A ten dollar smart plug turns any dumb device into a scheduled, voice controlled smart device. It is the best value purchase in home automation, full stop.
Updated August 09, 2026, after a fresh review, with updated visuals and links.
Beyond lamps (everyone's first idea), here are the nine uses that actually change daily life, plus the buying rules that matter.
What trips people up
- Devices needing button presses after power on don't automate: the physical switch must stay permanently on for plug control to work.
- WiFi plugs in dead zones become unreliable ghosts: a smart plug must hear your WiFi to obey, garage and garden sockets sometimes need the mesh satellite closer.
The how to part
- 1. The classic lamp, but scheduled with sunset. Plug a living room lamp in, then schedule by sunset instead of fixed time (the apps know your location's dusk): lights welcome you home year round without touching the schedule seasonally.
- 2. Coffee maker pre-game. A basic coffee maker with a physical switch left ON becomes smart: set the plug to 6:45 AM and wake up to brewed coffee. The machine must have a manual switch that stays on, the single requirement.
- 3. The 'did I leave it on' cure. Curling irons, space heaters, clothes irons: plug them through smart plugs. 'Turn off everything' from the car beats driving home to check, and an auto off timer after 30 minutes deletes the risk category entirely.
- 4. Fan on a schedule. Bedroom fan on from 22:00 to 03:00, then off when the night cools. Sleep improvement for zero dollars, no more 4 AM cold wakeups to switch it.
- 5. Reboot the router remotely. Router and modem through a smart plug lets you power cycle the internet from anywhere with the app (or on a weekly 4 AM schedule): flaky ISP boxes behave so much better with weekly reboots.
- Keep the plug itself controllable offline for this job's sake
- Also great for elderly parents' routers: 'just tap the button, Mom'
- 6. Holiday lights without the ladder. Christmas lights, patio strings, spooky decorations: voice or schedule control means the display runs itself and turns off midnight sharp, every night.
- 7. The TV power vampires. Entertainment center gear sips standby power constantly: a smart plug strip off between midnight and evening cuts the phantom draw measurably over a year.
- 8. Humidifier/dehumidifier sanity. Devices that run 'until you remember' become disciplined: two hour blocks, voice top ups, and the basement stops being a part time job.
- 9. Fake presence while traveling. Lamp plus radio on randomized evening schedules reads as 'someone is home' from the street, the cheapest security feature on this whole list.
Small tweaks, big difference
- Check the amp rating: heaters and AC units need 15A rated plugs, cheap 10A ones are lamp territory only.
- Matter-certified plugs work across Alexa, Google and Apple simultaneously: future proofing for a dollar extra.
- Name plugs by appliance, not room ('Coffee', 'Fan'): voice commands read naturally and routines build cleanly.
Before you ask
Do smart plugs use power themselves?
About a watt in standby: a few cents a year, utterly trivial against the savings they enable.
Can they measure energy usage?
Some models include energy monitoring in their apps: brilliant for finding out what the old refrigerator really costs you.
Keep reading
- How to Unsend an Email in Gmail (And Extend the Grace Period to 30 Seconds)
- How to Write Emails With AI Without Sounding Like a Robot
- How to Turn Off Read Receipts on Instagram (Read DMs Without the 'Seen')
Wrapping up
Ten dollars, one appliance, one schedule. Then nine more ideas follow naturally, and the house starts running itself.
