System Light Dark

xentr_theme_editor

xentr_page_setup xentr_appearance xentr_sidebar

  • xentr_page_width

    xentr_toggle_page_width

    xentr_page_width_description

    xentr_color_pickers

    xentr_toggle_color_picker

    xentr_toggle_color_picker_description

    xentr_typography

    xentr_select_the_font_you_want_to_use

    xentr_node_layout

    xentr_grid_layout

    xentr_grid_layout_description

  • Style variation

    xentr_select_the_style_variation_you_want_to_use
    System Light Dark

  • xentr_sidebar

    xentr_toggles_sidebar

    xentr_sidebar_description

    xentr_sticky_sidebar

    xentr_sticky_sidebar_description
    xentr_sidebar_position
    Left
    Right
  • Please do not post any links until you have 3 posts as they will automatically be rejected to prevent SPAM. Many words are also blocked due to being used in SPAM Messages. Thanks!

smart plug question

Marzipan

Marzipan

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 21, 2007
Messages
16,134
Reaction score
6,758
Age
46
Location
Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canuckistan
xentr_thread_starter
my in-laws are not tech savvy in the least, so if I set up some smart plugs to control lighting, is there a way for the settings to be overridden manually? if they try to turn it on, it's already switched on, just no power due to the smart plug programming. but if it was switched on / off a few times in a row, could that signal the smart plug to let it turn on?
 
I'm not completely sure what you're asking, and there might be a difference depending on if it's a smart socket, or if it's a smart plug that plugs into a regular outlet.

If it's a smart plug there's typically a manual switch on the plug itself but I'm not sure if the in wall smart outlets have that. As far as the plug getting "confused"... I use my echo shows to control my lights / plugs and the few times it seems unable to turn a light on or off telling "alexa" to do the opposite will often reset the light/plug and it then starts operating normally.
 
Not in my experience, no. Let's consider the plugged in item a lamp in this example.

The ones I have, smart plug that plugs into an existing socket and then the lamp plugs into that, include a physical on/off button on the smart plug, but if that is off, there's no power going to the lamp. Interacting with the lamp in that case is as if it isn't plugged in at all.

If the smart plug is on, you can certainly turn the lamp on and off the ol'fashioned way, but then it isn't using any smart capability. If the lamp is manually turned off via its own switch, even if the smart plug is on, the software control via the smart plug can't do anything with the lamp. The lamp has to have its switch on, and the smart plug must be on for any smart activity to work.

In the case of my smart plugs, as long as they are on, there is always power going to the lamp, thus it can be controlled manually if desired, no smart. But if the lamp is manually turned off, then turning it on via software even if the smart plug is still on won't work.

Hopefully I captured your use case there!

EDIT: @sswilson got in ahead of me. If his answer is better, go with that ;)
 
Marzipan said:
my in-laws are not tech savvy in the least, so if I set up some smart plugs to control lighting, is there a way for the settings to be overridden manually? if they try to turn it on, it's already switched on, just no power due to the smart plug programming. but if it was switched on / off a few times in a row, could that signal the smart plug to let it turn on?
Click to expand...
It's called amazon alexa :p
make it voice controlled. Lutron works really well.
 
xentr_thread_starter
clshades said:
It's called amazon alexa :p
make it voice controlled. Lutron works really well
Click to expand...
that's a no-go for the mother-in-law...dementia, she only knows that light switches can be flipped on and off. as for my father-in-law, he's deaf and wouldn't get it...hence my question. if there are no other override options that can be mechanical, no worries.
 
Marzipan said:
that's a no-go for the mother-in-law...dementia, she only knows that light switches can be flipped on and off. as for my father-in-law, he's deaf and wouldn't get it...hence my question. if there are no other override options that can be mechanical, no worries.
Click to expand...
The ones I have, just have a button on the side. Pressing the button is a toggle. Voice/app commands are smart enough that if it is already on and you ask it to turn on it will stay on.

Getting Google approval for release on this stuff is a pain. Amazon approval is a joke in comparison. Had to argue with Google employees about their own API implementation for Google home.
 
Pretty sure there's WiFi lamps out there now that would work the way you want - traditional power button/switch on the lamp, while also being WiFi controllable as the lamp will always have power.
 
I have three different types of smart lighting at home: Lutron Caseta light switches, various smart plugs, and smart bulbs.

The easiest (but most expensive) is to wire up Lutron Caseta switches. They just work, all of the time. The others can be finicky/need restarting sometimes.

Smart plugs, as said above, allow for lamps to be toggled on/off while the plug is on, but the phsyical control button to turn the plug off is on it. Most of the time mine have been fine, but once in a while (1 - 2 times per year) they've had issues and I've needed to unplug and plug them back in.

Smart bulbs are my least recommended option, since if the light switch is turned off, they stop responding as they stop receiving the power (not great for someone with dementia).
 
xentr_thread_starter
Bapadaboopy said:
Smart bulbs are my least recommended option, since if the light switch is turned off, they stop responding as they stop receiving the power (not great for someone with dementia).
Click to expand...
we have switched taped down at night so Nana can't fiddle with them, otherwise the house is lit up like a candle. this means we would just change it up and tape them in the on position. we would tell Papa what's what so he wouldn't fiddle with them either.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

xentr_legal_notice_title

xentr_legal_notice_description

Back
Top