The new electricity tariff applied in Spain will force consumers to adopt new habits if they are looking to save on their electricity bills, since the introduction of new time bands will determine the price of electricity depending on the moment. in which we consume. What if we had a little help to control consumption?
Controlling the hours of consumption
The new time slots established by the government are differentiated into three groups according to price from highest to lowest: Punta, flat and valley . These three billing periods will determine the price of electricity, so if we consume energy during the Peak period, we will be paying much more than if we did it in the flat period or, better yet, in the off-peak period.
For this reason, consumers should re-educate their habits at home to direct energy demand to areas where it suits them best, and that is where technology could help. How? Smart plugs could be one of the solutions.
That it turns on only when I tell it
If you have devices that are on all day and you would like to control their consumption a little more, a smart plug could be the solution you have been waiting for. Most of the models on the market allow to establish automatic schedules with which to determine the on and off of the same, and thus, to be able to control when a device consumes energy or not.
For example, if you have an electric water heater at home and you want it to only run at certain times, you will only have to connect the water heater to a smart plug and create the programming that interests you from there. One idea would be to allow the water heater to work from 6 in the morning to 8 in the morning (so you could shower with hot water when you wake up) and place a second setting in another strip where you normally need help from the electric water heater.
If you also have a smart plug model compatible with voice assistants, you can turn on the device whenever you want with a voice command, so it will be quite easy to turn it on at any time, whether or not it is the best time to do so.
How to create a schedule on a smart plug
As we have mentioned, most smart plugs include the option to program schedules, but their configuration will always depend on the interface of the official application. Not all applications are identical, but generally speaking, almost all those dedicated to smart plugs work in the same way. In the following example you will see how we configure a smart plug from the TP-Link Kasa application.
- Enter the Tp-Link Kasa application and select the device you want to manage, in this case the smart plug (named in the example as Termo).
- Click on the Program option to establish the desired programming.
- On the next screen we will have to specify on and off orders, so we will start at the beginning: turn on the thermos.
- Click on the + icon to create the new schedule.
- In the next window you will have to specify what type of action to choose (Turn on the current), the time you want it to occur and the days of the week on which the action will be executed.
- Complete all the data and click on save.
- Now you will have to repeat the same step, but selecting the time you want to activate the function “turn off the current”
After completing these two steps, we will have an on and off programmed, so we will no longer have to worry about turning the device on and off at the scheduled times.
The advantages of a smart plug
This is one of the great advantages of having a smart plug, so you can apply it to other types of devices that you have at home continuously consuming energy. Obviously it is not something that you are going to apply to a refrigerator or a freezer, but perhaps, reviewing the devices you have at home, you are interested in limiting the operation of any of them at certain times. Do you want to force yourself not to use the oven at certain times? This could be the (drastic) solution. With these fundamentals, you may find the need to limit the operation of some devices, although you should also check their low-power modes (televisions, for example), automatic shutdowns (a NAS) or the option to turn off completely and do not go to sleep (consoles and other types of devices).
The so-called phantom consumption is just one of the main problems that many households carry, since with the arrival of new smart devices we do not get to have control of what is consuming and what is not.
Which smart plug to buy
In the market you will find a large number of smart plugs. Today they have become basic pieces similar to smart bulbs when assembling a home automation system at home, so it is normal that you find many models on the market.
After all, they all offer the same, and that is that the main function is limited to being able to control the electric current from the mobile and with intelligent and optimized functions. The models will vary depending on whether they are compatible with smart assistants , or with some smart home platforms such as HomeKit or Google Home, features that could be very useful if you are looking to enjoy smart functions that allow you to have control of your devices without matter where you are.
Obviously the use of a smart plug will not always be the solution to your problems. These devices have a cost, and if you buy a large number of smart plugs, in the end you will be spending more than the financial compensation of the savings on the electricity bill. So manage your resources well and intelligently organize your devices.
Maybe it’s time to turn off the NAS at night, or not leave the Xbox Series X idle. It all adds up to energy consumption at home, so now you may have to be more careful than before if you want to save on your electricity bill.
