You don't want these smart plugs

Watch this before buying Smart Plugs

Watch this before you buy smart plugs for your home automation setup. Using Google Home, Amazon Alexa, or Apple Homekit might not be as easy as you think if you buy the wrong plug!

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0:00 Will your device even work with smart plugs?
1:43 Do you have the power?
3:35 Small enough?
7:02 How much control do you want?
11:39 Are they easy to setup?
14:17 Which home assistant works?
17:24 Are they secure?
20:27 Monitoring energy usage?
22:20 What about automations?
24:08 What do they cost?

[Chupacabra]

You bleeped out the "Alexa" in your video so that my device won't start listening? You, sir, just gained a subscriber.

[FrankGraffagnino]

i think the biggest issue we need to teach people about is whether these devices offer local home control interfaces. Its ok if people want to use some cloud based service, but if it doesn't also have a local control API, then that means they can make that device stop working, change behavior, remove features, etc. whenever they want and you don't really own the device. Until we start teaching people this stuff, they will continue to bring products into their home that they don't own and don't fully control.

[wookiebw]

I work in cybersecurity and seeing you mention putting IoT devices on their own network made me unreasonably happy. There's a joke that in the acronym for IoT the 'S' stands for security. It's scary because most of these devices don't have any real built in security measures and people are just plugging them into their own networks.

[sxue]

Maybe you should do a followup video on smartplugs that use a different wireless standard like Z-Wave and Zigbee. Advantage to that is that it doesn't use WiFi, thus not clogging up your WiFi bandwidth and also adding a secondary level of security since they're not connected to your WiFi network directly. Disadvantage is the higher sunk cost with needing a hub and harder initial setup.

[boomstick]

I have never in my life thought about the orientation of the screws holding my wall plates, but seeing you make such a big deal about it made me realize that if I cared, I think it would look better horizontal.

[Geoff_W]

I'd put a hairdryer on a smart plug not to turn it on or off but to monitor the power usage and be able to sense when it's in use. That would be a useful trigger for automation.

[danc]

If you are old enough to know that Dallas came on after the Dukes of Hazzard, you're old enough to know that the "Clapper" was the first smart switch!!! ;)

[DaveYoakum]

First things first, Home Assistant ftw.

Anyone that has a tool battery charger should be using a smart plug! 👏 I've used A LOT of smart plugs, and the TP-Link Kasa plugs have worked without fail for years. I have an automation set up for my smart plugs that when it starts detecting a load, (I've put a battery on the charger and it's started charging), 5 minutes after the load drops off, it turns off the plug. With all of the reports of fires starting from lithium ion battery packs from drills and impacts to kid's hoverboards and other stuff, this is my first line of defense by disrupting the electrical source completely.

I also keep a small space heater in the shop on a smart plug. Due to it's electrical switch, I can't turn it on, but I can know when it's off, right from my phone. Great peace of mind.

[dgoddard]

I've been using Kasa for years. They're cheap enough and I've never had one stop working. Plus, once I set them up on the Kasa app my Alexa app picks them up automatically and adds them into the mix. It does the same for any automations you do for them.

[lukeandliz]

From my experience, just get the Kasa Matter plugs, they're decent price, are 15a, and have energy monitoring. In home assistant, you can set up that energy monitoring to alert you when energy consumption drops. How is that useful? My brand new washer cost $600, it would have been $800 for the smart washer, i just wanted it to alert me when clothes were done. Instead of paying $200 extra for that, i got a $13 kasa smart plug, set it up on home assistant, and now i get a notification on my phone and an led blinks in my home office 5 times when the clothes are ready to be swapped to the dryer, easy peasy🤷‍♂️

[jameshodgins]

Personally, I can't stand the screw slots vertical. They look way better horizontal.

[AReed]

'screams in Hibbert' "HomeAssistant!!!"

[Halcyon]

I use the TPlink Kassaa smart plugs for turning on my animal pen lights at night and the turn off a few hours later so we can see when closing up pens. Great for the winter as well with the pen heaters

[bw]

I've been using the Kasa plugs for the last 6+ years. Absolutely love the plugs AND their app. I even use their outdoor plug to for my Christmas lights every year, since the timer is easier and better than the photosensor I was using before. The Kasa plugs work seamlessly with my Alexa, and the app has no problems with however I name each plug. I can even put certain plugs into a "group" so they all turn on and off at the same time. That feature is also handy for my Christmas lights. I won't be switching anytime soon.

[josephhoward]

2

But I use a few of the Kasa 103's with old school A/C units, never had a issue with all four, in separate rooms, allows me to come back to a cool house.

[davecor]

Have both Kasa and Amazon basics. Had Kasa for many years and startup now much easier. App already integrated with Alxa and just added 2 new Kasa plugs and no additional step needed after initiating on Kasa app to get it to work with Alexa. Units are also smaller and cheaper than Amazon basics.

[esqueue]

Love the video. I'm 14 minutes in and don't know if you covered it or chose to not mention it due to it's complexity to setup but there is a product called Home Assistant. I have mine setup on an Intel Nuc that I purchased used for about $100. It allows the use of many products without needing to rely on the cloud availability of these devices. I'd say that it's a bit difficult to setup for the far majority of people but works great as after learning how to use it, I have a setup that can work at home despite working internet of not. I also have a private DDNS to allow me to control it when away from work using the internet.

This was good as the Cloud of a Tuya device was completely broken and it turned on every day after 10 am and no ability to stop that, their cloud for that specific device was broken until it took it off their cloud.

[lindacurtis-smith]

The remote outlet is exactly what I needed and didn't know I needed it. Thank you Brad! I have a lamp on a sofa table behind the sofa at the far end of the room. I have to walk around the dog cushion to get to it. Turn it on, then turn it off. It's no big deal to do that, but can be a pain in the whazoo. I'm ordering a simple Dewenils right now. :)

[jaredhelder]

Or use zig bee or zwave and keep everything local. I also use Home Assistant.

[barryhutchinson]

2:57 3:02 You said Alexa Party Time - Guess what happened 😂 My two security camera tablets switched to Party Time. And you were being careful the whole time not to say Alexa. Bad boy 😅