Hi guys! I’m looking to monitor/control the power consumption of some old window-hanging aircon units, that don’t really mind when the power is literally cut from the wall. I’d like to be able to see how much power they consume, and also being able to turn them on and off at the socket (the IR doesn’t work all that well to begin with). I was checking about the Tapo P110M, but seems these are not sharing the power consumption offline, you need to register them in the app and they only do it through a Tapo account.
What alternatives do I have?
Important, I guess: As I live off an ex-UK colony here, we do have UK-like three pronged sockets, that’s the form factor (Type G, I think?) I’d be needing.
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If you can get IKEA where you are the INSPELNING line has Zigbee smart plugs with energy monitoring for only like $12. I believe they have a UK variant as well.
This like most plugs in this format is not for inductive loads so it can only handle 300W with such:
It might be OK if the AC units are small enough.
Wow…I was not aware of this. It’s not THAT small, I think 2000W rated. I’m afraid this won’t do. Anyway INSPELNING seems not to be available in this location yet.
How the average quality from those IKEA plugs?
In my experience Ikea quality in electronics range from ok to a big ball of crap without any apparent way to distinguish in which side they are.
If you’re switching low power inconsequential things like LED lights, they’re OK.
If you’re gonna be switching AC units, you likely want a plug that can switch inductive loads. Most can’t. Well they can but their relays crap out quickly. Here’s an example of a unit rated for inductive loads. It’s for NA and uses Z-wave so it’s not what you’re looking for. They explicitly call out it can be used for AC motors. Some units explicitly say they can’t be used for inductive loads but many don’t and you learn the hard way.
I’m not sure if they’re available with UK plugs, but I’ve got a pack of Thirdreality Zigbee plugs that monitor energy use and have a button on them to toggle power.
I’ve got them connected to Home Assistant. Two do a bit of climate control in a coldroom, the others are for occupancy lighting.
I can whole-heartedly recommend the Aqara Power Plugs. They are Zigbee, has energy monitoring, works flawlessly with Home Assistant via ZHA and come in US/EU/UK formats. I have about 10 of these and I have not been disappointed in the 5 years I have had them.
Thanks! I’m going to look them up. Did you use them for any heavy loads?
I think something like this would do? You can search the list of supported devices there. Search by exposes power.
I have some SmartThings plugs that work similarly, I think they have a UK version.
Thanks! I’ll check it.
You already married to ZigBee? If not, maybe don’t. It causes 2.4Ghz interference. You’ll need to think about WiFi channels and avoid ones that overlap with ZigBee. Either that, or use 5Ghz WiFi and repeaters to make up for the lower penertration (if an issue).
