Smart Plug adapters from Power Move - what do you use them for?

i also wondered what it was at first but did fairly quickly decide you meant envy.

I tend to avoid the emoticons because they are often used to mean things other than what you may at first think, or indeed what they were intended to mean.

(Aubergine or peach anybody?)

🙋🏻

[EDIT]

Belay that - I asked Google 

🤭

I didn’t get one either, but I have been a TCP-Smart girl for years. I’ve got one that controls the powerboard with TV and peripherals, one that allows me to turn on the coffee maker in the morning, one for the electric blanket I turn on an hour before bed, or if I forget, I turn it on when I climb into bed with an hour timer. I’ve got one for the fairy lights. I also have smart bulbs around the house, and I recently bought a smart convection heater.

I have 4 Tapo smart plugs and 1 smart radiator valve.  I have used them all winter. I can't confirm that it saved me much, but I feel better not having stuff on standby.  My sky main box only comes on in an evening for a couple of hours.  Not being very mobile I like the control I have from my mobile phone. The 1 radiator valve is in my bedroom.  This on a timer and again I can control it from my phone even if I am not at home

Hi all.

I probably have too many (so I am told).

Two double smart sockets (BG) in the lounge, TV/Recoder, Amplifier/Blu-ray/storage, Lamp, Spare

As mentioned by others these were initially installed because the sockets were hard to get at, but now they also schedule to come on just after we get up and off just after bed-time.

Another double socket in the Hall with another lamp connected. The lamps turn on at dusk, off at bed-time and then on at 6:30 and then off 30 mins after sunrise.

Forth smart socket in the conservatory (lamp and Christmas tree!).

We used to use timers for a lot of these but you never seem to adjust them as the days shorten/lengthen, and they are a pain come GMT/BST changeover (although the smart sockets aren’t immune to this problem!).

Some smart plugs. One for network storage (on in the morning, off in the evening). One for the cats heated bed (yes!) linked to weather forecast. One for charging batteries (”Alexa turn on charger for one hour”).

Some smart bulbs (less now as we used to forget and turn them off at the switch). I have tried creating a “turn off after 1 hour” routine to prevent lights in bedrooms remaining on, but these often fail to trigger. Smart bulbs seem a better option than dimmable LEDs plus dimmer switch.

Smart motion sensitive floodlight; ability to set range/sensitivity and light level, plus on time/brightness then dim time/brightness. There is the option to cross link detection to other devices in the house.

Generally happy although wireless router is probably near to its device limit. Biggest issue is power interruptions. Everything takes a while to reconnect. The smart bulbs are the main issue. These are programmed to turn on at specific brightness/colour, so until they reconnect the house is all lit up!

Really interesting stuff @BeePee! 

How have you been doing in Power Move? Do you feel like having these features in your hone help you hit the targets?

Hi @Emmanuelle_OVO 

I think they generally help to reduce overall energy usage, however their direct impact on power move is probably minimal. Some plugs do turn on from 15:30 to 16:00, so they act as a reminder to boil the kettle or toast the teacakes before 16:00. I can generally see a small spike in demand in the 15:30 slot, and then a drop-off. We now tend to leave the TV off until around 18:30 for the local news, and again I can see the load increasing from then onwards.

I used to have the type of plugs that used a remote control handset to switch things on and off.

I then bought smart plugs which connect to my Wi-Fi router. These are controlled by using an app on your smartphone. They can be access remotely so long as you have an internet connection on your phone.

I had to go away for 6 weeks to look after a friend and his pets after his operation. By using the app to turn certain appliances on and off, I was more than able to reach the Power Move targets. One of the benefits of this is I can keep my home from getting too cold during the winter while I'm away. The plugs are 16 amp, so they are very safe. There are other things I use them for like certain things I need to charge up occasionally whilst away. So it's just as applicable for those who go on holiday and thus have the same usage all day long which would obviously include peak period 4-7.

I just have to mention this. Don't use them to turn off your Wi-Fi router unless you don't want to turn it on again while away :)  (there is actually a way around that too but I won't go into all that right now)

The smart plugs OVO sent me have been… Repurposed…

I’ve never plugged them in at all and will never plug them in, but they’re always close at hand in my backpack. As a volunteer with the fire service, you could say they come in rather handy as part of the talks I do. :)

And due to the unique way the fire service gets its funding, I 100% promise you that no taxpayer funds were spent on them because OVO paid for them instead! :D

I did try home automation years ago, but it was too clunky and I didn’t get on with it. ( X10, if anybody remembers it ? )

All I’ve got now are a few simple electromechanical 24h timers for the conservatory de-humidifier, decorative garden lights, and a water feature.

The vast majority of the comments in this group seem to be from people using Smart Tech to make life easier. Has anyone used them to significantly reduce their bills ?

Our biggest reductions in energy usage were when we replaced our old tumble drier with a new heat pump model, and our old gas boiler with a new condensing one. Also, we have a new oven and a new microwave, which are supposedly more efficient, but I can’t compare as I didn’t measure the old ones.

Looking at what we’ve got left I don’t see how we could easily reduce it much more. All our lights are LED, and we do like having our radios and TV stuff ready to run, so they are always on standby. Other devices that allways on are the Internet and computer stuff, a fridge and freezer. This ‘background’ peaks at about 120W, which costs us about 3p per hour, according to the IHD. ( I can’t view historic data, as I’ve still not got online access to my account. )

To reduce this ‘background usage’ this we are up againt the Law of Diminishing Returns, as any small saving we make is swamped by the Standing Charge, and it hardly seems worth the effort.

So, are most people using Smart Tech for convenience, or for lowering their bills ?