Wifi smart plug recommendations?

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#2341692 22-Oct-2019 10:58

zyo: Sonoff +1. If you are into a bit of tinkering you can also flash them with tasmota for full mqtt compatibility.

But you'll need to prefix that with that they're not officially certified in NZ.

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richms

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#2341747 22-Oct-2019 12:47

The arlecs are tuya based, and there is tuyaconvert which will reflash them to tasmota or something, there is posts about some stock firmwares not letting it do its thing but I haven' t looked into it since the tuya cloud works perfectly for me.

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zyo

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#2341879 22-Oct-2019 14:57

davidcole:

zyo: Sonoff +1. If you are into a bit of tinkering you can also flash them with tasmota for full mqtt compatibility.

But you'll need to prefix that with that they're not officially certified in NZ.

Regardless of what brand/model if you take them apart and flash a custom firmware they probably can no longer be considered "certified" anyways.

The build quality of the Sonoff I have (S10) is definitely more than adequate considering their low price

timmmay

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#2341894 22-Oct-2019 15:37

The TP-Link Smart WiFi Plug HS100 seems good. It cost $33 at PBTech. The Android app installed fine, picked up the smart plug with a fairly quick setup, the timer is dead simple to use and the app seems great. All in all - very happy so far :)

It is a little bigger than would be ideal. When I plugged it into the top of a vertical double plug a standard multibox couldn't go into the bottom plug. I solved that by using a double adapter on the smart plug, which worked fine. I always keep a couple of spare double adapters, horizontal and vertical, around just in case :)

dolsen

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#2342112 22-Oct-2019 21:28

davidcole:

Can any of these plugs you can do completely local control (no app needed or alexa or google home)? Ie do they have a published api?

Looks like the Kogan / DSE ones can be flashed with tasmota for that.

https://blakadder.github.io/templates/kogan_smarterhome.html

4 for $69 at the moment with free shipping.

https://www.dicksmith.co.nz/dn/buy/kogan-smarterhome-smart-plug-with-energy-meter-pack-of-4-kogan/

Shadowfoot

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#2342493 23-Oct-2019 15:30

Philips Hue has just announced a smart plug for NZ. It doesn't yet show up on any of the "where to buy" locations.

https://www2.meethue.com/en-nz/p/hue-smart-plug/8718699689346

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peejayw

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#2342545 23-Oct-2019 17:53

Can those Kogan plugs be flashed to be controllable with the Ewelink app like the Sonoffs? I have a few Sonoffs and it would be more convenient to not have to use another app, SmarterHome I think, to control them.

I'm supposed to respect my elders, but it's getting harder and harder for me to find one now.

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dolsen

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#2357141 19-Nov-2019 10:39

dolsen:

Looks like the Kogan / DSE ones can be flashed with tasmota for that.

Just confirming that the Kogan ones can be flashed ota easily with tasmota without any opening or hardware modifications. I just used a usb stick with a live version of Kali-Linux to flash the device with a laptop. There's other stuff you can flash it with (ESPurna) but I didn't try that.

Once flashed, you can use mqtt / set timers locally / use a webpage to turn on / off etc without any remote calls outside of your network. It also gives you a nice breakdown of the power used / current / voltage / power factor etc.

Here I've got one controlling a heater through openhab.

CJC

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#2359345 22-Nov-2019 14:41

timmmay:

Are people still happy with the TP-Link HS100? Is it easy enough to program them from Android with random timers? Has anyone controlled high loads like heaters with them - any problems?

I have to climb into my ceiling cavity (which gets pretty hot in summer) a couple of times a week to update the program for my ventilation system, which runs on a cheap $10 digital timer. I'd like WiFi control. Might be handy for things like heaters and a couple of other things in inaccessible locations.

I see you've picked one up, but can answer the heater question.

Using an HS110 (the one with power monitoring) to control a 1500W heater in the daughter's bedroom. Have the app paired so I can do a quick check on it, and firmware updates, but use Home Assistant to control it. Haven't had any issues at all.

It has successfully replaced a timer and Heatermate, and I get nice graphs showing the usage.

timmmay

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#2359352 22-Nov-2019 15:03

I did get the Kasa, the one without power monitor, as it's on a low power use device. So far I'm very happy with it, the app is great, and wish I had it on all my timers, but it's not worth replacing them as the manual ones work ok.

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#2361847 27-Nov-2019 21:35

Shadowfoot:

Philips Hue has just announced a smart plug for NZ. It doesn't yet show up on any of the "where to buy" locations.

https://www2.meethue.com/en-nz/p/hue-smart-plug/8718699689346

I got 2 of these - Hue wants you to use them only for lights, my plan was for our coffee machine, which works but I have to call it a light, rather than a coffee machine (for Siri, etc). It replaced my pre-homekit WeMo which actually allows me to call it a coffee machine so I may go back to that, even though I lose the voice control

davidcole

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#2361863 27-Nov-2019 21:44

AKT:

Shadowfoot:

Philips Hue has just announced a smart plug for NZ. It doesn't yet show up on any of the "where to buy" locations.

https://www2.meethue.com/en-nz/p/hue-smart-plug/8718699689346

I got 2 of these - Hue wants you to use them only for lights, my plan was for our coffee machine, which works but I have to call it a light, rather than a coffee machine (for Siri, etc). It replaced my pre-homekit WeMo which actually allows me to call it a coffee machine so I may go back to that, even though I lose the voice control

A

is hue directly interacting with HomeKit?

AKT

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#2361864 27-Nov-2019 21:58

davidcole:

is hue directly interacting with HomeKit?

Yes, it also shows up in the Hue app (v2 Hue bridge, square not round, required)

mdav056

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#2361865 27-Nov-2019 21:59

freitasm:

D-Link makes some WiFi plugs with Alexa and Google Assistant integration too.

Yes, I've got a bunch of these, and they work well. PbTech.

gml

andrewNZ

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#2361871 27-Nov-2019 22:40

Haven't read the whole thread.

If it helps anyone, I have a TP Link HS100. It's on an isolated wireless network (cloud connection is not required) and connected to Openhab2. No issues at all, and much better than the ?Belkin? rebranded Orvibo S20 that bunnings was selling for a while.

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