What is a Smart Plug?

Smart plugs are an easy way to get involved in the smart home trend. A smart plug simply replaces or plugs into an existing outlet, and allows you to control it from somewhere else, manually and automatically.

There are many smart plugs on the market which simply plug into an existing outlet. Whatever device you then plug into that smart outlet is controllable by you.

Smart plugs can be controlled from an app on a smartphone, from a home automation controller, and from voice assistants like Alexa, and Google, and by extension Cortana. I’m not an Apple person really, so I’m not sure about Siri, but I don’t see why not.

What is a Smart Plug Used For?

Well, there are almost as many uses as there are things to plug into an outlet. One extremely valued and appreciated use in my house is to set the coffee pot to turn itself on 10 minutes before my morning alarm goes off. Fresh-brewed hot coffee waiting for me when I get up. There’s no physical coordination or thinking required for that first cup, it’s just there – that is as long as I mind Alexa’s reminder to prep the coffee pot the night before.

Another common use is to turn lights on or off. Turning on and off a light seems like a simple thing, and you might think it’s overkill to involve technology in the process, because you can just pull the chain or turn the knob yourself, like we’ve been doing since…well, since lights were electrified. Well, the same could be said about cruise control in cars. Do we really need a button to relieve of us of the laborious task of holding our foot in one place? It turns out that yes, yes we do. Cruise control is pretty handy. And so are smart plugs. But what is a smart plug handy for, you ask? Thank you for the setup….

18 Smart Plug Uses Which May Not Have Occurred To You:

1. Some lights are a pain to reach, behind the couch in the corner, or behind the big TV
2. Sometimes your hands are full of groceries as you walk in the door, or snacks as you walk to the couch, and you can’t reach for the light
3. Sometimes it’s cold outside and you don’t want to bundle up to go outside and unplug the lights
4. You could set up your outdoor holiday lights to go on and off at predetermined times so you don’t forget to do it
5. Sometimes you just plain ole’ don’t want to get up and do it yourself. I mean, what is this anyway, the olden days when you had to turn a light on manually?
6. Sometimes you think you hear a noise downstairs in the middle of the night and you’d like to turn a light on down there before you walk down there half-asleep to confirm it’s nothing.
7. Sometimes you are out running weekend errands and can’t remember if the curling iron or the clothes iron got turned off at home.
8. You might want to plug a bedside fan into one, and then be able to turn the fan on and off with your voice.
9. You might have some of those plug-in air fresheners, and want to get the house smelling nice before you get home, especially if you’re bringing unexpected company with you.
10. If you had a boombox radio in your garage, you could turn it on and off without touching it with your greasy hands
11. If you had a disco ball on your back patio, and you wanted to impress your friends by turning it on and off from a tablet you could use a smart plug
12. If you have a USB charging station which you plug your devices into to charge, you could have it shut off after 8 or 10 hours so that all the lithium ion batteries don’t overheat and burn down your house. Just sayin’, worth it.
13. If you watch the same TV show every Wednesday night at 7:00 in the same chair or on the same couch, why not have the end table lamp turn on at that time by itself? That’s one more free hand for popcorn, right?
14. The same goes, of course, for Monday Night Football. And Thursday Night Football. But wait there’s more – Sunday Night Football is likewise smart plug compatible in this manner.
15. If you have a roommate, you could surreptitiously plug their bedroom clock into one. Then set the smart plug to turn off each day while they’re gone, and be back on so the clock is flashing “12:00” when they return. You can then discuss the remarkable number of recent power outages over dinner.
16. If you have a dog or a cat, you could plug the vacuum cleaner into a smart plug, leave the vacuum switched on, and then turn the smart plug off. Then periodically during the day while you’re at work, you can switch the vacuum cleaner on for a minute, and then back off. Pets love the soothing sound of a vacuum cleaner, right?
17. If you have teenagers, you can plug the PlayStation into one, and then make sure it stays turned off when they’re supposed to be at school or doing homework. How to keep them from unplugging the console from the smart plug and into a regular outlet is left to the reader. Let me know what you come up with. No, seriously, let me know.
18. If you don’t have a smart garage door opener, you could plug your regular garage door opener into a smart plug and then have it turn off during the day while you’re at work. That way no one can drive by and open your garage door with a code-scanning garage door remote.

Well, there are 18 answers to “Whats is a smart plug good for?”. Of course, I could go on and on (I haven’t even delved into farming or mining applications yet, for example).

I hope this is enough to get you thinking along the right lines. A smart plug is for making your life more livable, whether it’s by tormenting roommates or being able to turn off the light without moving when you find yourself in an embarrassing situation, it’s that simple. Trust me, you’re going want that last one. I’m not going to talk about specifics, and neither will you want to.

So What Are Your Options?

Well, like most things there’s an easy way and a hard way. And like most things the hard way is probably the right way and it’s better when all is said and done. But it is more work, which how it earns its name as the hard way.

In the case of smart plugs, the hard way is to hardwire a new outlet or outlets into your house. If you’ve ever done this before, you know it’s not really that hard. If you’ve never done it before, it looks hard, but it’s not really. Just be safe about it, follow all the directions, especially the ones about turning off the breaker first.

The easy way is super-easy. It’s no harder than plugging in a new toaster.

The not-really-that-hard way:

The easy way:

I know what you’re saying. “If there was just an outlet strip version, I’d be in.” Well, you’re in, because this one’s pretty cool. You can control the outlets as one or independently. And you can also control the USB ports (as one), to avoid the scenario in #12 above:

All 3 of these options have good user reviews and good prices. They all work with the Smart Life app, Amazon Alexa, and Google Assistant. I wouldn’t steer you wrong.

Post a comment about how you use yours – maybe we’ll publish a 101-Uses PDF and credit you for your idea by first name last initial. That’s fame right there, just for posting. Think of it as a stepping stone to a book signing tour if you like.