Which smart outlet (plug) do you use for power monitoring?

Hardware
21

Just reporting back on the KP115. They arrived (I bought two). Plugged them in, set them up using the Kasa app (which means it just connects it to your home WiFi), and then reloaded the TP-Link Integration within HA (click on the three vertical dots to get the reload option). It added the two new switches. That was it. I created a sensor that reports the power level like this:

    smart_plug_vaporizor_main:
      friendly_name_template: "{{ state_attr('switch.main_floor_vaporizer','friendly_name')}} Current Consumption"
      value_template: "{{ state_attr('switch.main_floor_vaporizer','current_power_w') | float | round(1) }}"
      unit_of_measurement: 'W'

Then added the sensor to the front end, along with a switch and timer to to make sure the vaporizer comes up to power within 2 minutes (otherwise it’s low on water). I trigger the switch off once the power level drops below a threshold of 160 W - that’s when the water is low:
image

I just ordered a Zooz ZEN25 double plug. It works over the Zwave network. I’m going to set that up to see how it works in the couple of days - it is supposed to have two controllable outlets on each side (and even includes a couple of USB ports that I don’t need). It’s form factor is similar to the KP115, which means you can plug two of them into a standard outlet.

More on this one in a couple of days!

1 Like
22

I tend to always use the domain name in all my service calls if I can. I figure otherwise, HA has to figure out if it’s working with a light, a switch, a media player or something else. That seems a little less efficient to me - and now you may have found that not all the domain information is available otherwise. Thanks for figuring that out!

23

I did receive this plug, and it was as advertised. It is a double plug and both plugs are controllable. Setup was very easy - put the zwave network in ADD NODE mode, plug in the plug, it blinks for a couple of moments and then poof - it’s part of HA.

Pros:

  • Setup was extremely easy
  • I was using the plug within moments to control a small vaporizer
  • Has two plugs that are both controllable
  • Form factor is such that you can still use the other plug in the outlet - so you effectively have three outlets (2 for the smart plug, and one remaining from the outlet)
  • Has a non-controllable USB port to charge phones and things - I haven’t used this and probably won’t
  • Has voltage, power, current, and total power sensors that are created in HA (including the USB port, which I haven’t used)
  • Very stable so far - absolutely no issues
  • Extends the zwave network
  • LED changes color to indicate power consumption
  • Can adjust the reporting frequency from the zwave panel.

Cons:

  • Only 10 amps total between both plugs - that limits usability to lower-power items like lights and small appliances (and this is stated in the documentation) - if it draws more than 10 amps, the plug shuts off and you have to physically unplug and plug it back into the wall outlet to reset it (I’ve done it a couple of times experimenting)
  • It creates a TON of sensors for a variety of things I will never use. I’m not listing them all here, but if anyone has questions, let me know and I’ll post a screen shot from the developer/states panel. It’s an annoyance, but definitely not a show stopper
  • LED changes color to indicate power level - yes, I listed this as a pro and a con. The problem is that there are a number of colors like cyan and purple, and I won’t remember what power they indicate. I would have preferred green for low power, yellow for mid power, and red when it gets close to max power. But I can also shut off the indicators

When I need another smart plug, and it’s for something under 10 amps, I’ll order this one again.

24

I had a tp-link hs110 and it would loose connection way too often, there’s a whole thread about it. Currently using this:

teckin
teckin1328×1500 74 KB

Alongside tuyalocalapi they can monitor power consumption and you get rid of the cloud dependance. No cloud, no flashing, no opening device and you can get 4 for 40-45€. In fact, any tuya plug with power monitoring capabilites would do it.

Another good option if you want it zigbee, much better than the tp-link:

image
image1308×1224 73.7 KB

Xiaomi XM500008. 15-20 €, and you get a zigbee router as well.

2 Likes
25

Can you post a link with Teckin UK version with power consumption feature please? There are a few versions and I don’t want to get a wrong one.

Thanks

1 Like
26

I can provide a spanish link. Any tuya plug with power monitoring will do it… you don’t need this particular one

27

Thanks but I’m looking for UK layout. BTW I came across article that new TECKIN comes with a new Realtek MCU not an ESP chip so cant be flashed?

28

with tuyalocalapi you needn’t flash anything

29

alright, would this one work?

can you put more light on tuyalocalapi ? some link would be beneficial and how to integrate with home assistant , thanks

30

I used this, but I’m aware it can be done outside of Node Red if you’re not into it. Can’t provide any help in that respect though, just google ‘tuyalocalapi home assistant’ or ‘tuyapi’.

If you don’t want to screw things, just order one from Amazon, and if it works, order the rest from Ali

31

thanks m8 for help. I will try to dig into it. Last question, does this set up show power consumption?

32

Sure. As long as the plug itself can monitor power consumption you’ll be able to set a sensor with that value. Plus you get rid of the cloud, it’ll work without internet which is great

33

Hi Darek - did you get anywhere with using the UK smart plug for energy monitoring in HA ? I’ve got some energy monitoring sockets (they use the smart life app and the energy consumption does indeed show up in the app)

A very big THANK YOU to everyone who has contributed to this thread. In my short time using HA this has been the single most useful thread I have found.

Great Stuff!

34

Ok so I’m using techn plugs through smartlife and the Tuya integration. In the smartlife app I can see the energy usage fine.

However in HA I can only see the basic switch and none of the energy entities. In fact under devices it reports it as a Tuya Switch

Do I need to manually create a sensor as someone had to do earlier in the thread ?

Like I said - I’m very new to this !

Ta

Dave

35

Hi Dave

I decided to get Sonoff Pow R2 energy monitor and flashed them with Tasmota. A bit hassle at the beginning but since they are great.
I didn’t get smart plugs for now but as per what obaldius mentioned above you can try node red or google local tuya to get them working offline with HA

36

I really enjoy reading this thread because I face exact the same challenge to measure the power on my pump in the septic tank.
But is there any recommendations on power monitor plug for outdoors (ip44 or better) that is easy to integrate into HA?

37

I am using ZWave or Wifi and only hardware that offers local control and has energy monitoring. Whatever satisfies those requirements, I have probably tested :slight_smile:

Those are the ones I have used the most:

  1. Zooz Double Plug: Very unreliable, 50% of them died
  2. Zooz Heavy Duty: Good 15A is nice. 1 out of 7 died on me
  3. TP-Link: Local control is not officially supported and they have started to kill it in some markets. There is a warning on the HA integration page. I would not invest in them anymore. They also were a bit unreliable at times.
  4. Aeotec SmartSwitch 6: Expensive, but the most reliable one. I have 15 or so and not a single one ever had problems.
  5. Shelly: As a cheaper alternative to Aeotec, I have started to use the 2.5 and put it into devices or a power strip. Pretty easy to do, cheap, reliable so far, very exact energie monitoring (~0.1W).
38

I am currently in the same boat, looking for alternatives to the Belkin WeMo Insight and TP-Link switches which are either not sold anymore, or are not supported by HA.

The Zooz and Aeotec solutions, I agree, are really solid - but both of these are quite expensive. And while I think Shelly has a great idea, I’m not a fan of ripping apart a surge protector to hard-ware something into it. I don’t trust myself well enough to wire something that may have 1,500 volts running through it.

In addition to this list abouve, I want to also recommend the Etekcity ESW15 - I know it’s cloud polling, but $12 for a compact 15-amp energy-tracking smart plug is hard to beat. I just got 2, and I’ll edit this post if I have a bad experience - otherwise I’m assuming they will work just fine.

39

I notice there is a VeSync integration which claims to work with these. Specifically,

The vesync integration enables you to control smart switches and outlets connected to the VeSync App.

The devices must be added to the VeSync App before this integration can discover them.

What’s not clear from this is whether the integration “discovers” the devices locally, or simply uses a vendor API to talk to the VeSync cloud. If the former, I might be interested. That is a great price!

40

@CaptTom Unfortunately it looks like it’s cloud polling - so it would poll your Etekcity/VeSync account. I don’t see any local/LAN-based API calls.

It uses the pyvesync library on the back-end, and looking at the source code of pyvesync, it calls a cloud-based API.

Certainly not ideal, but for people who are more budget-conscious, it is certainly an option.