Automate your Smart Home with these Smart Plug tricks

You might be asking yourself: What can you do with a smart plug, socket, or relay? Besides turning things on and off from anywhere in the world, there's a lot more fun waiting for you. The team at Homey has put together a list of ideas for automating smart plugs that will instantly improve your smart home.

Get inspired on how to automate smart plugs

When a smart plug is added to the Homey smart home hub, you can simply turn your appliances on or off with a single click on your smartphone or according to a preset schedule. You'll always have a real-time overview of your smart home at your fingertips, whether you use the mobile app or the web app. Thanks to the Homey timeline and notification options, you'll know when something happens that deserves your attention.

In the current market, we can find a variety of creative apps for different types of smart plugs, making your home smarter, safer, and even more fun. Taking the time to get started with home automation may of course require some energy and free time, but once your devices are up and running, there's nothing easier than getting inspired by our tips and trying out some DIY projects!

Let's dive deeper into a few ideas, and believe it or not, even you won't resist the temptation to start automating your home. Take a look at what you can achieve with your smart plugs and a little effort.

Scare away burglars

Next time you go on vacation, use this smart home trick inspired by the holiday movie classic Home Alone. Set an interval during which the lights will turn on or off. This quickly creates the illusion that someone is home, deterring potential burglars from breaking in.

Set a parental lock or control for your kids' devices

Smart Home helps in caring for your family. While most people think of parental controls in terms of content limits, there is also the option to manage the screen time of your kids in minutes per day. With asmart plug you can set exact time limits for any TV, Xbox, or PlayStation.

1. Install the CountDown app and create a new timer. In Homey, use a Flow to set the timer for, say, 2 hours, starting from when your chosen end device begins consuming power.
2. After the set 2 hours of continuous use, the next Flow will notify you and your child that the daily time limit has been reached. After another 5 minutes, the end device will turn off.
3. In case the device is turned off before the timer ends, the notification can be canceled by stopping the timer. The subsequent "stop" Flow card sets the timer value to -1, preventing the alert from step 2 from triggering.

Prevent accidental fires

You know that feeling when you leave for work and suddenly you're not sure if the stove is turned off? With asmart plug and this quick automation trick, you can rest assured that no fire can possibly happen.

Enable geofencing in the Homey mobile or web app and add smart plugs to potentially risky appliances, such as an iron, stove, or electric grill. Then create a Flow so that whenever the last person leaves the house, these devices automatically turn off viaHomey.

Control the climate in your home

When the weather outside is terrible, the indoors can still feel cozy. If you want a better climate in specific rooms or areas and central heating is overkill, you can get a small electric heater and plug it into asmart plug. The following Homey Flow will turn on the plug for a few minutes when the indoor temperature drops below your set limit. Your favorite reading nook or bed will always stay warm and comfortable. Conversely, a similar setup can be used in the summer with a dumb fan.

Set an alert for when your washing machine finishes

How many times have you forgotten freshly washed laundry in the machine? If you can't even count it on both hands, the Fibaro smart plug with energy monitoring comes to the rescue. Create a Homey Flow so that when the washing cycle ends and the machine turns off (usually when power consumption drops below 1 Watt), you'll be notified via a push notification. You can do the same with a dishwasher, for example, and as an alternative action, you can try sending your kids a notification that chores are waiting for them :)

Stop the annoying habits of your appliances

When a manufacturer doesn't think ahead about certain features, home appliances can become an annoying part of daily life. We're all often frustrated by a microwave, washing machine, or dishwasher that beeps too loudly when it finishes its job, or perhaps a coffee maker that starts cleaning itself every time it switches to standby mode.

Fortunately, you too can teach an old dog new tricks.A smart plug turns off the appliance once its task is complete, preventing annoying sounds. If, however, you miss a gentle reminder, you can always have one sent to your Nest Hub smart display.

Wake up to a fresh, fragrant cup of tea

We have a little trick to improve your morning routine. Before you go to bed at night, pour water into the kettle, and while the smart plug is turned off, switch the kettle on. Then set up a Flow that turns on the plug right after you turn off your morning alarm. The water will automatically start boiling as soon as you get out of bed. Treat yourself to another reason to wake up earlier and start your day with a cup of fresh tea!

Daily alert for energy consumption monitoring

We can help you lower your family budget by identifying the biggest energy consumers in your household. Whether it's an electric water heater or something else, Homey canmonitor daily energy consumption and alert you in case of excessive usage. You can then reduce this by scheduling turn-offs or adjusting the appliance's settings.

As an example, we'll show you how to lower your electricity bill if a heater is to blame.

1. Create a variable called Heater at Midnight and proceed to create the next step. Every day at midnight, Homey will save the value of the heater's total energy consumption (in the app, this is found under Energy in the general group of heater variables).

2. Create a second variable called Daily Usage. In another Homey Flow, subtract the Heater at Midnight value from the current energy. The result equals the amount of kWh the appliance consumed that day. You can have the variable update every 5 minutes so that you always have an up-to-date calculation available in Homey.

3. For example, if your heater consumes an average of 5 kWh per day, you can set a daily target of 4 kWh and use it as a condition for an alert. Once the limit is reached, Homey will always notify you.

After a few days, you'll gain an overview in the Homey app under Insights of how much energy the appliance consumes daily. You can compare this with your daily activities to try and reduce it to your liking in the coming days.

Sleep tight

Let your home pamper you – Homey will take care of everything for you. With a Withings device as a sleep monitor, Homey will know the exact moment you go to bed and will automatically turn off yoursmart plugs with unnecessary appliances, and dim the lights as well.

Conclusion

You can try many different features when setting up home automation with smart plugs. Thanks to these clever devices, your home will be more energy-efficient and easy to control. But it doesn't have to end there; smart plugs can also increase your comfort, improve your daily routine, and help you focus on the things that matter.

As you could see in the procedures above, with a little invested time, you can have a lot of fun even with the most basic smart plugs. Let us know how you uniquely automate your home using the Homey Bridge or Homey Pro; we'll then showcase the best ones on our website.