warm up your hair styling tools before use.
You can customize algorithms for each individual outlet or link them to a voice assistant, such as an Alexa-enabled device, to trigger the entire algorithm with a single command. The same principle can be applied to bedtime, but in reverse: use smart outlets, such as sleep timers for lights and streaming devices, or even to warm an electric blanket or turn on a bedroom heater.
Control of indoor and outdoor lighting
Smart plugs can be used to automate lighting even if you don’t have smart light bulbs. You can set your living room lamps to turn off before bed and turn on in the morning, then turn off when you leave for work and turn on again when you return. Or connect outdoor string lights to a weather-resistant smart plug with a program that automatically turns on in the evening, close to sunset, and turns off after an hour or two. Smart plugs are also great for scheduling and automating Christmas lights and indoor grow lights. Anything you need a timer for can be accomplished with a smart plug.
Using IFTTT (or as part of a larger smart home ecosystem, if you have one), you can link smart plugs to motion sensors so that lights turn on for a set amount of time when motion is detected. This can be useful at night in kitchens or common areas after the lights have been turned off, as well as in garages and basements. Outdoor lights can be configured to turn on when a security camera detects motion. IFTTT can also be used to turn a fan or heater on and off when the thermostat reaches a certain temperature.
Smart plugs eliminate the need to flip switches or unplug appliances, making lighting control much easier. You can also save energy (and reduce your bills) by setting up programs so lights don’t turn on unnecessarily.
Because smart plugs can be automated and controlled remotely, you can also use them for security when you’re away: set your lights to turn on and off at specific times to make it seem like you’re home.
Control your home appliances
If you have devices you want to control, whether you’re away from home or just elsewhere, connect them to smart plugs. For example, you can schedule your kettle or bottle warmer, or at least turn them on remotely when you need them. Or set timers for decorative items like fountains, aquarium lights, air fresheners, wax melters, and more.
Smart plugs are also useful for turning off electrical appliances, such as the aforementioned hairdressing tools and heaters. If you can’t remember whether you turned off the switches before leaving home, check the power consumption of the smart plugs they’re connected to and turn them off if necessary.
If you connect your washer or dryer through a smart plug, you can receive notifications on your phone when they complete their cycles.
Access to hard-to-reach outlets
With a smart plug, you can control devices plugged into outlets in hard-to-reach places—for example, high on a wall, behind heavy furniture, or in the back of a garage—without having to climb a ladder or move objects. The hardest part is plugging the device into the outlet, but once you’re done, you can easily turn it on and off using an app, voice command, or set up an automation.
It can also be useful for controlling electronics in rooms you rarely use, such as water pumps and dehumidifiers in basements, and fans in attics and garages.
Monitoring energy consumption
Smart plugs provide useful data on the energy consumption of various appliances and electronics. When a device is plugged in, you can see its real-time energy consumption, as well as its usage history. Use this information to reduce standby power consumption (or “vampire” consumption), monitor battery usage, and identify inefficient, energy-hungry electronics to make more informed (and cost-effective) decisions about your devices.