7 uses for smart plugs beyond just turning devices on or off
Smart plugs are a great way to start your smart home journey. They can turn almost any dumb device into a smart device, allowing you to turn them on and off remotely or as part of automation. However, you can do so much more with smart plugs beyond turning things on and off.
Find the devices that are inflating your energy bill
Some smart plugs only have one function, turning on and off on demand. However, not all smart plugs are equal. There are many smart plugs on the market (like the Eve Energy Smart Plug) that include another very useful feature: energy monitoring.
- Brand
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Day before
- Connectivity
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Matter
- Integrations
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HomeKit, Alexa, Assistant
- Schedules
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Yes
- Current rating
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15A
Enjoy cross-platform functionality with this Matter-compatible smart plug, while protecting your data. With energy usage tracking for Apple HomeKit users, the Eve Energy Matter smart plug is a great choice for seamless smart home integration.
Energy monitoring has a large number of useful applications, some of which are described later in the article. However, the most obvious use is to see exactly how much energy your devices are using.
You may be surprised to discover which appliances contribute significantly to your energy bills. The good news is that with a smart plug, you can create automations to ensure those energy-hungry appliances are turned off when you don’t need them.
Detect when your dryer is finished
Another major benefit of smart plugs with energy monitoring is that you can use them to know when appliances that use a lot of energy stop working. For example, when you run your dryer or washing machine, they use a significant amount of energy. At the end of the cycle, the amount of energy used drops to almost zero.
You can use this information to create automations that can alert you when your washer or dryer is finished. A simple automation that sends you a notification when your washer or dryer’s energy consumption has remained below a set threshold for a few minutes is an accurate way to be alerted when your laundry is finished.
Get alerted when your refrigerator stops working
The same trick can also be an effective way to monitor which devices need to be turned on at all times. Your refrigerator, for example, is something you don’t want to turn off for an extended period of time.
Monitoring a refrigerator is a little trickier, because its operation causes fluctuations in energy consumption. To maintain a fairly constant temperature, it will work hard to reach a certain temperature, then stop for a while until the temperature gets too high, then cool down again, again and again.
However, you can use your energy monitoring smart plug to determine how much time your refrigerator goes between periods of high energy consumption. You can then create an automation that will alert you if power consumption remains low for longer than usual, indicating that the refrigerator is no longer functioning properly. You can also set up an alert to notify you if your refrigerator starts using more energy than usual, which is also a sign that something is wrong.
Receive an alert if you left the stove on
We’ve all been there. You’re going on vacation, and about an hour into your trip you suddenly wonder if maybe you left the stove on, or the iron, or that heater (you get the picture). The rest of your vacation is ruined by the nagging worry of returning home to find your house burned to the ground.
A smart plug with energy monitoring is the perfect way to prevent this from happening. For electrical appliances that you might leave on, like irons, straighteners or curling irons, or even your stove, you can connect them via a smart plug. You can then constantly monitor the amount of energy they are using, even when you are not at home.
When you’re on vacation, you can quickly check your smart home app of choice and know for sure whether your iron is still on or not. If so, you can turn it off from your phone and continue with your life.
It’s even smarter to set up automation that will check these smart plugs for you every time you leave the house. If they’re still on when everyone has left the house, you can send an alert to your phone to let you know.
Lock devices during peak hours
There are many devices in your home that don’t need to be on all the time. Your dryer, for example, will only run when you use it. However, for some people, how long you use your device can impact its cost.
Time-of-use (TOU) plans change the cost of energy based on the time of day. During peak hours, you’ll pay more than during off-peak hours, and overnight your energy can be even cheaper. Some companies also offer demand-based pricing where the price fluctuates based on demand.
A smart plug can come in handy in these cases. I have an energy plan where the price changes every 30 minutes based on supply and demand. I can import the current price into Home Assistant, and using smart plugs, I can turn on power-hungry appliances, like a washing machine, when the price drops to its lowest levels.
You can even use a smart plug to lock your devices during peak hours. For example, you can set your smart plugs to turn off during peak hours, so that if you forget and try to turn on the washing machine, you’ll find that the power goes out.
Check if your dehumidifier is full
This is another very useful way to use your energy monitoring smart plugs. I have a garage that can get quite humid and I use a dehumidifier to control it. The dehumidifier takes a long time to fill, but once it is full, it turns itself off and will not work again until the tank is emptied.
Instead of having to constantly check the dehumidifier’s fill level, I could simply plug it into a smart energy monitoring outlet. Power consumption fluctuates because the device turns off once the target humidity is reached, then turns back on when it gets too high. But if the power consumption remains low for a long time, I know the tank must be full. Using Home Assistant, I can send an alert to my phone when power consumption has remained low for a set period of time.
Trigger automations when you start working
My iMac has a large 27-inch screen that requires a significant amount of power to operate. When the iMac is asleep, it can draw as little as 2W, but when I’m using it, it can reach around 150W or more if I’m using power-hungry apps. This means that by using an energy monitoring smart plug, I can easily know when I’m using my iMac and when I’m not.
Using Home Assistant, I can use trigger automations when the smart plug detects an increase in energy consumption. For example, I can put my Mac in Work mode or set my coffee machine to turn on in just under an hour, so the coffee is ready as a reward after an hour of work.
Smart plugs can be useful for all kinds of smart home automation, and that doesn’t just mean turning devices on or off. A smart plug with energy monitoring opens up a whole new world of possibilities that can make your life easier. Receiving a notification when your laundry is done, for example, means you’ll never forget to unload it and discover a machine full of damp, moldy laundry several hours later.
