How Do Smart Plugs Work and How To Best Use Them at Home

August 3, 2021

Have you ever wanted to have a convenient home setup where your appliances could do the thinking for you? Having your home run itself just sounds amazing, right?

Finally, there is an easy way to build your dream smart home: smart plugs. These affordable and easy to use devices are your perfect solution to equip your home with smart home technology.

You do not have to walk around the house to switch on and off the lights and power points every day. But you might be wondering what a smart plug is and what makes it smart?

If you want to know more about smart plugs and get some ideas on the best ways to use them, this article has everything you need to know!

What Is a Smart Plug?

With our fast-paced lives, convenience is crucial—and smart plugs can be one of our great assets.

Investing in a smart plug is a good starting point to build your dream smart home. For one, you will have a home that helps you with your everyday living by automating technology not only for convenience but also for:

Security
Comfort
Entertainment

Basically, a smart plug is a small adaptor that can be plugged into a regular electrical wall outlet. It also connects to a Wi-Fi network and can be controlled remotely through an application installed on smartphones.

Smart plugs make it easy to automate and control appliances and devices in your home. They are low cost, too, which makes them an affordable option to achieve an automated home.

You can buy them individually or in packs of two or more. Some units are available as power strips ideal to use for multiple devices.

But the question is: how do they work?

How do smart plugs work?

A smart plug is like a power-point adapter that can fit into a regular power socket. At its most basic level, it turns home appliances on and off.

But when connected to a smart home platform (e.g. smartphone), it becomes a nifty device. You can take any ordinary electrical outlet in your home and put a smart plug on it.

Just plug any device that you want to control on your smartphone into the smart plug. Then you should be able to turn the appliance on or off using your phone.

Simple as that!

What makes smart plugs smart?

The cool thing about smart plugs is they can convert ordinary devices in your home into “smart” ones. They are considered smart because they let you control your appliances from your smartphone anywhere you are at home.

There are also apps that let you set schedules for your smart plugs, enabling you to turn on and off your gadgets at set times and on specific days. While other smart plugs can collect information about how much energy your appliance is consuming.

If you are energy-conscious, this is an excellent and very useful feature that you can benefit from. Most of these apps are available through the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.

Furthermore, there are smart plugs that can be connected to the Google Assistant or Amazon’s Alexa. With this option, you can take control of your home with simple voice commands.

For instance, a voice command like, “Alexa, turn on the speaker.” Your Bluetooth speaker will be automatically turned on; there is no need for you to get out of the bed to do so.

Do smart plugs need Wi-Fi?

To use your smart plug, you need a stable Wi-Fi connection. A smart plug should be connected to a smartphone through wifi so they can communicate with each other.

Without wifi, you won’t be able to control your smart plug device with your phone. You have to ensure there are no disruptions to your service or internet connection.

If you are looking for a solution to boost your WiFi to the obscured areas of your home, check out this WiFi Range Extender (JYN8374).

What Are Smart Plugs Used For?

There are so many ways you can utilise a smart plug. Here are just a few to get your imagination going with all the possibilities and get your creative juices flowing:

1. Turn on the lights before you get home from work at night

Guess what? You can turn your lights on with a simple tap on your smartphone even before you walk into your house.

With a smart plug, you won’t have to stumble into a dark house again.

2. Limit the amount of time for the TV and gaming consoles

Another thing we like about a smart plug is it also lets you control the TV—no remote control is needed. You can choose a schedule that limits the time the television is turned on.

Program it into your smartphone app and let your smart plug do the work for you! This trick also works for gaming consoles, including a home entertainment setup.

3. Control your AC unit or space heater without leaving your chair

When working from home, it can be a challenge to get out of the chair, especially when you have tons of paper works to finish. For one, turning on your portable heater in the living room or the AC unit in your bedroom.

If your home office is located somewhere far, you do not have to take the stairs or leave your chair anymore to do so. With a smart plug connect to your smartphone, the control is in your hands.

4. Control your appliances at home while you are on vacation

You can control your home devices plugged into your smart plug even when you are miles away. You can be confident and feel secure knowing that you can monitor energy and usage at any time through your smartphone.

Plus, this can help you see if you forgot to unplug a certain device. With your phone, you can check if there is any; if so, you can turn it off with just a tap.

You can also turn on lights to deter burglars. Phew!

Some other ideas for how you can use smart plugs:

Dim the lights
Schedule your coffee maker for the next day
Turn on your holiday lights with a voice command

Things To Consider When Buying a Smart Plug

To make sure you are getting the right smart plug for your home needs, there are a few things you need to consider before making your purchase.

Voice assistant compatibility

You will want to make sure the smart plug you buy is compatible with any type of voice command system. For one, you should not get a unit that is limited to Alexa only if you have Google Assistant, and vice versa.

Keep in mind that not all plugs are compatible with both Alexa and Google Assistant. Ensure the model you choose supports your voice command preference.

You can find smart plugs on the market that support both and more.

Energy monitoring

A feature like this is a great benefit as it lets you learn how much energy your device (plugged into the smart plug) uses. This is also useful if you are planning on upgrading to more energy-efficient home electronics.

The smart plug also sends a report to the app installed on your smartphone. Reports vary from app to app, but most lets you see peak energy use hours and energy used over time.

Some plug models have the option to turn on and off a specific appliance or device automatically on a schedule. This is perfect for saving electricity in the long run.

Extra outlets

If you are shorts on outlets around the house, a smart plug with extra ports is a great alternative solution. You can expand the number of ports on your outlet with a small yet handy device.

The more ports/outlets, the more devices and appliances you can take control over at home.

The Bottom Line

Smart plugs take a wired home to a new level! They can turn a simple device, such as a coffee maker or a table lamp, into a smart one.

Not only is a smart plug perfect for adding more convenience at home, but also it works wonders in improving your energy usage. If you are looking for a great smart plug model for starters, we have some recommendations for you!

Have a look at this Smart Plug WiFi Controlled Main Switch and Energy Monitoring (No longer available). It allows you to monitor power usage and control your mains powered devices over the internet through:

Smartphone
Voice command

Setting it up is easy, too! Just download the free Smartlife app that is available on Google Play and the App Store, and you are good to go. Other amazing features include:

Voice Control using Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant devices
Remote Access using a Smartphone over the Internet
Scheduling to automatically power electronics on and off as needed
Real-time and historical current, voltage, power, and energy consumption
Timer function to turn your devices on and off with a countdown timer

Smart Wifi Plug

You might also like this Smart Wifi Plug Controlled Mains Switch (JMS6106). This tiny smart device is compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Home.

It controls the main appliances in your home or small office using an App or voice command. Plus, it also features voice control/command.

You can set up multiple schedules to turn appliances on automatically at different times. A smart timer or delay is also useful to turn devices on or off.