Smart sockets are extremely practical, but I consistently ignored them. I am a-Muffle. So take this article as a personal appeal if you're like me.
Because the gadgets, some of which are inexpensive, can make our lives easier, albeit very slightly. Among other things, my office lighting is now smart and no longer has to be switched on and off manually (on the cable of the lamps themselves).
In addition, an intelligent socket shows the power consumption of electrical devices and optionally switches off the power so that no (small) costs are incurred in standby mode. As we all know, small animals also make messes.
When the costs of the smart socket will be amortized is, of course, another matter and depends not least on the purchase price.
My use case
I mainly bought the gadget so that I could turn all the lights around my workplace on and off with a “click” on my smartphone. Comfort theme.
For aesthetic reasons, these lights do not have smart bulbs from Phillips, Govee and Co. (or cannot have them due to construction). Of course, such light bulbs serve the same purpose for many and can be easily integrated into existing smart home systems.
I use a device from Tapo (Tp-Link). However, there are dozens of providers on the market in different price ranges.
In my case, such a socket solves the problem very easily (simply plug it into the wall socket, set it up and connect the power strip to the new part) and on the other hand the purchase price is cheap. The purchase cost me a mere eight euros at the time; the Tapo model currently costs around 15 euros.
The intelligent socket is also compatible with all common smart home systems and supports the.
In addition to lamps, all imaginable electrical devices can be connected to the gadget. Aside from convenience, such devices offer another major advantage.
This potentially saves you electricity
Many smart sockets offer programmable timer functions. This means that the power supply can be automatically interrupted at certain times. Here are some application examples:
- The router that should not be running overnight can easily be automatically disconnected from the power. Tip: Some routers already have this function built in.
- If you decorate your own four walls with fairy lights at Christmas, you don't necessarily have to leave them on (on standby) day and night.
- TVs that are in the. Be careful with OLED televisions that run a program in the background that cleans the organic pixels.
- Coffee machines that are only used once a day.
- The possibilities are diverse.
Why this is so practical: Many devices also consume electricity in standby mode. Such a socket with a consumption display reveals hidden power guzzlers. This way you can see which devices are consuming power unnecessarily and can consistently switch them off and disconnect them from the mains.
As a test, I used the smart socket for my workplace. A calculation example:
A gaming PC, two monitors (one of them QD-OLED), a laptop, a charging cable and the height-adjustable desk are connected to the socket on my desk. The devices are generally not used between midnight and around 7:00 a.m.
According to the app, the standby power consumption is 43 watts per hour. With average electricity costs of 41 cents/kWh - loudFederal Statistical Office- this corresponds to a consumption of around twelve cents per day.
That makes a total of 43.83 euros per year(seven hours, 12:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m., seven days a week, 365.25 days). Well, the standby consumption of the Tapo socket of 0.7 watts, the equivalent of 0.73 euros, still has to be deducted. The acquisition costs are quickly recovered.
The calculation is simplified and inaccurate in three points:
- On weekends it happens that I still use my gaming PC after 12:00 a.m. Then the bill would be invalid.
- It also happens that I leave my work and gaming PC in standby mode for significantly longer than seven hours a day. The savings could therefore be significantly higher.
- Optionally, I could manually turn off the power strip every evening. Am I doing that? Rather not. But that would save me the expense of purchasing a device.
Further advantages in terms of electricity costs
- Raise awareness about consumption: Displaying current power consumption in real time makes me more aware of the energy consumption of individual devices. For example, this gives me a better sense of how much electricity my workstation uses per day in standby mode.
- Recognize and optimize consumption patterns: By recording power consumption over time, usage patterns can be identified. This is how I determine when power consumption is particularly high and adjust my behavior accordingly.
Conclusion: Increase comfort and/or reduce electricity costs
Although I bought such a gadget for reasons of convenience, I have now come across the idea of “saving electricity”. Because there is a lot of time when my devices are not in use and are in standby mode.
If comfort is important to you, a gadget like this can offer small but noticeable added value.
If you want to save electricity or get a feel for how much power your devices use, there are a variety of providers that sell both cheap and expensive devices. The range is from around eight to 40 euros.
