Safe and Smart: Expert Tips for Using Smart Plugs Safely This Winter

As the weather gets colder, many of us will be spending more time indoors. heaters, heated blankets and more layers, we will put more stress on our home’s electrical system. Therefore, it is important to know what and where you plug into your outlets.

Over the years of testing portable power stations and others energy monitoring devicesI realized that anything that heats or cools requires serious power. This means that when you’re plugging in space heaters and blankets to ward off the winter chill, you might have to think twice about plugging them into your smart plug.

Home Electrical System Basics

Smart plugs are great for many thingsbut even best smart plug has limitations. In the US, our homes mostly run on 120V, with some appliances requiring 240V. However, the electrical box is another piece of the puzzle when it comes to our home’s electrical system.

It is usually hidden in a closet or utility room in the basement and has a gray door. Inside are circuits that help break down your home’s energy use into smaller chunks so you don’t overload your system. These circuits have current rated circuit breakers. If this limit is exceeded, the circuit breaker will trip and cut off power to devices connected to it to prevent possible fires.

Certified Electrician Derek Rhodes of Tradecraft Electric offered insight into our home’s circuits: “Typical outlets, often called “receptacles,” are most often rated at 15 and 20 amps. An amp, or “current,” generates heat as it passes through a circuit. Receptacles must be able to handle the number of amps that flow through them.”

The outlets Mr. Rhodes is talking about are the ones built into the walls of your home. Smart plugs usually have the same amperage ratings. Most smart plugs are rated at 15A, but some are only rated at 10A.

Aside from amp limitations, smart plugs also have relatively low operating temperatures. As Rhodes notes, “Heat loads such as space heaters can cause the most damage to devices and circuits. They generate heat not only for their intended purpose, but also as a by-product of the large amounts of amplifier flowing through the circuits in which they operate.”

Characteristics of a smart plug

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Product	Pulse current	Max. current strength	Operating temperature	Operating voltage
Leviton D215P-2RW	15		32–104 °F	120
TP-Link Kasa Smart Mini Wi-Fi Plug	15		32–104 °F	120
GE Cync Smart Plug	15		32–104 °F	120
Smart plug HBN	15		14–122 °F	120
Emporia smart plug	15	10	14–110 °F	120
Amazon smart plug	15		32–104 °F	120
ConnectSense 2 Smart Plug	15		32–104 °F	120
Enbrighten Dual Smart Plug	15		32–104 °F	120
Govee Wi-Fi Smart Plug	10		32–104 °F	120
Philips Hue smart plug	15		32–104 °F	120
Wyze Smart Plug	15		32–104 °F	120
Smart plug Kasa Outdoor	15		4–122 °F	120
Braumm smart socket for outdoor use	15		4–122 °F	120
Wyze Plug Open	15		4–120 °F	120
Aeotec Heavy Duty Smart Switch	40		41–104 °F	220/120
Amazon Basics Smart Wall Plug	15			120
Leviton Smart GFCI	20	15		120
Smart plug Kasa KP200	15			120

Looking at the chart above, you can see that the ratings of smart plugs, wired outlets, and outdoor plugs are very similar. However, there are a couple of deviations in Aeotech Heavy Duty Smart Switch And Leviton GFCI Outlet. These two have a higher amperage and in the case of the Aeotech product can also operate at 220V. But this is not a plug; rather, it requires devices to be connected directly to the device.

Smart Plug Awareness

Just like you need to know who you are connecting to extension cords and extension cordsthe same goes for your smart plugs. Most heaters, including those presented on our website, list of the best heatershave a maximum wattage rating of 1500. It is important to know how much electricity the appliance will draw, as well as the circuit and switch you connect it to.

For example, your 1000 watt microwave is connected to a circuit with a 20 amp circuit breaker, and then you connect the heater. There is a risk of overloading this circuit if both appliances are running at the same time.

Looking back at the table above, all of these 15A smart plugs will pair well with the 15A and even 20A circuit breakers you have in your home. However, smart plugs are not as durable as wired outlets in the walls of your home. Rhoades states, “A 15 A device can handle 1800 watts of power, but a device with that power should only operate at that level for short periods of time, three hours at most. »

“If the load you plan to connect to a 15 A unit is greater than 1500 and will be running for an extended period, the maximum wattage should be around 80% of full load, which is 1440 watts.”

Heaters have their advantages, but certain steps should be taken to use them safely. Most smart plugs are suitable for space heaters. When choosing a heater and where to plug it in, make sure that the heater’s wattage rating is typically 1500 watts at maximum output and that the outlet or plug is rated high enough to safely handle the heater’s electrical voltage.

When using a smart plug, try to get an outlet rated higher than 15A, but this is relatively rare. Another way to reduce the risk of problems is to run your heater at a lower level, which requires less power. However, using two heaters in the same outlet, even at lower wattage settings, will overload the circuit as you double your electrical demand.