Tapo P110M Smart Plugs - calculating max load?

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kiwifidget

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#319130 25-Mar-2025 12:09

I bought a few of these so I could monitor power outages remotely.

And by power outage (because of course we're solar now) I mean, stupid trippy fuse in the switchboard which knocks out the freezer, usually when we're away and can't flick the stupid fusey switch back on again.

It says they have a max load of 10A.

How do I work out how many Amps is coursing through it?

Would a 1.8m tall vertical freezer be too much?

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#3357206 25-Mar-2025 12:21

10A is a common limit in NZ. Anything you can buy from an appliance store and plug in yourself will be under that limit.

Assuming your solar gear outputs 240 volts, 10 amps of current = 2400 watts of power. This is the most common limit of power outlets and power multiboards in NZ. All standard plug in appliances will consume less than this, though heating items like a toaster, hair dryer, or jug may get close. This is why you generally can't use two heating devices from one electrical outlet or multiboard without risking popping a fuse.

An appliance using 1200w of power will suck 5A of current @ 240v, so about half the capacity of the Tapo smart plug. Check the specifications of your appliance to crunch your own numbers.

I have one of these Tapo P110 units and the app shows me Energy Usage today. It does not break down to Amps, but you can do some calculations yourself if keen.

The Tapo will not actively tell you if it is offline, but if you check the app twice a day and the smart plug is not reporting in, the breaker has likely tripped and someone should go and give it a kick. A freezer being unpowered for 24 hours won't cause any significant harm.

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#3357207 25-Mar-2025 12:25

The Tapo app records and exports (sent to your email) the power usage on a quarter-hour basis. Perhaps that is enough for your use case?

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#3357294 25-Mar-2025 15:07

@dynamic , thanks.

I was aware that I would not get a proactive notification if a Tapo plug went offline.

I spent quite a bit of time looking for something that would, but settled on the P110M as a cheap and good enough solution that will work in existing ecosystem.

I do intend to check it morning and night when I'm away.

There are people nearby with keys that can flick the fuse up in my absence.

Currently, the P110Ms are just sitting in wall outlets with nothing plugged in to them, just so I can check them in the app.

But I might as well try and get them doing something else useful as well, like monitoring power usage.

From what you say, if there are things plugged into a standard multiboard, and its not tripping its own fuse, then it should be ok to put a P110M between it and the wall outlet.

What about putting one between a UPS and the wall outlet? Do UPSs have the same 10A limitation?

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kiwifidget

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#3357295 25-Mar-2025 15:10

nitro:

The Tapo app records and exports (sent to your email) the power usage on a quarter-hour basis. Perhaps that is enough for your use case?

Meaning, if I stopped getting emails then it was offline?

Can the frequency be made hourly or longer?

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#3357301 25-Mar-2025 15:22

10A is a standard NZ plug; it can take anything you can plug into it. Fridges are typically <2A. You also don't actually need to plug the fridge into it if you want to detect power failure, only plug it into the same circuit.

Another option would be a remote temperature sensor that triggers an alarm if the fridge isn't maintaining temperature.

Consider actually fixing the problem at source. Protection devices tripping implies there's a fault. Find and fix it. Do you know if it's an MCB or RCD that's tripping? Post a picture of the switchboard with the actual device circled.

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#3357306 25-Mar-2025 15:54

If interested the Tapo P110M does fully integrate with home assistant with all the sensors and thingys exposed. You could get message if it loses power offline that way.

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#3357307 25-Mar-2025 15:56

kiwifidget:

Meaning, if I stopped getting emails then it was offline?

Can the frequency be made hourly or longer?

good question. i'll fiddle with it when time permits.

kiwifidget

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#3357310 25-Mar-2025 16:10

SomeoneSomewhere:

Consider actually fixing the problem at source. Protection devices tripping implies there's a fault. Find and fix it. Do you know if it's an MCB or RCD that's tripping? Post a picture of the switchboard with the actual device circled.

Yes, very much this. It's just such a random fault, very intermittent.

The most consistent aspect of the fault is that it will happen just a day or 2 after we have gone far far away, even though it's been rock solid for the 8 months previous.

I think it's an RCD, though to be far, we are now straying far from my field of knowledge. I'm not sure I could accurately recall which bits in the switchboard are affected at this time.

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kiwifidget

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#3357311 25-Mar-2025 16:11

cruxis:

If interested the Tapo P110M does fully integrate with home assistant with all the sensors and thingys exposed. You could get message if it loses power offline that way.

I do not have Home Assistant. Just Google Home.

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#3357326 25-Mar-2025 17:28

kiwifidget:

What about putting one between a UPS and the wall outlet? Do UPSs have the same 10A limitation?

I would expect no issues putting one on a UPS, but have never tested this.

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#3357331 25-Mar-2025 18:02

A standard NZ plug is 10A. Any appliance that draws more than 10A average (I.e. excluding motor starts) is non compliant.

I'm not sure what a UPS would have to do with the price of fish, but it won't like starting a fridge.

NZ is not the US; you don't generally need to worry about what can be plugged in where.

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kiwifidget

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#3357338 25-Mar-2025 18:41

The price of fish, in my head anyway, being that multiboards and UPSs have multiple applicances plugged in to them, thereby possibly exceeding 10A???

Or does it become irrelevant as a UPS wouldnt draw more than 10A regardless of what was plugged in?

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nitro

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#3357350 25-Mar-2025 20:05

kiwifidget:

Or does it become irrelevant as a UPS wouldnt draw more than 10A regardless of what was plugged in?

i would think that the fuse/breaker that the standard single-phase 10A socket is connected to, will trip if it tried to. what capacity UPS have you got?

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#3357354 25-Mar-2025 20:14

One is 1200, the other 1500.

The 1200 runs a desktop, 2 monitors, network switch.

The 1500, a Synology DS1621+, a monitor, a Windows PC with 5 internal drives and 4 external, a switch, a WAP.

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RunningMan

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#3357356 25-Mar-2025 20:32

How about solving the underlying issue with the circuit breaker tripping? It's generally because there is an actual fault or unsafe situation. Better to address that than have all this monitoring set up.

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