Have you ever heard the phrase, “It’s a control issue.”? Secretly most people long to be in control. The development of the smart plug can put you back in control of your whole house.
If your home is already automated, the addition of smart plugs is a huge plus.
But if you’ve not yet transitioned into a smart home, it can be a bit intimidating. These adapters offer a great way to get you started. Using one smart plug at a time can help you turn devices into smart devices.
Once appliances or devices are plugged into the smart plug, you can control them virtually. The uses are literally unlimited. Anything you can plugin, you can turn on or off or schedule automation using the app.
An electrical appliance, devices, lights, security systems, TVs, a coffee maker, or a slow cooker, almost anything goes.
How Does a Smart Plug Work?
A smart plug looks kind of like a travel adapter. They may be small, but they turn any appliance or light into a smart device that can be controlled by voice commands using a voice assistant or an app on your smartphone.
Some types monitor energy use so you can discover which devices use the most electricity.
You can save energy by replacing it with an energy-efficient alternative. They are simple to use. Just put the smart plug in a standard wall socket, then plug an appliance into it.
They connect using wi fi or Bluetooth to an app on your smartphone. This allows you to control whatever is connected to the plug using your home’s wi-fi and Alexi or Google home. You don’t always need a separate smart hub for it to work.
Most Popular Uses for a Smart Plug
Use Smart Plugs to Help Improve Safety
Products like curling irons, clothe irons, and electric blankets have heater elements. If these are left on, they can be a potential fire hazard. Hectic mornings are notorious for helping you forget to turn these types of items off.
How many times have you wondered if you turned them off after you leave the house?
Having these types of devices plugged into a smart plug is a great way to ensure they have all been shut off. Using the app on your phone, you can turn them off. Being able to turn off devices like space heaters, counter-top ovens, or electric blankets remotely helps improve your home’s safety.
Monitor Power Usage
Another great use for a smart plug is to monitor the power usage of your appliances. You can know if they are running efficiently or not. When you monitor power consumption, you’ll know if the fridge or freezer starts to draw excessive power.
You can get a replacement and avoid a potential failure of your freezer or fridge. If you notice increases in your electricity bills, a smart plug can help you find appliances that could be the culprit.
Control Your Tea and Coffee Maker
When you connect your electric teapot or coffee maker to a smart plug, you can use the app to set a time for it to turn on. Set it for about 10 minutes before your alarm goes off and wake up to the aroma of a fresh cup!
You can also set it to go off automatically after a specific amount of time.
Control Your Lights from Anywhere
Do you remember clapping to turn the lights on and off? Clap-on, clap-off. Smart plugs operate similarly but much quieter. You can use the companion app to turn your lights on before you get home after work or turn them off at bedtime.
Schedule your lights to come on at go off at random times while your family is out of town. This can deter burglars.
Many people control their Christmas lights with a smart plug. There’s no need to go out in the cold to turn them off or on.
Pre-Warm a Room
In cold weather, those rooms or areas which are not used as much can become frigid. No one likes to step into a cold room. A smart plug allows you to turn on a space heater remotely. That extra bedroom, man cave, TV room, garage, or basement can be warm before you get there.
You don’t have to run into a cold room to turn on a heater and then wait for it to warm up. You can use your smart plug app or voice control with Alexa or Google Assistant to turn it on before you head that way.
You can also use a smart plug to control an air conditioner in the same way.
Schedule or Limit Kid’s Screen Time
You can schedule when TVs, computers, and games consoles, are available for kids to use. Setting fixed hours for entertainment technology ensures they are not watching even when you are not around.
Schedule when you want the devices to be accessible, as well as when they need to go off. It doesn’t just turn computer equipment off, it can also be used to put them in standby mode when needed.
Final Thoughts
You can use a smart plug to turn any device into a smart device that can be managed remotely. They can be useful in any room of your house from, bathrooms to bedrooms, kitchens to the living room. These small but useful plugs can make your life easier, safer, and more energy-efficient.
