Been using tp-link smart plugs for a moment. Not really had any problems with them but i want to move to something such as z-wave or a ZigBee. Something that is totally local and does not require a different app on my phone.
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Nous A1T,A8T,etc. Basically their whole series.
They are WiFi and come with Tasmota preinstalled, they have energy measurement (which needs to be calibrated,though) and they are absolutely solidly build (I opened up one to check - I had a flimsy one almost burn once) and have a manual button.
And I don’t need a gateway or anything,they sit isolated in their own subnet and SSID with all the other IOT devices (and can’t even reach each other) and reliably just,well,works.
While most by switching and measuring needs are done by KNX actuators I sometimes still need a flexible solution(christmas tree,etc.) and love them for it.
Came here to say this. I have a few of these. They are rock solid and easily flashed with Tasmota
[US] ThirdReality SmartPlug Gen2. It’s ZigBee 3.0, has power monitoring, has a power button, are UL/ETL certified, and 3reality is part of the works with HomeAssistant program so firmware updates are really easy. It’s also cheap enough at $10. They work as great repeaters and have noticeably improved my ZigBee network.
My personal anecdote:
Z-wave is king. ZigBee is a far second place and WiFi / Bluetooth are a last resort.
I’m a huge fan of Zooz products having tested many other brands and been disappointed.
My biggest failure rate has been with Shelly products. Sonoff is alright but have also had issues here and there. I’ve yet to have any issues with my Zooz switches and smart plugs and I have close to 50 of them.
I have a bunch of different zigbee models, but my overall favorites are the Sengled Zigbee plugs. They have power monitoring, which can be really useful for automations.
For example, my computer monitor makes an annoying high-pitched squeal when in standby mode, so I have it and my PC on separate Sengled smart plugs and if the PC plug is drawing low enough wattage for 10 seconds that I can be sure it’s off or asleep, my automation turns off the monitor smart plug, and when the PC plug wattage jumps back above the threshold, the monitor plug gives power to my monitor again.
Obviously that specific use is a bit niche, but the ability to know when not-smart devices are using more or less power and run automations accordingly can be really useful.
There are other brands besides Sengled that have power monitoring, but I’ve found theirs to be pretty reliable, just make sure you get the zigbee plugs, because they also make wifi plugs that look basically identical to the zigbee model.
Calling a PC a not-smart device is pretty humorous, in my eyes.
I have a few Aqara smart socket with power monitoring, and they ask great, but also expensive.
I had a bunch of the old style of IKEA smart sockets without power monitoring. They work just fine, but they are quite clunky…
I recently bought a couple of the new IKEA smart sockets with power monitoring, and they are almost on par with the Aqara ones, but less than half the price.
I am using Third Reality. It’s been great and since they are part of the Works with Home Assistant program, they actually give updates to their device and are committed to not needing an external account on some sort of stupid app.
Flashed some plugs with Tasmota.
This what i was looking for. Thanks!
I’ve had a bunch of different smart plugs, but as of today I only use the Shelly ones. They never failed me, have hardly any delay, are very configurable (if needed) and I even converted some of my wall plugs to Shelly devices.
I have them (Zigbee smart plugs) all over the house. Mostly for power measurements, but I’m using few to control devices. I also have a few thingies I’ve put behind regular outlets.
I’m rewiring my house so have started installing Sonoff ZBMINIR2 on one in certain locations. My outlets are being put in boxes large enough for a pair of double outlets (total of four individual plugs) so making one switched is kinda easy. Just wired it up without any switch at all and stuffed it in the box. Just have to break the tab on the positive side and wire the unswitched outlet as usual. I then get three always on outlets and one zigbee switched outlet, I’m going to create a label for the face plate front to show the switched one and the back side had the breaker and branch location info so it will be easy to figure out later on if needed.
I tested a couple of the ZBMINIR2’s switched side and if you bring power and ground through the ZBMINIR2 the switched contacts are only about 6v dc. The only disadvantage I have seen so far is that when a switch is wired up and rapidly turned on and off it goes into pairing mode so kids flipping switches are a bad thing but it’s easy enough to pair back up if you have your phone handy when it happens.
I happened across a shit ton of kasa smart plugs, and don’t need the range/mesh that ZigBee provides, so ive just been using them. Been working well, they can be configured locally and can be blocked from internet access by my router
I got some kasA devices on sale, they work fine. I dislike that I have to use their app for initial setup and when I rotate WiFi passwords. Will use them until they fail, then will switch to something else.
Check out python-kasa. Pretty sure I’ve only used the proprietary app to set up the first one because I learned about this. The rest I could do on my computer from the command line.
Cooool, thanks!
[US] I have a z-wave network of Zooz Zen04 power-monitoring plugs and Minoston MP21 non-monitoring plugs. Automatically set themselves up by scanning the little QR code, Haven’t had any network drops or device failures in…3(?) years. One Zooz Zen15 high power, monitoring device occasionally (every few weeks) glitches and reports an spurious, instantaneous 5-20 kWh energy consumption
I have a few Hue ones. Two of them have been switching inductive loads for 4 years now without failing. Got some IKEAs for switching small things as well as strenghtening the Zigbee network. I got some Levitons for strenghtening the Z-Wave network and a couple of Zooz for power metering applications.
Keep in mind that most of these can’t be used with heavy inductive loads without failing prematurely. Inductive loads produce sparks in the switch relay and the relay contacts will degrade as a result. You can use cheap plugs for small non-inductive loads. As long as they’re certified for safety in your country, they shouldn’t catch fire when they fail. For inductive loads or heavier things, like your 1400W espresso machine, you also want it to be proven high quality.
But yeah, the vast majority of my home automation stuff is Zigbee and Z-Wave, fully local / offline.
I use severeal of these Zigbee plugs that are announced to manage up to 3600 watts but your comment made me rethink my choices as I use them on washers and my espresso machine… https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005005734493134.html
Yeah. I buy plenty from Ali but I generally avoid power grid electric devices. Flaws in those are much more likely to result in home fires than some low-power electronic device that doesn’t plug into the wall. If you need cheap smart plugs, I’d get something sold locally, certified in your country / EU. IKEA’s plugs should be cheap. Either way, every legitimate power plug I’ve seen either has a disclaimer written somewhere that prohibits inductive load use or it’s got a secondary, lower wattage rating for those. Or it says it handles inductive loads at the standard current.
With all that said, if you’re educated enough in electricity, you could crack one open and inspect it yourself for safety. It’s entirely possible they’re using the expensive relays. 😄
E: I tried checking my own homework just now and I can’t find Hue or IKEA saying anything about inductive loads on their websites anymore. I feel like I’m going crazy. I swear I’ve seen it written on IKEA plug and on their website. Maybe the all updated their stuff to use better relays? I don’t know. Either way your espresso machine is a resistive load so it doesn’t fall in the sparky category.
Out of curiosity, what does failure of one of these things look like? I’ve got one that’s running my window air conditioning unit. It draws about 600 watts while it’s running, but when it very first starts up, it pulls about 1700 watts instantaneously and then immediately drops.
That is still within the 15 amps the plug is rated for with a margin of about 100 watts.
As far as I know the switch stops connecting or disconnecting. But besidss that I don’t know what the failure mode of a worn relay looks like. E.g. whether it could overheat and melt due to a poor connection because of worn contacts. You should read more on that.
Okay, that’s good to know. If it’s just that the switch doesn’t disconnect or connect, that’s fine, because even if it fails in a connected state, the air conditioner itself only pulls about 5 amps while running, and the plug itself is rated for 15 amps.
It only pulls anywhere close to that when it’s very first starting up and only for a brief moment.
thank you very much for your reply! They worked fine for 2 years now, I hope they wont fatally fail. In the future I will switch to known brands :)