Smart bulbs are easily controllable light bulbs. Therefore, a lot of people like to decorate their houses using smart light bulbs. Smart plugs of the smart bulbs help to control the smart bulbs from anywhere. However, these smart plugs are not very popular among users as smart bulbs. Smart plugs are handy as they can set and manage time schedules to switch on and off the bulbs. Using a good app and smart plugs, you will be able to set timings for your special days. Accordingly, it is essential to know about the need for smart plugs to manage your smart bulbs.
First, we will look more into the details of smart plugs.
What is a smart plug?
Smart plugs are the most convenient way to manage smart bulbs. As smart plugs are available for an affordable price, you can use smart plugs to control your smart home devices. The most common problem with smart plugs is whether they are worth their price. The most straightforward answer is yes, smart plugs are worth their price.
According to the latest National Renewable Energy Laboratory reports, smart plugs can save about 500- 1000 Kilowatts each year. If you properly use smart plugs with suitable devices, you will find these smart plugs as energy-saving. Therefore, using smart plugs to control your smart bulbs will help you save your electricity bill.
A smart plug can let you remotely control any home appliances when you are away from your home. Accordingly, smart plugs are handy and very beneficial, especially when you are outside for a very long vacation.
How to choose a smart plug?
Smart plugs not only make your life easy. It also helps you to set some security measures when you are away from home. See how helpful these smart plugs are. You can switch on and off your smart bulbs even when you are away from home.
Rather than that, using smart plugs is the easiest way to create your home a smarter home. You can use a smart plug to plug into your electrical outlets and sockets. Here, you do not need to worry if you are not too familiar with the technology. You can learn how to use a smart plug very easily.
First of all, the most important thing you should know is how to choose a suitable smart plug for you. Belkin WeMo Insight Switch is considered the best smart plug among all the smart plugs. It has a unique feature to monitor the energy usage that you use. Other than that, Belkin WeMo Insight Switches are supportive of Amazon, Google, and Apple. Therefore, these smart plugs are very popular among buyers.
If you want to buy a less expensive smart plug, Hive Active plugs will be a good option. The users who have many Samsung devices will find Samsung’s SmartThings Plugs very useful. It can control Samsung devices and many other devices such as smart light bulbs like Philips Hue smart bulbs.
The most important thing you should know is how to choose the smart plugs that best suit your home. Some smart plugs look nice, but there can be smart plugs that block adjacent outlets with the shape or its size. Moreover, some smart plugs are not very attractive but do a good job. Considering these facts, it is your choice to buy suitable smart plugs to operate your smart light bulbs.
Can I use a smart plug to control my smart bulbs?
After buying the smart plugs, some users get confused as they do not know how to use them. Smart plugs are best to use if you are looking for a small device that fits any outlet. You can quickly fix these smart plugs in any room in your house. The only main disadvantage of these smart plugs is they need some outlet space. Additionally, using smart plugs does not help to control hardwired fixtures such as ceiling lights. But smart plugs are compatible with smart bulb lighting. Accordingly, people will find smart plugs handy to control their smart lights.
Smart plugs allow the users to connect their lamps with smart home hubs and voice assistants. They are not only switching on and off the bulbs, but they can perform many other functions. Smart plug apps have some hidden, unique features. For example, some smart plugs are helpful to monitor energy use. These smart plugs can keep records and report the energy consumption of each smart bulb.
Smart plugs and smart switches are vital for people who plan to make a smart home. Smart plugs allow users to control the devices that are plugged into them easily. You can plug the smart plugs into a standard outlet and connect to your Wi-Fi network to control your devices. Most of the smart plugs come with a remote control to control the devices you plugged into smart plugs. Most smart plugs also allow the users to connect them to Alexa or google home. By doing so, you will be able to control your smart bulbs just by giving a simple voice command. For example, you can say, ‘Alexa, turn off the smart bulb.’
Likewise, you will find these smart plugs way more comfortable, especially when exhausted after a long working day. Let us focus more on some advantages and disadvantages of using these smart plugs.
Advantages of using smart plugs along with smart light bulbs
There are many advantages to using smart plugs for your smart lights. The most significant advantage is you do not have to move around to switch on and off your lights. Smart plugs make this task easy for you as they can control your smart devices remotely. Other than that, smart plugs can quickly move and plug in any place where you have an outlet.
Compared with other smart devices, smart plugs are less expensive. Smart plugs are much less costly than smart light bulbs and smart light switches. Accordingly, you can buy smart plugs for an affordable price. If you are interested to know about quality smart plugs with price ratios, you can google search for TP-Link HS100.
The Smart plugs installation process is also an easy task which you can work on your own. You need to plug them and start setting them up via WI-FI. Then you will be able to control those using an app on your smartphone or through voice commands. Voice commanding is another advantage users can gain from using smart plugs. Controlling your smart devices with voice commands can help you to save time as well.
As we mentioned before, smart plugs come with a unique feature to monitor your energy use. Using that, you can easily find out which smart bulb consumes the most power and take action to adjust its usage. In that way, you can record your energy use, which could help manage your electricity bill.
Rather than that, nowadays, many kids love to switch on night lights or sound machines. You can make sure your kids are enjoying their nighttime happily. You need to give a simple voice command to switch on the night lights whenever they need.
The ability to schedule your smart devices is another remarkable advantage of using smart plugs. You do not need to worry about the safety of your house when you are miles away from your home. By scheduling time to switch on the lights, you can make your house look occupied. Therefore, no need to worry about the security of your home. Likewise, you can gain many benefits from smart scheduling your smart lighting system.
Even though smart plugs are very beneficial, there are some drawbacks when using smart plugs to control your smart devices. We will present more about these disadvantages in the next section.
Disadvantages of using smart plugs
One of the main disadvantages of smart plugs is that smart devices need to be switched on all the time to operate. For example, imagine you need to turn on your night bulbs that plug in your smart plug. First of all, you will need to be sure that the switch of the night bulbs is in the switch-on position. If the button is off, you cannot control the actions even if you turn on the remote control. Therefore, it is good to make sure that the smart device connected to the smart plug is on all the time.
Other than that, there is one more limitation in using these smart plugs. Many of the smart bulb users have google home or Alexa compatibility. But sometimes, you might wish to use Siri compatibility. In that case, you need to be very careful while selecting the smart plugs. The smart plugs which you choose should be compatible with Siri.
The size of the smart plugs is another negative point on which you should focus when buying a smart plug. Compared with regular pins, smart plugs require more space. As smart plugs require more space, their regular access can prevent you from accessing other outlets. Therefore, you need to be very careful of the place you wish to plug these smart plugs.
Another main disadvantage associated with smart plugs is programming time schedules. Even though you have done all the time schedules correctly, there can be a risk of mis-program time schedules. Most of the time, this risk increases when you use heat appliances via smart plugs. Therefore, it is essential to keep these negative points in mind while using smart plugs to operate your smart bulbs.
