Smart Plug Automation: 7 Ways to Automate Your Home
- The plug-in staple may have made for a catchy jingle in the 1980s, but it could also be considered as a primitive ancestor of today's
- Occupancy and presence sensors are more accurate than a simple motion sensor, as the latter can be tripped by any motion, even wind or car headlights in a...
- Smart plugs are useful for keeping your home cozy, especially when the weather's too hot.
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remember The Clapper? The plug-in staple may have made for a catchy jingle in the 1980s, but it could also be considered as a primitive ancestor of today’s
Occupancy and presence sensors are more accurate than a simple motion sensor, as the latter can be tripped by any motion, even wind or car headlights in a window. As an aside, there are other presence sensors available, like the Aqara FP2, which can even detect people falling to alert another user.
3. Enhance climate control
Smart plugs are useful for keeping your home cozy, especially when the weather’s too hot. I have a dumb fan connected to a smart plug, so I can ask Alexa to turn on my fan when it’s too hot and I’d rather not turn down the A/C’s temperature. While a fan doesn’t bring down the temperature, it circulates the air, making you feel cooler. This approach means you can save on your utility bills by setting your A/C a bit warmer and running a fan, which consumes fewer kWh than a central unit.
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If you have a smart thermostat or temperature sensor, you can also program your smart plug to automatically turn on your fan when the room is too hot. A space heater on a smart plug would serve the same purpose during winter, and a smart plug can automatically switch it off when a desired temperature is reached.
4. Plug in your hot tools
Whether you have a curling iron you forget to switch off or someone at home who constantly leaves their hot tools on, a smart plug is a perfect solution. I use a smart plug for my flat iron, and I never have to wonder if I forgot to turn it off — I can check my smartphone and confirm that it is. If I leave the iron on, I can switch off the smart plug remotely. You could also set your hair tools to turn on in the morning as you get ready for the day.
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If you’re a handy or crafty person who has soldering tools and hot glue guns, smart plugs can also become your go-to safety device. Plugging in these tools with a smart plug allows you to easily turn them on and off, with the added security of controlling them from your smartphone. You can even control them using your voice with a virtual assistant, such as Amazon Alexa, Siri, or