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Cygnett Smart Wi-Fi Plug $15 (RRP $34.95) @ BigW (Works with Homekit)

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Make your daily routine extra convenient with the Cygnett Smart WiFi Plug! Whether it's organising your schedule, monitoring your appliances or using voice assistant, everything gets easier and more accessible with just a few taps on your mobile device.

Works with Google, Alexa and Apple HomeKit natively (one of the rare few and cheapest by far) - already have four of these and work very reliably. No bridge required.

This is part of Boxing Day Sales for 2020

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closed Comments

  • +1

    no stock in WA. delivery only.

    • +1

      Is in Ellenbrook, was a few others when I ordered but nothing near me so just got delivered for $7.60 or something

  • is this tuya based or something else?

    • must be something else if homekit supported.

      • It’s a proprietary app, though with HomeKit you won’t need it (Unless you care about Power Monitoring, which you’ll need the app for).

  • Can this estimate your monthly electricity bill?

    • For your whole house?

      • If I have one at each socket? Obviously hot water service and oven etc wouldn't get monitored, but everything else could in theory.

        • +3

          That's an expensive way to do it.

          Have a look at something that's designed to do your whole house like this
          https://www.powerpal.net/

          Or work out to read your power metre and calculate it yourself

  • +2

    what products do you find it useful to put on a smart plug like this?

    • Christmas tree lights

    • +3

      Lamps

      • +1

        I have 2 (but the Mirabella ones) and the only use I can find for them is to turn standard lamps on/off. Other than that I personally can't find any other use for them.

      • +4

        Ok so…

        I have in total spread across each room.

        x10 lamps/lights
        x3 heaters
        x3 cooling fans
        x3 various other thing (HTPC, etc etc)

        The thing with Google you can set routines…

        Eg; if this happens, then do that.

        For examples when all user phones have left house turn everything off. When it gets dark turn on lights. When it gets over X temperature turn on fans, or below X temperature turn on heaters.

        Etc etc.

        • +3

          Why are you turning off a computer at the power point? Are you shutting down the OS first?

          Heaters? Don't you have a reverse cycle air conditioner? They are 3 to 4 times more efficient than a simple electric heater.

    • +5

      Espresso machines that need to heat up before making ☕️

      • This! It was a luxury to pull your own espresso shots in a rushing morning. Now it can be a routine.

        • +1

          I turn mine on when I get up.
          Then I have a shower, get dressed etc and it is hot and ready to use

          • +1

            @spaceflight: Look at you, finding a practical and commonsense solution instead of spending money on needless technology

          • @spaceflight: Sure this would be pointless if I had the luxury to take a shower in the morning.

      • Many espresso machines, even if you turn them on at the power point it won't turn on the machine, you have to manually tap the on button, which is the case with Breville Espresso machines.
        Other than that, my Breville has about a 30 second wait to heat up, so by the time I've ground the beans in it (buikt in grinder), it's just about ready to go.
        I still fail to see many uses for these, and I have 2 (just for lamps). For fans and heaters? You've still got to manurally adjust heating or fan soeed. No use, like many homes I have a central AC system which is much more economical.

    • Dumb down lights

    • I use them for exhaust fans, lamps that dont take smart globes, xmas lights, under kitchen bench light strip, heaters/fans etc

    • Thanks all, good ideas.

    • +1

      This maybe way too nerdy but I use a smart plug (tp link kp105) connected to studio monitors hooked up to my iMac that I can then turn on and off using menu bar icon in MacOS

      I use hammerspoon on the mac to show the menu item which does a web request to homebridge running the webhook plug-in which then toggles the tplink plug which is using the tplink homebridge plugin.

      Sounds like a lot of moving pieces but it works perfectly. It also turns the speakers off when the iMac goes to sleep ;)

    • Sometimes I want to charge my Powerbank and tablets overnight, but I don't want to overcharge them while I sleep. I believe with this plug you can set a schedule or timer to turn it off.

      • +2

        Or you could let the tablets and powerbank manage the power themselves, which they can do.

        • The idea is to stop the devices charging to 100%. If you charge your devices to around 90% the battery will last longer. In addition many (most?) devices don't control the battery charging correctly. That is they continue to trickle charge the battery even when it has reached 100%. This kills the battery over a six to 12 month period.

          • @whats up skip: Who told u that. I have measured power when galaxy 10 phone charging and when it is 100 % done. After 100%, phone does not consume any power.
            New phones are smart enough to stop the charge. .I have been charging overnight for years and never had issue.

            • @EnALup: 1) I was referring to leaving a device on charge continuously, not just over night.
              2) How are you measuring the consumption of power, at the charger or the device? You would need a very high resolution with high sampling rate to see the additional charge coming in. I haven't tested the cell protection used in the latest Samsung phone batteries. I am basing my experience off the most common cell protection chip, the DW01.
              3) It is well known that lithium batteries have increased cycles if charged to only 90% of their capacity. Just do a search for it. All battery chemistries have this issue, lead acid can only be discharged down to 80% full or the number of cycles drops dramatically.

              • @whats up skip: That was the case few years ago when phone chargers could not stop the current. I have used meter like this to check that.
                https://www.amazon.com.au/Electricity-Monitor-Sockets-Overlo…

                • @EnALup: The issue isn't the phone charger, it is the battery cell protection chip as it is supposed to stop additional charging when the battery has reached the maximum voltage. Ideally the battery should be allowed to discharge slightly, before being charged again, but that doesn't happen with the DW01 chip.

    • DC fans.

    • Pool pump would be nice

  • This unit also monitors power usage which is neat.

  • +1

    Don’t buy it to monitor your electricity usage, the iOS app is very average. Also It only seems to connect to visible wifi networks.

    As a On/Off HomeKit switch it is fine.

  • So people use this to reduce standby power right? By switching off appliance from power socket from their phones. But won't this wifi plug use as much or more power monitoring and keeping connected? Or is this to just remotely switch on appliances when not at home? Sorry if the questions are dumb, just trying to find a use case.

    • +1

      won't this wifi plug use as much or more power monitoring and keeping connected?

      Probably, yeah. There would be some devices with poor standby performance where this would reduce energy usage though, and if the alternative is "leave power hungry device on for half a day unnecessarily" you'll come out ahead.

      So people use this to reduce standby power right?

      Most people use it for laziness (also known as "automation"). Turn off a lamp without getting out of bed, a pump attached to a fountain without going outside, power points that are hidden behind furniture, etc.

      • Automation does not mean laziness if the system is configured correctly. My pool pump only runs if there is enough power from the rooftop solar to run what is running in the house and the pool pump. Air conditioners can be operated under the same criteria.

        • Very true, but more people use it for novelty purposes than actual control systems like you've set up :)

  • This or HS100

    • KP105.. they're tiny (for 'smart' plugs) and don't block the sockets next to them. Homebridge plugin works great for TPLink stuff too.

  • I use the Mirabella Genio Wifi Power Plug with USB Port from Kmart and it works great. I think it's $17 regular price. i pretty much have genio for my whole house and echo show 10 in all 7 bedrooms and 2 living rooms

    • Nice :) I just got some Mirabella downlights so I might grab a few of these for some light automation of dumb appliances

  • I used to use one to remotely turn on my 3d printers in another room controlled by octoprint

    Now I use a relay instead

  • Nice one OP, I'll grab a couple of these instead of grabbing wifi enabled light globes. Plug has a lot more use that just grabbing the globes and almost the same price.

    • Depends, the globes can dim or increase and change colour all by voice control. These are simply an on/off switch.
      I do find these handy though to switch on/off lamps that I have vintage globes in that would look silly with LED smart globes.

  • Can it be used to control a 3kw a/c? Thanks for your suggestions.

    • No limited to 10A so 2400kW

      • It the unit features 3kW heating or cooling, then it probably uses less than 1.5kW.

        • Is there a way to calculate how much power an air-con uses? E.g., if a 7.5kw ac is cooling (or heating in winter) how much power will it use? Is it the full 7.5kw or a different amount? I’d like the ac to be powered by solar and I’m wondering how big a solar setup I would need in order to run the ac from solar.

          • +1

            @Worf: The manual will give you a good idea, but most air conditioners purchased in the last 10 years should pump 3 times the heat as they consume. At temperatures close to freezing, this number can drop down to 1 or 1.5.

            Thus an air conditioner that has 7.5kW of cooling capacity would consume roughly 2.5kW when running flat out. Now the output of a rooftop solar system varies through out the day. It will also depend on which way it is facing. Your location will also determine how much power the rooftop solar will generate in summer due to cloud. For example on the Gold Coast we have high levels of cloud in late December through March, but the temperature and humidity will remain uncomfortably high during this period.

            I would suggest 6kW to 8kW of panels and at least 5kW of inverter. It is difficult (expensive) to add more solar panels or inverters after purchase. However, FIT (Feed in tariffs) are trending towards zero, so you won't get paid much for sending power to the grid. If you have electric hot water, then it might be worth running this off the rooftop solar as well.

            Tip: don't buy a cheap system as they tend to not perform well over time or fail and you can't get warranty support. Raise a discussion on the whirlpool forum for more information.

            • @whats up skip: Oh wow, thanks for the detailed response, super helpful!

    • Are you talking about a portable or window mount unit or split system?

      It the unit features 3kW heating or cooling, then it probably uses less than 1.5kW.

      If the unit has an infra red remote control, then it is better to control it via a IR to WiFi bridge. That way you can control the temperature and fan speeds in addition to just on/off.

  • +3

    i bought a stack of these recently from various harvey normans when they had pre xmas sales.

    when linked into apple home app they work like a dream. only problem i would say with them is that they are bulky and take up 1.5 power point space so if your power points are too close together the second one cannot be used

    secondly, pairing can be tricky. especially when more devices are hooked up. but once paired it's fine and as i said works very smoothly and reliably with the apple home app.

    • Definitely great with Apple HomeKit. I found their native app to be rubbish. I also got the Harvey Norman ones on special. So for people using Apple these are great.

      • How much were they at Harvey Normans (pre-Xmas?)

        • $17

    • Is this correct or not?.
      The pics show the plug pins off centre and to one side, so place in correct side of double powerpoints etc. and should be able to use both outlets..

      • +1

        Yes they are offset however they are also still a little bulky and may interfere with the next point if that plug is also any bigger than standard.

  • Thanks OP!

  • -1

    I like the idea of it, but it's just too big and unwieldy not to be an eyesore. Is it really worth it?

  • How are these compared to https://www.shoppingexpress.com.au/buy/tenda-beli-sp3-smart-… ?

    Want 1 for LED strips + 1 for VR headset + potentially 1 for a LAMP so 40 for 4 vs 45 for 3, are they much better?

    Main differences etc? (Sizing etc etc?)

    pls help! am noob to these.

  • For those that have this specific one, does it remember whether it was on or off prior to a blackout?
    I've got some Kogan ones that stay off after power comes back on which is a major problem for some uses.

    • I have many of these and previously did some testing - they remember what power state they were when the power was cut. Will come back on if they were on before blackout; will stay off if they were off.

  • The app is garbage. As others have said, as a simple homekit on / off switch it works for the job.

  • Would this be good to as a timed control for pool pump? Currently I have the old school timer but when I need to change the schedule I have to do it manually. Would be good if i can adjust schedule (e.g. winter vs summer, sunny vs rainy) using my app as I have solar panels and I definitely want to make the most out of it.

    • I bought 4 of these and arrived today.

      Using HomeKit, the setup is extremely quick and easy. No hassle at all.

      I am using one to control my pool pump and the other to control the Polaris to run only on Tues/Fri.

      Haven't decided what to do with the other two yet but at $15, I think it's a good deal and great buy.

  • big w only one per order and shipping only, makes it $24 each

    • I just bought 4 @ $15 each and only paying shipping once. I just paid $67.90 for 4.

      • it didn't allow me to put more than 1 in the cart.

  • Thanks, unfortunately no stock for me for delivery

  • Bought the last one in Hurstville Big W.

  • Thanks OP bought 2. Now Siri is driving my coffee machine!!! I finally have a wifi switch that I can control on my Apple Watch👍

  • No Stock in Macquarie Big W

  • Just picked these up today, pretty disappointed because when I tried to set it up using their app I kept getting an error saying my wifi doesnt have 2.4Ghz band. I know for a fact my Unifi Nano HD supports both bands (2.4 & 5). searched over the net to see if there was a workaround and couldn't find anything helpful.

    Shame was really looking forward to using this.

    Anyone run into the same issue?

    • Is your wifi network's SSID hidden? Mine wouldn't connect until I made it visible.

      • No, SSID is not hidden

    • I’m using a unifi USG but netgear access points. I would hazard a guess and say it’s something to do with the way your access points are configured

      • I doubt it, I haven't had an issue with other devices connecting on 2.4ghz. Gone over the settings multiple times.
        One suggested to turn off band steering and when i checked it was already off.

        • Change the channel that the unifi uap broadcasts on. I found that a few of my Ring devices (doorbell pro and spotlight cameras) wouldn't work on channels other than 1, 6 and 11.

    • I have had some 2.4ghz cameras connect straight away and others i have had to disable the 5ghz, connect the camera and then enable the 5ghz.

  • +2

    For anyone trying to pair this to their Google or Alexa kit, the 2.4ghz limitation with the Cignett home app is beyond buggy.

    It is absolute garbage.

    The ONLY way I can get this to connect is to establish connection via Apple HomeKit first, and then the Cygnett app sees the device.

    That's literally the only way I've been able to connect any Cygnett devices to my Google Home.

    • Thanks for the info.
      Never had so much issue to pair a device before

    • Exactly the same here connecting them to my TP-Link Deco.

  • +2

    Got price match on Cygnett.com via support.

    • +1

      Thanks for this, also got a price match via emailing Cygnett support.

    • Thanks to both of you, this simple method worked instead of haggling with BigW and their paid shipping.

  • I got 3 of these from Big-W and have an idea for how to use just one of them to make the 4 downlights in a room controllable by HomeKit. The 4 downlights each connect to a standard 3-pin outlet in the roof. MS Paint diagram here: https://srkb.net/img/downlights.png

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