Recommendations Zigbee Smart Plug (UK) w/ Energy Monitoring

Hardware
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There is no other need other than knowing what your devices/appliances consume. In terms of energy saving, I now know what the different washing machine modes use and which one actually uses the least energy. Same with lots of other appliances that have different modes. If that’s not what you’re interested in that’s fine – there are plenty of things I use plug sockets for that I’m not interested in the usage, just want to control on/off.
The thread is titled “w/ Energy Monitoring” so I thought it prudent to point out for anyone else following the link.

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Off Topic: You could use the energy monitoring to asses if a certain state is true. I’ve used an energy-monitoring ZigBee plug to determine if I’m at my computer. If my monitor is drawing power than it’s likely I’m sat at my desk.

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33

Interesting idea, thanks

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I bought these a week or so ago and they turned up the other day. Just got to test them out an unfortunately there is no power monitoring with them which is a shame.

I’m replacing my WiFi smart plugs with ZigBee but would really want power monitoring on them. I can’t believe the prices for single ZigBee plugs with power monitoring though!!

35

Yes I bought these and they come up in ZHA as SA-003 which means no power monitoring sadly

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I’ve bought (Zigbee / Power monitoring) plugs from Ajax Online and Ali Express and here are my findings:-

They are fundamentally all the same plug, and get identified in Home assistant as a variant of the TS011F plug, but there are some differences!

The first Ajax plug I bought a few months ago was the

TZ3000_1h2x4akh

It has power monitoring, both live and total summation:-

image

The second plug from Ajax bought more recently immediately looked physically different to the first plug, and doesn’t fit in a UK socket very nicely. The square shape slightly obstructs the on/off switch.

Its sub type was slightly different and reported as TZ3000_okaz9tjs

And as at time of writing, its these versions that Ajax are selling. They also come with a strange side effect, that the total summation delivered is just wrong (it started like this):-1:

image

And finally, I turned to Ali Express and picked up a 4 pack of these:-

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804759592042.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.5.88d71802ggygDT&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt&_randl_shipto=US

They also turned out to be TZ3000_okaz9tjs variant (same as the later Ajax), but didn’t have the strange summation bug, and have worked flawlessly so far:-

image

Also, because of the round shape, they fit in uk sockets perfectly. Infact a tiny tiny part of the plug body just clips the very lowest part of the on/off switch so you can’t turn the socket off by mistake. Whether that was by design, or fluke, I don’t know.

So personally, I’d steer away from Ajax as they are just reselling TS011F plugs from china at 4 times the price.

One last note. At time of writing, you do need a local quirk to get the okaz9tj variant working. iirc, I got it from this thread:-

But it looks like it might get official support soon as the PR for its support has done now.

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37

I have a load of Hive Active plugs from before I had HA. They work perfectly with Z2M, without the need for the Hive hub and are working as routers. They also display energy usage.

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38

Are these fully supported in Z2Mqtt?

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Unfortunately I’m not sure, as I’ve only ever used them via ZHA.

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Oh well, they’re cheap enough for a gamble and maybe I can add support if not.

Edit : just arrived and tested so no long term testing but with the latest edge version of zigbee2mqtt they work and are getting power values.

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Do these work as routers too?

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Apparently most non-battery operated devices work as routers, my zigbee2mqtt map no longer works so I’m not sure how to tell, zigbee2mqtt is reporting it as a router.

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I’m ordering these too. Thanks for the rec. I’ll be using zigbee2mqtt but I see from someone else that they’ve got it working.

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Putting all the comments and the reviews on AliExpress into the mix, I’m happy to gamble that these will indeed supply power and energy data.

However, what does this review mean? I’m familiar with polling from z-wave where this would mean the controller would need to periodically check the plug for data. For power especially, I’d want the plug to notify HA when the value changes.

I’ve not yet set Zigbee up in HA, and I’m currently relying on a Hue hub and a SmartThings hub - which work fine. I’ll probably try these plugs with one of these, and if that doesn’t work that’ll be the trigger to start moving to Zigbee2MQTT.

Also, is this an actual, real problem with these plugs? Afaict the plugs do work, perhaps with quirks, so has this user just had bad luck or misunderstood something?

Screenshot_20230330_105750_AliExpress|690x471

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Headsup that Ajax are apparently going through a rebranding, and are selling off stock at half price. If you’re interested in their Zigbee energy monitoring plugs for around £12.49 then you can get them here:

and use the code “rebrand50”. Applies to everything on site apparently so a few zigbee products.
I have no connection to the company other than a satisfied customer.

Some discussion around these plugs above (Recommendations Zigbee Smart Plug (UK) w/ Energy Monitoring - #9 by benzoid1).
Note some people have had a problem with a high voltage cutout being triggered at 250V. I haven’t but out voltage never gets that high.

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46

I’ve just started using HA and have a SONOFF USB universal Zigbee controller working with ZHA and a couple of temperature sensors, pretty cool so far :slight_smile:

I’m looking for plugs to replace my wifi plugs with zigbee and came accross this thread. The Ajax deal looks good, but then the Aliexpress link is now at a ludicrous 83% off. Its so cheap I’m a bit skeptical its not going to burn my house down at some point.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004945906794.html
Tuya 20A Zigbee Smart Plug UK Socket - £2.54ea

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47

They do seem very cheap. I would not run 20A through them, a UK socket is only rated at 13A after all.

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48

I would reiterate that AJAX are just rebranding tuya plugs that they are buying from china, and even at 50% off, they are still more expensive than virtually the same plugs from aliexpress that I linked above.

Also, I can confirm that as of the current (2023.9.2) version of HA (and probably for a while), you no longer need to install your own local quirk, its built into HA now.

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49

This is true – they show as TuYa TS011F_plug_3 devices so presumably are definitely using the same chipset.
For very cautious folk like me, buying from a UK seller means that kitemark or CE standards for the whole item (should) have been verified and certified. I’d happily buy (and do!) any number of battery powered items from Aliexpress, but mains relay devices I buy from UK/EU. I’m not advising anyone else to necessarily do the same, but if they do, now’s a good time to buy!

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50

I don’t think that price held for long, they are now a little more expensive, but still stupidly cheap:

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i have 4 of these and have been running them for over 6 months without a single issue.