Intelligent Ways to Use Smart Plugs in Your Home
Smart plugs are innovative gadgets that allow you to switch devices on and off remotely. Here are five creative ways you can use smart plugs throughout your home.
What Are Smart Plugs?
Designed to sit between an electrical outlet and a device’s plug-in cord, smart plugs provide remote access via a smartphone and a Wi-Fi connection. Available in a variety of sizes, shapes and specifications, these handy tools allow you to set a plug to switch on or off, whenever you like. This allows you to leverage your smart plug to do some interesting things, including:
Kick-start your morning. How do you typically greet the day? Maybe you listen to the radio, brew a cup of coffee or heat up a bagel. By setting your smart plugs to activate at a given time, you can automate your morning routine, so you can get up and hit the ground running. Just set the time you want each device to activate, and the smart plug will deliver power like clockwork.
Make your home more secure. If you’re on vacation or away from home for several hours, you can use smart plugs to make your house more secure. By using a timer app to make lights turn on and off at specified times, you can create the illusion of activity within your home. You can also switch on your television or radio with the tap of a button.
Fluff your clothes. You can help streamline your morning routine by setting your smart plug to activate your clothes dryer shortly before your alarm goes off. Simply place your clothes in the machine the night before and use a timer app to make sure the unit remains off throughout the night. When it clicks on in the morning, you will awaken to warm, wrinkle-free clothing.
Manage screen time. These days, many children have TVs and video game consoles inside their bedrooms. Instead of having to micromanage your kid’s screen time, you can set their smart plugs to shut down the TV or video game console at agreed upon times. This will ensure accountability while helping you monitor exactly how much screen time your kids are logging.
Monitor your power usage. Do you know how much energy the gadgets and appliances in your home actually use? By connecting your smart plug to a smart meter, you can determine exactly where your power is going. Smart meters can measure exactly how much it costs to power a lamp or recharge a laptop, phone or tablet. You can use this information to better manage your utility costs.
You can also use your smart plugs to make sure appliances aren’t sucking electricity while not in use. Known as energy vampires, there are a number of devices that continue to use power even when turned off. A smart plug can prevent this by completely cutting power when the device is not in use.
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