Smart homes like that of the Jetsons will soon be as ubiquitous as mobile phones are today. From light bulbs to washing machines, people will be able to control all aspects of their home through voice commands or through their mobile phones (or whatever device manages to replace the mighty smartphone in the future) anywhere in the world! For people starting their home automation journey, smart plugs are usually the gateway gadget to the world of smart devices.
What are Smart Plugs and How Do They Work?
Simply put, it is a plug with Wi-Fi capabilities that allows the user to control it remotely. Appliances or devices that are connected to smart plugs can be turned on or off through an app. As long as the smart plug and your mobile phone are connected to the internet, you can control your smart plug whether you’re thousands of kilometers away or just a couple of feet away from your appliance.
Please note, however, that most smart plugs today can only control the flow of electricity from your outlet to your appliance or device. It cannot be used with more complex appliances such as air-conditioners and TVs wherein you need to press a power button or use a remote control to turn them on or off. This is why smart plugs are usually used with appliances that can be left on the whole time like lamps, chargers and electric fans to name a few.
What are Its Features?
Control It Anywhere
With smart plugs, you can control your appliance anywhere. If you’re not sure if you turned off your fan before leaving home, no problem! Just open the accompanying app and turn it off from your phone wherever you are.
Voice Control
Most smart plugs of today can be connected to smart assistants such as Google and Alexa. Once you have finished setting up your smart plug, these smart assistants should be able to detect it automatically. You can then issue voice commands to Google or Alexa and control your appliance without moving a muscle.
Set Timers and Schedules
Most electric fans today still do not have a built in timer. If you want to switch from aircon to fan in the middle of the night, it means that you still have to get out of bed to complete this task even if you have a remote control for your aircon. Well, a smart plug can easily remedy that. You just set your fan to turn on at the same time the timer on your air-conditioner runs out. You can even set a daily schedule for this so you only have to program this in the app once.
Energy Monitoring
Not all smart plugs have this feature but some of them do like our 2-in-1 Smart Plug. If the model you bought has this feature, then you can easily monitor how much electricity each of your appliances is consuming on a daily or even monthly basis. If not, having smart plugs in your home can still become very beneficial especially if you use them to reduce or even eliminate vampire power. For your information, vampire power is also known as standby power and it can account for up to 10% of your electric bill.
More Smart Plug Ideas for Your Home
- Use smart plugs to limit the TV viewing time of your kids. Set your smart plug to deactivate at a specified time to make sure they won’t sneak in a couple of minutes of Cocomelon and stay past their bedtime.
- Connect your smart plug to a lamp so you can set light schedules. This will make outsiders think that someone is home even when you’re thousands of kilometers away.
- Always have hot water available when you wake up. Just connect a smart plug to your electric kettle and set it to turn on a couple of minutes before your alarm. You’ll now have hot water ready for your morning coffee as soon as you wake up.
- While most smartphones can protect its batteries from overcharging, other tools and devices don’t have this feature. You can set timers on your smart plugs to prevent overcharging these devices while you sleep.
- As mentioned previously, standby power can account for up to 10% of your electric bill. Reduce this by using smart plugs on power hungry devices such as microwave ovens and printers.
- Automate your Christmas lights with smart plugs! Just set a daily schedule during the Christmas season and your Christmas lights will turn itself on and off at designated times.
If you’re just starting with home automation, buying smart plugs is a good place to start. As you can see, aside from making your life easier it can also help your household be more energy efficient. If you want to buy a smart plug now, please visit our store by clicking on this link 👉 SMARTLIVING.PH. To receive smart home guides, please subscribe to our newsletter by submitting your email address in the form below. You will also be notified when we have new products and promos.
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