I’m looking for a switch which can report metrics about the plugged-in device’s power usage, such that I can detect when a device starts or stops. I’ve found plugs that do this in the US, but I haven’t seen anything in the UK style. I prefer open standards such as Zigbee over proprietary solutions.
I know it’s not always the popular option as most seem to want the cheapest but we use Hue plugs as they are well built and can pair to our conbee with no issues.
EDIT:
As someone has pointed out its not my Hue plugs that report power it’s actually my SmartThings plugs.
I decided to buy this as a test - it seems based on comments that I should be able to flash these with ESPHome, which will give me the level of vendor agnosticism I’m looking for - and at a fairly decent price too. They should arrive within a day or so - I’ll report back my findings.
I have both Smartthings outlets (Zigbee) and Fibaro (Z-Wave). Both report power draw and work well in HA. More expensive for sure, but they are plug and play.
I received the plugs, and after some fiddling with Tuya convert, I was able to get them working well with both Tasmota and with ESPHome.
However, in the process of doing this I managed to flash ANOTHER tuya device that was within range. I still have no idea where the device is, but I suspect it’s perhaps a neighbours? I’m unsure. Regardless I’ve blocked the device from my LAN with no negative effect to my overall setup. Spooky!
Thanks to everyone for their help - I would definitely recommend these devices for cheap power monitoring in the UK!
These guys sell UK plugs which are already flashed with Tasmota. I’ve got a couple and they seem great, I have flashed one to ESPHome, just in the process of calibrating it.