IF YOUWANTTOSPENDMORE...Power can be yours with a smart plug – don’t let it go to your head
TP-Link Kasa Smart
Wi-Fi Plug HS100
Smart plugs are maybe the perfect place to start building
a smart home, since they can turn anything into a
connected gadget. Make your lamp activate on a timer
without a smart bulb; turn your fan heater on remotely to
warm up a room before you go in; activate your slow
cooker at a set time... if it plugs in, you can control it. It’s
easy to set up all that in this plug using its app – you can
trigger things on and off at will, set schedules, or usegeolocation to make things happen automatically when
you’re away from the house, such as turning switches off
to save power. There’s also voice control via Google
Assistant and Alexa, so you can just ask for things to come
on and off at will. There’s no hub or anything needed
with this – and you should expect to find it around £19,
much cheaper than RRP.
£29, tp-link.comFor the next level of smart
plugging, why not try the
big brother of the product
above? Available for around
£24 online, it has all the
same great control functions
as the cheaper option,
including voice assistant
control, but it will also
monitor how much energy
whatever’s plugged into it isusing. You can see what’s
being used in real-time, and
act on it, or view historical
data to get an idea of much
energy has been used at
certain times or on certain
days. It’s great for getting
a handle on your
household’s overall power
consumption.
£34, tp-link.comTP-Link Kasa
6PDUW:L)L3OXJ
with Energy
Monitoring
HS110
50 |^ |^ August 2019