Affordable smart plugs/switches

Hardware
1

Hi folks!

I’m looking for advice on buying some connected wall sockets/switches/plugs (not sure what to call them), that have a good price-to-quality ratio and work completely local.

I have bought a bunch of Ledvion Smart Wifi Sockets (Ledvion Smart Wifi Stekker - Slim Stopcontact - Lightexpert.nl), which work great, but are a whitelabel Tuya/SmartLife product and that seems to make them internet connected, which I’m not a big fan of. I also have a Philips Hue Smart Plug, which through the home bridge can do the same, but doesn’t have to (plus I trust Philips with my data/equipment a little more than a company I have never heard of, although this may just be uninformed bias).

So basically my question is:

  • Any good switchable sockets you’d recommend that work completely local, and preferably don’t cost €30 each? (If they’re sold in The Netherlands, that’s a plus)

Thanks!

2

Look for shelly, local control possible, and I even flash them with esphome which makes them totally “mine” :slight_smile:

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3

The Lidl Zigbee plugs can be connected to a Hue bridge, and cost € 8.99

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4

Unless mistaken, the Lidl plugs are also Tuya (but zigbee, ofc), so any Tuya white labels (zigbee, not wifi) will work as well, I assume.

EDIT: But yeah, aliexpress now applying VAT, the lidl one are actually cheaper, nowadays.

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5

its a pity they cant measure power

6

Still assuming it’s Tuya, they definitely do.

7

that would be a selling point… why not listed?

8

I like the Blitzwolf BW-SHP13 socket. It’s Zigbee, 16A and has power measurement. Works out of the box with deCONZ.

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9

The Lidl ones do not measure power.
Blitzwolf BW-SHP13 and Blitzwolf BW-SHP15 do measure power, but I don’t know if they work with Hue. They definitely work with Zigbee2MQTT (I have a bunch of them)

2 Likes
10

you proabbly dont have zwave, but i liked the coolcam zwave plugs with power metering. So now and then around 17-20 euros on banggood or smiliar wholesale sites. Crazy low price on aliexpress when shipping from russia today (5 euros ??, wt**)

11

@francisp Could you explain the difference between the SHP13 and SHP15? They look almost the same, don’t they?

12

The SHP13 is polled for power consumption, the SHP15 is push. (according to the Zigbee2mqtt github)

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13

Thanks a lot everyone for the tips and suggestions, greatly appreciated, gives me some things to look into.

The Lidl ones seem like an excellent option, except that Lidl doesn’t deliver to NL from the Belgian store and they’re sold out (and almost double the price) in the Dutch store. Nevertheless great tip that I will keep an eye on.

Will also investigate the other options, I’m not running anything ZWave right now, but that seems like a good option to set up too.

14

Apparently the IKEA Tradfri smart plugs can also be connected to the Hue Bridge (although I should also still have a Tradfri Hub somewhere). Has anyone tried that? I’m inclined to just order a couple, since they’re just €10 each, but if it’s a really bad idea, I might as well skip it :wink:

15

I have 5 of them, they are excellent Zigbee routers.

16

I recently purchased some tp-link smart switches (dimmers & on/off) and inwall smart electrical outlets.

they are Wi-Fi and and really cheap - 18.99 for the dimmers
they work flawlessly with the tp-link integration

17

I’m also new to Home Assistant and have a bunch of the Lidl stuff in house. Recently I picked up some smartplugs from Xiaomi/Aqara.

These were immediately recognized by Home Assistant. €25 each or €40/per 2.

They measure power use and have a manual button on the side. They are rather large though and will take up an extra socket or two depending on the size/format of the outlet.