How do you use your smart plugs?

strandedinaber

I'm taking my first foray into "smart home" ownership, and am looking for advice. I've recently moved from a flat to a house, so had a smart meter installed for the first time, my combi boiler is connected to a Hive hub, and I've also just set up a lamp on a timer using a smart plug (after figuring out how to separate my 2.4ghz and 5ghz wifi signals).

I'd welcome any thoughts from others on how/if you use smart tech to help reduce your energy bills. Obviously the main one is not keeping things on standby, which I only do for the TV/Virgin media box, as it takes so long to start up without it being on standby. I'm considering using them for chargers, as I have a tendency to leave chargers plugged in overnight.

Is there anything else I'm missing please? Any advice from more experienced tech-y folk?

Peter999_2

I've used smart plugs for several years and get the ones that do energy monitoring as well.

I don't use it for my satellite box as I know that in standby it only uses 0.3w which I'm happy with.   I don't use it for any phone chargers as they seem to use so little it comes up as 0w when they are not plugged into phone.

I have my bedside table on a smart plug as I tend to have my laptop and various other things plugged in. A schedule turns it off at 1am in the morning and then I only turn it back on the next evening.    It seems to use about 30w with everything plugged in so I'm happy about the saving.

I also have my bedroom TV on a plug as that is so old it uses 20w in standby!.   The TV in the lounge only uses 0.3w in standby so I'm happy for that being plugged in.

Hope this helps.

facade

The device plugged into the smartplug needs to use a lot more energy than the smartplug, otherwise it is a false economy, as you have to pay for the smartplug before you save anything.

I use my smartplug for convenience to add voice control to a fan so I can switch it on & off without getting up.

Are you saying that you leave devices on charge for too long, or that you leave the chargers plugged in after removing your 'phone or whatever?

My chargers are plugged into a power strip with switches for each socket, and I flick the switch on when the 'phone is plugged in, and off before I disconnect it when it is charged.  (I don't like inserting/removing those micro plugs when they are carrying current)

strandedinaber

Thanks @Peter999_2 and @facade - both of these comments are really helpful! And you raise a good point about standby for newer devices being much better than it used to be, Peter. My TV and Virgin hub are relatively new, so I feel less bad about leaving those on for a period of time. I'll look into their actual usage.

@facade the answer to your question is 'both'. I leave my devices on charge for too long because I often charge them overnight, and they only take a few hours to charge. Or I put my tablet onto charge when I'm working, and don't remember to switch it off (or I'm in the office) for several hours. Alternatively, if I don't charge them overnight, I use my charger downstairs in my living room, but that socket isn't readily accessible. I need to look into how much power that charger might be drawing when it's not got anything plugged into it, and whether it's worth putting a smart socket in.

RumRat

You don't charge your phones for too long because they manage the charging and stop when full or less if you have battery protection turned on /available.
I use them mainly for convenience. They are attached to lamps that I just ask Google or Alexa to turn on/off, I also have the fake log burner connected so it can be turned on and off without me having to troll over to it.
You can also set up routines or scenarios in conjunction with smart bulbs that turn on/off different things depending on the situation. For example if I just say 'TV time' or 'I'm home' the correct lighting is turned on/off or dimmed to the correct level.
You can set timers for things to come on/off, so when you are away it looks like you are home.
I have one connected to the coffee machine that has the coffee just right as I walk into the Kitchen in the morning.
There is one handy for connecting to the slow cooker so the timer is set to start it so that the finish time is just when we get back, so there's no waiting for dinner.
I'm sure you could get your imagination working on all sorts and at less than a tenner each they are worth every penny IMO.....

facade

strandedinaber said:

@facade the answer to your question is 'both'. I leave my devices on charge for too long because I often charge them overnight, and they only take a few hours to charge. Or I put my tablet onto charge when I'm working, and don't remember to switch it off (or I'm in the office) for several hours. Alternatively, if I don't charge them overnight, I use my charger downstairs in my living room, but that socket isn't readily accessible. I need to look into how much power that charger might be drawing when it's not got anything plugged into it, and whether it's worth putting a smart socket in.

Then it might be a good idea to put the charger through a smart plug and use a timer, say two hours to avoid overcharging- they generally switch off the charge when full, and then bring it back on again after a couple of hours when the battery discharges a bit.

Smartplugs are for when the convenience or advantages of control outweighs the cost of the plug.

Rodders53

The smart plugs consume electrickery to connect to wifi and act on timers and 'assistants' like Siri, Alexa etc.,. and slightly more when operating the relay inside to power the device connected.

I measured my Meross energy monitor single sockets at 1.22 Watts.  A 4 way strip with individually switched sockets used 1.89 Watt and 2.16 W with all four On (no loads plugged in).
One can use such energy monitoring smart plugs to determine what a device uses and if it could be used to reduce that electric consumption?

I have one on my tumble dryer at the moment (cos I can) it's using around 500 Watts and has consumed 0.29 kWh so far in the drying cycle.  It  used 16 Wh yesterday in Standby (0.75 W per hour, plus the 1.2W of the monitor plug :eek: )  It is often used to control a fan to cool my better half.

Phone / Laptop / Tablet Chargers use so little they are really not worth switching off via a smart device (which will possibly consume more than the charger once the battery is 'full').  Similarly for many other devices. 

Older satellite PVRs and other similar devices could consume 10s of Watts in standby (and mot much more ON) -- those may have benefitted from a power off device overnight but there's a risk of recording / software update and auto retuning being missed.

I use the 4-way strip to power Christmas lights - in and out of the house on timers (and manual override if wanted).

victor2

I put 4 phone chargers into an extension to measure their power consumption with nothing charging. My monitor, which theoretically measures in 0.1w increments, showed zero. So I leave chargers permanently plugged in.
I do use a smart switch for a light in the hallway, set to come on 1 hour before sunset and off at 11pm. Saves me adjusting it through the year. 
Don't power off my Virgin hub at night, even though it uses 12 watts, as we have various systems relying on the WiFi, including an automated nightly data backup to the cloud, which would not function if the WiFi was off.

DullGreyGuy

Personally, for a lamp I'd use a smart bulb rather than smart plug as you then get all the other features like dimming, colour etc... Personally not a fan of blue/red/disco lighting etc but actually the different shades of white are really useful. Cold whites feel brighter and great for day use and warm whites feel cozy and, well, warmer. Our bedside lights automatically dim and get warmer as the evening progresses.

Not a big user of smart plugs, have one lamp which has fixed lights so no option of putting a smart bulb in, and similarly Xmas lights when they come out. Had thought of putting a fan on one to be able to turn it on/off from bed but the Mrs moves it around the room so often that it normally needs realigning anyway which a smart plug wont help with.  

cerebus

Smart plugs?

If you want to save electricity don't use it or failing that pull plug out of wall when finished using What ever it is you're using

For those devices with a standby function , the amount of electricity consumed whilst in standby is negligible 

Smart plugs are only good to control devices or using things like geofencing and even then when did we become a bunch of lazy asses who can no longer be bothered to get up to flick a light switch on/off?

victor2

cerebus said:

...
Smart plugs are only good to control devices or using things like geofencing and even then when did we become a bunch of lazy asses who can no longer be bothered to get up to flick a light switch on/off?

When I got too old to crawl behind the Christmas tree to switch the lights on or off.