I am looking to track the energy usage of an Unraid server that is connected to a UPS. I have other devices connected to the UPS and I want to specifically track the energy usage of the server. Would it be safe to connect a Zooz Smart Plug ZSE04 between the server and the UPS? Or would you guys advise against it? Or possibly have other recommendations?
I heard some rare instances where the relay in the smart plug would trigger on and off in an endless loop causing the hardware connected to it to fry and die.
Appreciate any feedback or guidance 
I have no experience with the Zooz Smart Plug, however I saw the same warnings in regards to my cheap Gosund (Tuya) Smart Power Strip, when you flash it with ESPHome. I left it with just a lamp plugged in for a week and never saw the quick off/on behavior. I guess I’m lucky or have a newer version.
If you already have the Smart Plug, you could try the same.
I can’t comment about the particular hardware…
I have some Sonoff S31 with ESPHome. There’s a way that you can set them up to restore state on boot without running through their flash memory cycles too quickly, but that’s a side note as it’s not addressing your concern.
If I were to use one of these plugs on something critical, there is a way that you can remove the relay and bypass it with a piece of wire. There are guides out there for the S31 specifically, I imagine other models as well.
I’m using a laptop as a server, so I wasn’t concerned about the power cycling. Some people plug a UPS into their energy monitoring plug to mitigate power fluctuations.
That never happened here with any Zwave plug. Neocam, Qubino, Hank and Aeotec, all of them never fail on me.
And, they all can be configured to automatically switch on after main power loss. That’s a + too …
I have had a zen15 on my unraid server for a couple years without issue.
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Thank you for the ZEN15 recommendation. I like this because it seems it’s made for heavy duty devices so it’s gives me more confidence.
I’m currently testing the Sonoff S31 with ESPhome but it just feels “hack-ish.”
For me personally, it doesn’t exude confidence for me to use on a high end server. I rather use it on “less risky” devices like a TV or MagSafe docks to track when an iPhone is being charged. Nevertheless appreciate the ideas!
You’re welcome.
Part of the reason I liked the idea of bypassing the relay is that they draw about 1w to close the relay, and there’s some questions about long term reliability. Seemed like a two birds with one stone thing if it’s for monitoring only.
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Just to give a follow up; I purchased the ZEN15 and upgraded the firmware to 2.10. In Z-Wave JS Control Panel, I went into the device’s configuration and changed the following settings:
State After Power Failure → Always On
Manual Control → Disable
I kept “Enable Z-Wave turn ON” and “Enable Z-Wave turn OFF” enabled but I disabled the entity for said switch so I don’t accidentally toggle it but if I ever need to, I can just re-enable the entity in HA. Here is a screenshot of the configuration:
Hope this helps anyone also curious.
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