Looks like this item is back in stock. Not the cheapest compared to previously at $17 but still worth it if you need it now.
CamelCamelCamel.
Waiting to see if this goes lower for Black Friday before pulling the trigger on this. I have JB Hi-fi $5 coupon from Snackback so will try to get JB to match a potentially lower price.
Got one of these recently, so much more bulky than the arlec one available from Bunnings.
You've linked the one that doesn't have energy monitoring. Bunnings is also $18 for the plug listed here.
it seems like this one linked on ozbargin also has no energy monitoring (refer to reviews)
but P110's youtube reviewer say it does have it… did the ones on review get P100?
Definitely received a P110 a few weeks ago when they were $17. Reviewers probably unco and couldn’t figure out the app.
I have 14 of these throughout the house. Every day I enter their data into a spreadsheet which creates charts for me to see where energy is used and how it is trending. I also include the daily usage data from the power company to compare. Since doing this and making changes based on the information, we have cut our power bill by half at least.
You'd be surprised at the amount of power some devices use, even on standby. Eg. When everything in our loungeroom is "off", it actually uses 75W.
Do you mind sharing the spreadsheet you refer to? Like sanitising your own personal data. I also have a heap of these around the house so it would be helpful for me.
I was going to try to make a clever comment about how much power is being wasted by having 14 of these plugged in, but they only consume about 1W each.
Just a suggestion, hook these up to home assistant and let HA collect the data for you.
I’m sure you could automate your reports in there too.
Yep. One vm and one python script from it being all pretty graphs. What could go wrong.
Any surprising devices you found that were chewing power on standby?
The washing machine and dryer. It will depend on the model naturally.
Was most of yoru energy saving through having the smart plugs turn off devices that were on standby? Or using devices (when on) less?
@y2k: Both. Also, using alternate devices. By visualising the usage we were able to see there were things we could change to save. My PC, which used to be on 24 hours, I now turn off most of the time and use my phone or laptop (which is much more efficient, even when charging) when I need to do something. Even the number of times you open a fridge door per day can make a massive difference.
Man, that sounds like a lot of work.
Have a look in to Home Assistant
Tapo does work in HA but will need to add the integration through HACS
https://github.com/petretiandrea/home-assistant-tapo-p100
You’ve inspired me to get some of these. I don’t mind a good spreadsheet.
Would I be correct in assuming you’re an accountant?
No. Just fixing/programming computers since I was 9
Man you've motivated me to give this a shot, is this the best brand for it though, is it worth researching other options?
I Sterted with Merross brand but had nothing but trouble with wifi dropouts meaning you have to completely reset them and start from the beginning. Googling it afterwards found this was a common complaint. I haven't had an issue with these ones.
Sorry one other question. Do you have automation to turn them on and off etc. how do you manage it? Is it just based on time, so when everyone is out of the house everything turns off? Just realised my wife is at home with the baby all day at the moment so that won't really work, would need some sort of push button to turn everything off on the way out the door…
@bleeder: Some rooms, like the loungeroom, I have all on one device. When we go to bed I just tell google, or tap the button in the tapo app to turn it off. Some other things like lights I have turning on/off at certain times, through the tapo app.
I need a couple of these for lamps around the house.
But I feel like I have way too many smart ecosystems already..
How is this one compared to say the Arlec Grid (Tyua?) ones from Bunnings?
If you already have tuya gear, stick with that. You can connect the Grid Connect stuff in the Tuya/Smartlife app.
Im not sure what Tapo uses. I know it doesn't work with Kasa app but don't think it works with Tuya app (someone correct me if I'm wrong)
Im not sure what Tapo uses. I know it doesn't work with Kasa app
It's a proprietary TP-Link system, but the API for both Kasa and Tapo devices is documented and well-supported in Home Assistant. You can also add and use both Tapo and Kasa devices in the Tapo mobile app nowadays, if you need to use the app for whatever reason.
I personally can't stand Tuya devices, but YMMV.
Good to know about the apps. Yeh, HA best way to go ultimately. I have some Kasa switches which work well with HA, I only really use the app when checking the live energy consumption, just find it easier than HA.
I have mainly Tuya lights, think the only other Tuya device I'm using is the garage door controller but they all work great with localtuya in HA. Only thing is some Monoprice Stitch PIR sensors which are Tuya based but haven't been able to get them working with localtuya (or the Tuya cloud integration even) unfortunately.
Sounds like you need to look into Home Assistant then friend!
Do these work with Home Assistant out of the box? Wouldn't mind grabbing some to monitor different things in rotation to find out how much power they draw when idle.
if you install tapo plugin, works wery well. including powe usage. i have 2 of them in my ha system.
Awesome. Thanks. Might grab a couple of them. I'm guessing they just connect to the WiFi, and not something like the Hue Bridge/ZigBee?
Correct! For Home Assistant, you'll need https://github.com/petretiandrea/home-assistant-tapo-p100 which can be installed through HACS
You can easily get Tapo plugs running in HA by installing the Tapo Controller addon in HACS (Home Assistant Community Store). It works extremely well, I haven't had any problems. I run a mixture of roughly two dozen Kasa and Tapo smart plugs and smart bulbs in HA and they all work flawlessly.
Price is showing as $25 for me now
Next time please submit a Report ("Expired") so the mods can update the status of the deal.
Looks pretty much the same as the $7.50 that BigW were clearing a while back. I think they all went, but you might be able to find the $10 ones with USB ports in some locations. Does anyone know that these have more capabilities, or indeed different hardware ?
The cheap ones from Big W/Kmart/Bunnings are Tuya-based devices which use different firmware and chips to the ones from TP-Link (Kasa and Tapo series).
I've used them both and haven't noticed any significant differences in accuracy or capabilities, though personally I've had lots of trouble with my Tuya energy monitoring smart plug that I bought from Bunnings, and it took me a few weeks to finally find a HA plugin that can read the energy monitoring values reliably — the Arlec SmartConnect app often refused to update the values, so it was displaying the same power draw for an hour or more, completely useless. I know it isn't a faulty plug, because with the right plugin, it finally did report accurate readings in Home Assistant, at any interval I requested (I set it up to report every 15 seconds).
I'm sure other Tuya smart plugs probably work better than this, but it left a sour taste with me and I'd much prefer to buy the slightly more expensive Tapo or Kasa plugs which I've used successfully for the last few years.
It's personal preference — if you've successfully used Tuya smart plugs in the past, then keep going with those if they work well for you.
Seems to still be in stock !
regular price $18 even at Officeworks. 2 pack is cheaper by whole $1 at Officeworks.