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Memorization ClapPlug-in staples may have been built for an attractive jingle in the 1980s, but it can also be considered as a primitive ancestor of today’s smart plug-that is, if you can say anything a few decades in advance, it is primitive. Smart plugs provide more convenience than clapper, allowing you to control your device with an app on your phone, your voice or schedule.
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There are many ways to use smart plugs to automate your home, including converting dumb tools into smart, strengthening their home safety, or providing them more convenience in their lives. Beyond using a smart plug for an old table lamps, you can use them strategically to save your utility bills, monitor your energy consumption, or increase the fire safety of your home.
1. Detector-in introduction
When you are out of the city you can use a smart plug to automate the lights so that they can switch every night such as someone’s home. Many people also use them to control outdoor lights on a schedule, ensuring that their home is well burnt for external security. Increasing home security is a popular use for smart plugs. However, there are more ways to use them beyond clearly.
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A smart plug can lock your garage door opener, so you can go away during the night or whenever you away. This strategy can prevent a thief from using an entry code or stolen remote to enter his house. If you have a compatible motion sensor, whenever you detect the sensor speed, you can set an automation with your smart plug to turn the light.
2. Create a speed-active light setup
I added motion-active light to my bathroom without using a motion sensor wall switch so that I enter my light as soon as I enter. Instead of using a dedicated speed sensor related to light, I have one Eco dot On the way to the bathroom, which consists of an occupancy sensor that turns on my light through Alexa when someone goes inside. You can also do this with any smart plug, Alexa and an eco dot, which also works as a smart speaker and platform to communicate with Voice Assistant, not just an expensive sensor.
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When someone enters the bathroom, Alexa on my eco dot says, “Hello, grand,” and turn on the lights. The lights are set with a smart switch, but you can also do the same with a smart plug and a lamp. Additionally, you can also add a time to light or people are not present when they are automated to automated to be automated for plugs. I keep my bathroom light for 15 minutes at a time, which ensures that they always switch off, and I don’t have to move around my house, which my children have left.
Executive and appearance sensors are more accurate than a simple speed sensor, as the latter can be implicated by any speed, even air or car headlights in a window. As on one side, other appearance sensors are available, such as Acra FP 2Which can also detect people falling to alert another user.
3. Increase climate control
Smart plugs are useful for keeping your home comfortable, especially when the weather is very hot. I have a dumb fan that is connected to a smart plug, so I can ask Alexa to turn on my fan when it is too hot and I will not reduce the temperature of A/C. While a fan does not bring down the temperature, it transmits the air, allowing you to feel cold. This approach means that you can save your A/C slightly warm and save your utility bills by running a fan, which consumes less KWH than a central unit.
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If you have a smart thermostat or temperature sensor, you can program your smart plug to automatically turn your fan when the room is too hot. A space heater on the smart plug will serve the same purpose during winter, and a smart plug can automatically turn it off when a desired temperature reaches.
4. Plug into your hot tool
Whether you have a curling iron, which you forget to switch, or there is someone at home who constantly leaves your warm equipment, a smart plug is an ideal solution. I use a smart plug for my flat iron, and I should never be surprised if I have forgotten to close it – I can check my smartphone and confirm that it is. If I leave the iron, I can switch to smart plugs from a distance. You can also set your hair tool to be ready for the day as well as to turn on the morning.
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If you are an easy or clever person who has soldering equipment and hot glue guns, then smart plugs can also become your Go-to Safety device. Plugging in these tools with smart plugs allows you to easily turn on and off with additional protection to control them from your smartphone. You can control them by using your voice with a virtual accessory, such as Amazon Alexa, Siri, or Google Gemini Support, for example, “Turn on the Alexa, Gum Gun.”
5. Limit screen time at home
Limiting my children’s screen time is one of the most recent uses I have received from my smart plug. I have plugged into a smart plug on their playroom TV and then set the schedule, control the device with my voice through Alexa, and can turn it on and off it according to my screen time.
Although this strategy cannot work with tablets, it can be applied to other electronics, such as gaming console and even your router, allowing you to go to switch to Wi-Fi to limit your children’s screen time.
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During the week, my children have to do their homework and shower before watching TV, so I shut the smart plug on TV until they complete their tasks. I also put a plug behind the TV using an extension cord so that they could press the button when no one is eyeing.
6. Save on utility bills
A smart plug gives you more control over which devices are drawing power and when to close them. Smart plugs allow you to turn off power for vampire devices, which are those that consume more power than a smart plug when they are plugged but not in use. They also give you the time of the day when this device should be turned on, so your coffee manufacturers do not draw electricity during the night, for example.
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Many smart plugs provide energy monitoring, which consumes the most power in your home. This information helps you make an informed decision on closing the equipment.
Smart plugs still attract electricity when switching, but it is about 1 to 2 watts for Wi-Fi-able device, not 5 to 10 watts that draw TV and some gaming console when they are closed when they are closed. When they leave to maintain network connections, smart plugs require small amounts of power to draw. However, plugs with low-energy connectivity protocols, such as zigbi or z-wave, can be drawn as 0.3 watts when they become inactive.
7. Make old equipment smart
This Roku Outdoor Smart Plug SE has placed my light on a daily schedule for almost three years.
Maria Diaz/ZD
Make old devices smarter is one of the best uses for smart plugs and why they were initially created. I put my holiday lights on the smart plug every year, which asks me to set them on a schedule or one of the virtual assistants of your home to turn them on or off.
Coffee manufacturers are great candidates for smart plugs. Just leave the prepaid overnight and start them automatically each morning while getting ready for the day. This ensures that you always have a hot coffee when you enter your kitchen.
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By using a smart plug with an old router, you can remotely reset your Wi-Fi network, without the need to unplug your router and plug it back. However, you may lose connections if your smart plug does not use non-Y-Fi connectivity protocols such as Bluetooth.
I also have Outdoor smart plug Set out for my courtyard string lights, which are turned on each day at sunset, ensuring that we always throw light on the deck.