does anyone use a plug for the refrigerator to monitor power usage? If so, what is a good brand and model for that?
I do. I use a Sengled Smart plug with energy tracker (E1C-NB7).
It’s set to turn back on with power loss & energy statistics give me an idea (I get a push alert) if it’s not drawing enough power to be working right.
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Should add country of origin as there are different models geographically.
Don’t use one that has a switching circuit in it as you may come home to ruined food. Don’t ask.
Athom have one that is Wi-Fi with power monitoring only. Or since you listed Z-Wave, if you wanted to crack something open you could bypass the relay.
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When you mean switching circuit, do you mean the ability to turn on and off? @sparkydave
- Switching Circuit: 15A max load, 125V AC, 60Hz (1875W resistive).
Yep. I had a device fail while I was away for a few days… it cost a fair bit in spoilt food, and the cleanup was not nice.
So if you want to use that for a fridge, I HIGHLY suggest you bust it open and bypass the relay. You don’t need to be switching a fridge on / off anyway right?
Right. Are there any plugs out there with just power monitoring?
I linked one for you…
I actually USE a plug with a switching relay.
Combined with a temperature sensor and a door sensor I override the internal thermostat for a more precise temperature control. without it I was having deviations of about 2-4 degrees centigrade.
What plug do you use?
Probably a esphome based one allowing to directly add a (wireless) temperature sensor and run a local thermostat directly on the plug 
In such a case your fridge should continue working even if HA/WiFi/bridge/coordinator/your-tech-here is down/offline/on-
because of the resilence of the setup 
Well that would be the most reliable solution for sure!
I replaced the wall socket with a relatively expensive “Connecte” socket. It’s identified as a tuya device in z2m so i don’t know how long it will last, but considering it’s a norwegian product and we have a 5 year “warranty” by law here I expect it to last 5 years at least.
For me I don’t put Critical items (fridges, furnaces, sump pumps) on a smart switch. It adds an additional failure mode and the downside (frozen pipes, spoiled food, flooded basement) is big.
They absolutely need to be monitored using a non intrusive technique (CT clamp, temperature sensor, etc.)
If you must do it, use a normally closed relay, so that when it fails it should fail closed,
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I expect a Norwegian company to do value added reselling here. Buying super cheap chinese white label tuya stuff (labeled/branded as their own) and sell it probably 10 times more expensive. Even if a device fails three times in 5 years (warranty) the company makes profit 
But where is that thermostat located? Being a ZigBee plug type of switch I don’t expect such amount of freedom/ownership 
And if it is in HA it sounds like a bad idea to have such a dependency cascade to allowed some fridge to work 
Yeah, I don’t think I will put a plug after all. I was looking at CT clamps but I have zero space in my fuse box. I added to the house and used up all the real estate.
Am I missing about CT clamps?
Having an automation platform that is flexible as HA is new to me as I was using Vera.
Did you look at my link? I think they have them for all countries. No switching, only power monitoring. Runs ESPhome.
It’s a Xiaomi Mi Temperature and Humidity Monitor 2 flashed so it works with BTHome, and placed inside the fridge. I’ve been really happy with these sensors and consider buying plenty more.
Haha yeah. it’s a looong dependency cascade 
Including a BT proxy and three network switches and HA itself.
Uptime is important to me, although I’m aware it’s not a question IF something will fail, but When.
I’ve started to look at the powerplugs @sparkydave mentioned.
They would be perfect where I don’t need a switching circuit (already have experience with a plug failing without the switching circuit being used) plus they are wi-fi so they wil offload my zigbee network.
I’m gonna keep controlling my fridge with HA until I replace it. It’s because of bad internal temperature control I chose to do it so. Of course a NC relay would be a safer option giving me frozen food instead of spoilt food if/when it fails.
I did. Thanks!