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Kasa Wifi Smart power strip as alternative to DJ power strips

Arvin R

Arvin R

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Hi,

I'm not sure if this has been brought up before but I figured instead of using a dj powerstrip with switches and still need timers for lights and fuge lighting I got this off amazon:

20210908_162319.jpg


tp-link kasa Smart Wi-fi Power Strip

Has a manual button to toggle each outlet on/off and can be linked to google home/tp kasa app. I used tp-link's Kasa app for setting on/off schedules for the lights.

Screenshot_20210908-205901_Kasa.jpg

(Screen shot only has fuge light schedule setup and haven't setup DT light schedule yet)

6 outlets are perfect for my current setup.
1. Return pump
2. Heater
3. Skimmer
4. Fuge light
5. Kessil A350W (left side)
6. Kessil A350W (right side)
 
JVU said:
Cool idea! Let us know how it works for you. I’d be most interested in reliability and how it handles recovery after loss of power or internet.
Click to expand...
Time will tell about how it does with power loss. I guess I could flip the breaker and force the issue and see what it does as I flip it back. For loss of internet I believe it should just leave everything in it's current state at time of connection loss. This would mean any timers that lapse during the connection loss wouldn't trigger once connection is back up again. (I.e. light scheduled to turn on at 8am and connection loss happens from 7:59-8:01, the lights wouldn't come on once connection is established again at 8:01 and would have to be manually toggled on for that day.) It would be nice if the app could give a push notification in case of connection timeouts so I'd know to check the app for power status of each outlet but I doubt it does that.
 
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I've got 3 of them on 2 tanks and haven't had any issues after power or wifi loss. They've been fantastic. I have hit the maximum number of scheduled on/off points for the kalk pump to dose but if I need more i can always go to 3 mins per dose vs 2. If they added email notification of power/wifi/power draw drop no one would really need a controller.
 
Da_Neefer said:
I've got 3 of them on 2 tanks and haven't had any issues after power or wifi loss. They've been fantastic. I have hit the maximum number of scheduled on/off points for the kalk pump to dose but if I need more i can always go to 3 mins per dose vs 2. If they added email notification of power/wifi/power draw drop no one would really need a controller.
Click to expand...
Power Failure Detector with Text Message and Email Alerts https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089QQNKJ...abc_88GJQY2BTCYCPFP6Z5KH?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Something like that work?

Didn't look hard, kind of surprised there aren't cheaper options.

I use smart plugs for my skimmer and t5 lights.
 
I’m happy with my Apex overall and I appreciate the power monitoring/alarms. But there are always a couple less-critical devices that I don’t have space for on the EB832, but not worth the spend/space for another EB832, so this might be a good option for those.
 
xCry0x said:
Power Failure Detector with Text Message and Email Alerts https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089QQNKJ...abc_88GJQY2BTCYCPFP6Z5KH?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Something like that work?

Didn't look hard, kind of surprised there aren't cheaper options.

I use smart plugs for my skimmer and t5 lights.
Click to expand...


The way the software is setup within the Kasa that functionality could be added pretty easily if they wanted to do so. Having one or more extra items like that plugged in wouldn't be ideal for me considering the rats nest my tanks are already :)
 
Here are some of the things I've done with them:
- Create a button to turn on/off all pumps during feeding.
- Create a button to turn on/off all pumps plus ATO during water changes.
- After feeding, and if I want to, I can set each pump to turn on at different times. So the MP10's come on one by one (15 min apart) to circulate food around the tank and then the return pump turns on last.
- I can remotely turn plugs on and off for my tanksitter when I'm on vacation and they need to do something.
- I can tell Google to turn plugs on and off versus hunting around for the right plug.
 
I have just started getting a "Home Assitant" setup in my home using a Rasberry Pi, and these power strips are supported.....so I might just have to get one and see how well it works.

For those unfamilar with home assistant, go check out Utube videos it can do some really cool stuff. I am still just getting my feet wet trying to monitor my electrical usage during the day and night and see which circuits in my house can be reduced....Also for monitoring my solar offset.
 
I've been doing this for over a year now!!
This is what I use:
1631236435040.png


This strip remembers its previous state on a power outage as well.

I've also implemented a feed mode with this strip, return pump, wavemaker and an Eheim autofeeder.

  1. The strip turns off the return pump and wavemaker at 1:27pm
  2. Eheim autofeeder dumps food at 1:30pm
  3. The strip turns the return pump and wavemaker back on at 2:00pm.
 
Angry Andy said:
I have just started getting a "Home Assitant" setup in my home using a Rasberry Pi, and these power strips are supported.....so I might just have to get one and see how well it works.

For those unfamilar with home assistant, go check out Utube videos it can do some really cool stuff. I am still just getting my feet wet trying to monitor my electrical usage during the day and night and see which circuits in my house can be reduced....Also for monitoring my solar offset.
Click to expand...
HomeAssistant is AMAZING!!!
I bought a bunch of cheap Aqara leak sensors and placed them around my tank and RODI system. Now I get notifications on my phone and audio alerts through Google Home if there is a leak :)

I also have the ambient temperature, tank temperature, wavemaker/pump status displayed on HA and a wyze camera that shows me my tank status on a single lovevlaceUI page :)
 
thesassyindian said:
HomeAssistant is AMAZING!!!
I bought a bunch of cheap Aqara leak sensors and placed them around my tank and RODI system. Now I get notifications on my phone and audio alerts through Google Home if there is a leak :)

I also have the ambient temperature, tank temperature, wavemaker/pump status displayed on HA and a wyze camera that shows me my tank status on a single lovevlaceUI page
Click to expand...
Did you need an Aqara hub ?
 
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