I like the idea of monitoring how much energy my devices are consuming and for my washing machine, it also helps me to get a message, once the machine is ready.
Currently I’m using a device called HS110 from tplink/Kasa. For me it always worked fine, but there were a couple of issues for other users (no local API, …), so I basically do not want to buy a second Kasa device.
So my question is, which smart plug (Schuko F-Type) to monitor energy consumption would you recommend today to be used with HA?
I like Sengled E1C-NB7 switches & power monitor – but they’re Zigbee. I don’t have any of their plugs, but Shelley is quite reputable & they have power monitoring.
I went through the whole list of Zigbee devices (Link) and the list is long. When I started using Zigbee, the list was just a table with a couple of lines, but now it is more or less endless, what should be a good sign.
But then I’ve googled nearly every smart plug with energy monitoring from that list and either I cannot find any shop selling this device, it is out of stock, it costs >80EUR (for a single one) or while trying to order it from a shop in China, I get to see the message that this article can not be shown due to political reasons. I mean, I would like to buy a smart plug and nothing more…
Basically I ended up with only three options: The Aqara Sp-euc01 (only 2300W max) or the BlitzWolf BW-SHP13 (from China) or again back to the one from Kasa.
Thanks, this could be an idea. The first links just led to the very same result: out of stock - but manually searching again on aliexpress brought me to 4 devices for ~35EUR. This is interesting, thanks.
Just to add some kind of conclusion:
I’ve ordered 3 NAS-WR01 devices and everything works like a charm. It took roughly 2 weeks, until they got delivered, but after plugging them in, they got automatically detected by z2m and could be used in HA.
I bought they from AliExpress and paid ~30EUR for all three. So, for me this is a pretty nice alternative compared to the HS110 and I’m already planning to order another three to cover all my ideas
It’s slightly frustrating, but just to keep you in the loop: one of the three NAS-WR01 I bought just died on me yesterday. I just wanted to plug in a surveillance camera (3 Watt) and then the device stopped working with a bang and lots of nice sparkles. Half of the house was sitting in the dark, but all other devices survived somehow.
I could have understand, if the ones I’m using for the dish washer or the washing machine would take damage, simply because there is way more energy going through, but the one of the security cam? Sad and frustrating.
Too bad. One of mine also died suddenly earlier this year but without the fireworks. The rest have been working fine (approx. 10). Although I have had other brands with similar problems, it seems that the build quality can vary a lot.
Well, not like flies for me but it seems that some units in the production line have issues. I have several of these also connected to dishwasher, tumbler, washing machine, coffee maker and they all work fine. The one that broke for me was connected to a light and after a core update it started to flicker and died. I replaced it with a new one and after that it’s all fine.
Because there are little to no good alternatives, I’ve ordered a couple more from Aliexpress, but buying there is always like a lottery. Also this time, nothing good shipped, but at least I got my money back, so I’m ready to try it again.
It looks like this is more or less the same device just in another form factor. Judging by the comments, it should work nicely together with Z2M. Any experiences from your side?
Does anyone know why the Zigbee devices are almost always more expensive than the Wi-Fi ones?
Are they superior in any way? I guess energy consumption is one, but otherwise, range?
Might that the zigbee modules have higher hardware and/or royalty costs then comparable wifi modules.
For me the biggest downside is that this Z… devices typically can’t be owned software-wise and one is “stuck” with the (maybe limited) functionalities the manufacture implemented. It’s not possible to role out security/features updates on your own like you can do it with devices you really own (for example esp based devices running esphome)
It’s not possible to role out security/features updates on your own
Good point, but I guess that’s true for Wi-Fi / BT enabled devices on the market as well.
So basically esp based devices vs vendor packaged devices on the market … ?
At the very moment yes. But it looks like that esphome might extend to non-espressif chips in the near future (actually with the last release 2022.11.0 the raspberry pico-w is supported).
Also work has been done to take control over other modules often used in tuya products:
A working esphome port/fork can be found at the site of libretuya but the idea is to upstream it
Yesterday, four of those items have been delivered and I cannot complain. In a couple of seconds, they were part of the Zigbee network and ready to be used. I’m not that sure about measuring power consumption, because I got the impression, that they are not sensitive enough, but I’ll keep an eye on that point. So far, none of them went up in flames, so all good
but it seems that some units in the production line have issues. I have several of these also connected to dishwasher, tumbler, washing machine, coffee maker and they all work fine. The one that broke for me was connected to a light and after a core update it started to flicker and died. I replaced it with a new one and after that it’s all fine.
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