How to save between $50-$100 dollars in energy costs by using a Smart Plug - Smart Home Reviews

One of the neater things I’ve come across while reviewing all these smart plugs is the ability to save a few bucks on your power bill. How? By adding a smart plug to all your high power usage areas. Off the top of my head, that’s going to be the living room and office if you have one.

For me personally, the biggest culprit in my home is the office area where I’ve got a laptop, desktop, printer, monitors and chargers plugged into one outlet. By adding a smart plug to the outlet, I can easily control the amount of phantom power going to all my devices. I’ve been playing around with several different smart plugs so if you want specific details on the plugs, check out the other videos on my channel.

And if you’re wondering what phantom power is, it’s basically wasted energy. The TV behind isn’t on, but it’s still drawing power which costs money. To eliminate the phantom power, you’ll have to either unplug all the devices or turn off the power bar or power strip. The solution is simple but will get tedious. That’s where the smart plug comes in.

Now smart plugs may seem like a novelty device as the ability to remotely turn on/off an appliance is handy but not necessary. The benefit of the smart plug is the add a bit of logic, or as Apple calls it, an automation. With an automation, you can set the smart plug to turn off the moment you leave the house. This is handy for my office area because I’m the only one using it so if I’m not physically present, there is no need for my monitors, printers, lights are hard drives to be on.

You can have another automation to turn everything back on when you enter your house. You can apply the same logic when you’re sleeping. I’ve got it set to turn everything off at 12:30 and everything back on at 5:30. This scenario is applicable to the TV’s, speakers, amps, game consoles, Blue Ray players and whatever streaming device you’re using in the living room. Or you can be really frugal and manually turn them on when you need them.

With that out of the way, let’s take a look at the math. For a large living room, with a TV, gaming console, DVR and an audio system, the waste per year is about $45 dollars. For my office, with two monitors, printer, lights, laptop and wireless modem/router the waste is about $75 dollars. This doesn’t include the random smartphone or tablet that I’ve got plugged in all the time.

Smart plugs will cost between $40 -$50 dollars a year so you’ll recover the cost of the plug after the second year which is awesome. Why? Because there’s very few gadgets that you buy nowadays that has a direct, measurable return on investment. Have you ever thought about the money you’re making back on a brand new smartphone? Those devices are just giant money sinks.

If you’re wondering what other tips I have for smart home devices, check out my website. If this video has been helpful, consider getting your smart home devices through my links as it won’t cost you anymore and you’ll be supporting me for all my future videos. If you have questions, leave them in the comment section below.

[sharons]

Your poor dog is falling asleep, but he's so adorable!

[WhiteKitta]

DOG!....he is just staring at you like a person standing next to you trying to understand what the heck you are talking about...so funny and cute

[bryanstark]

With some cable boxes if the power is completely off then when you turn it on it takes a while longer to boot up and load the most recent channel guide. So it seem this is only useful for things like lights and fans.

[ReevansElectro]

Please show a sample calculation to show how a few milliamps per device can add up to $50 to $100 per year. Don't just say that it's on the internet because you can not believe everything on the internet.

[sharons]

I understand the logic of turning devices off, but what about when a device stays plugged in, doesn't that still use power?

[ianmcfarlane]

Hello, Im looking for smart plugs that is also energy saving

[lvlc]

excellent.... are there any power surge protectors that are smart?

[andrepoon]

How much energy do smart plugs use!! LOL

[honestreview]

If your smart plug turns off the power but will the smart plug still draw current as it’s still connected to mains?

[gwencampbell]

I'd like to see you do your research on the trust power it just came out and is similar to the one that you're talking about now but I'd like for you to do a research on it and put it on you to please thank you R respond to me personally but it is the newest thing out and it works similar to the 1 that you have but is for the entire house dependent on the size so for your size house with all everything you would use 2 or maybe 3 again the name of it is Trust power, So please check it out

[culllaticiqsu]

Im using Avasva instructions to make it and I do it already :)

[endri]

Nice channel. I hope it catches on. Very helpful info

[torontoguy]

I imagine you are keeping your apple tv/ipad powered at all times in order to use homekit?

[shantaymadison]

The project like this step by step is described on the Avasva website and many more plans you can find on that website.

[romanamerlene]

I bought instruction from Avasva and I build it very very cheap.

[romanamerlene]

I love use Avasva Solutions for that issue.

[lucas]

I’ve got a much better way and cheaper just turn the socket off or unplug
Cost zero

[creektilghman]

work goes much faster with Avasva plans.

[ourfamilyofsound]

If only these things didn’t cause cancer :/