94 APRIL2020|COMPUTERSHOPPER|ISSUE386
T
hehumblesmartplugisoneofthefirst
devicesthatpeoplebuy,butmany
spendtheirlivesturningdumblamps
onandoff.There’snothingwrongwiththat,
butwithalittlecreativity,smartplugscanbe
capableofsomuchmore.Hereweexamine
someofthebetterwaysofusingasmartplug.
Youcandofarmorethanwe’velisted
here,butthemainthingtorememberisthat
ifyouwantasmartplugtoturnonand
activateadevice,youneedproductswitha
physicalon/offswitch.Forexample,wehave
afanheaterthatturnsonassoonasthere’s
power;anotherelectricheaterthatwehave
simplygoesintostandbymodewhenthe
powercomeson,andtheremotecontrolis
requiredtogetittoheat.
1
MAINTAIN BATTERY CHARGE
HaveyouevergonetodoaDIYjob,
onlytorealisethatyourtoolsaren’tfully
charged?Asmartplugcanmakethisproblem
goaway.Thesimplestwaytouseasmartplug
inthiswayistohookituptoabatterycharger,
andthenturnontheplugafewhoursbefore
youneedtousethebattery-powereddevice.
Youcanevenhookthesmartpluguptoa
multiwaypowerstripifyouwantmultiple
chargerstospringintoaction.
Ifyouhaveasmartplugthatyoucan
schedule,youcanusethissoftwaretoturn
onyourplugonceaweek
forafewhoursbefore
shuttingdownagain.This
letsyourbatteriesmaintain
theircharge,makingthem
readyforwheneveryou
wanttousethem.2
CAMERA
CONTROL
Ifyouhaveawireless
securitycamerainyour
homethattheappdoesn’t
giveyoumuchcontrolover,
whynotturntoasmart
pluginstead?Hookyour
camerauptoasmartplug,
andyoucanturnitonand
offwhenyouwant,oreven
automatetheprocesswith
oneofthesmarthome
automationsystems.
Whenthere’snopower,
yourcameracan’trecord;
whenthepowercomeson,
yourcamerawillturnback
onandstartmonitoringthearea.We’veoften
foundthatcuttingthepowertothecamera
canmakeforamoreeffectivewayof
controllingwhenrecordingshappen,rather
thanrelyingonthebuilt-insoftware.Many
camerasdon’tevenletyou
properlyschedulewhena
cameracanandcan’t
record,makingthesmart
plugabetterwayof
maintainingprivacy.3
REBOOTDODGY
DEVICES
Gotaset-topboxthat
crashesallthetime?No
worries,asmartplugishere
tohelp.Ratherthanhaving
togetupandfixthe
problem,youcansimply
usethesmartplugtoturn
offthepowerandthenturn
itbackon.Ifithelpswith
somedevices,youcaneven
scheduleadailyorweekly
powercyclesothatthey’re
rebootedautomatically.4
MAKE FOR AMORE
COMFORTABLE
ENVIRONMENT
Ifyouhaveahumidifierordehumidifier,a
smartplugcanreallyhelp,particularlywhen
usedwithanautomationsystem,suchas
IFTTT.Forexample,ifyouhavetheAwair
2ndEditionsmartairqualitymeter,you
cantellahumidifiertoturnonwhen
humiditydropsbelowacertainpoint(say
45%)andturnoffwhenhumidityrises(say
to55%).Inthatway,youcancontrolhow
comfortableyourenvironmentis.Similar
rulesapplytoadehumidifier.5
PRE-HEATAROOM
Ifyouhaveanelectricheaterina
garageoroutbuilding,whynotusea
smartplugtocontrolit?Thatway,youcan
turnontheheatbeforeyougoout,soyou
walkintoawarmroomwhenyoureturn.
Thisalsomeansthatyoucancutthepower
whenyouleave.
Forconvenience,andtosavepower,you
cansetupaschedulethatturnsofftheplug
atacertaintimeeveryday.Thatway,ifyou
forgettocutyourheat,thesmartplugwill
turnitoffautomaticallyforyou.Ifyouhavea
smarttemperaturesensor,youcanusethat
tocontrolthesmartplug,maintainingthe
roomatanidealtemperature(seeour
guidetoautomationopposite).BEST USES FOR
ASMART PLUG
One of the simplest a
nd
cheapest smart device
s,a smart
plug can do a lot more
than you
maygive it credit forLEFT:Keep your powertools
fully charged and ready to go
with asmart plugABOVE:Asmartplug can be used to control ahumidifier or
dehumidifier,making yourhome environment morecomfortable