Don’t connect your smart plug to these 5 household devices – an expert warns

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Highlights taken by ZDNET

• Smart plugs can automatically mute devices, but they don’t have to power everything.
• Devices you can connect include lamps, chargers, fans, light bulbs, and TVs.
• Skip smart plugs for heaters, compressors, or devices over 1,500W.

Smart plugs have great uses around the house, but they are not meant to handle all the electrical appliances in your home. Using a smart plug incorrectly can lead to dangerous situations, including tripped circuits, damaged plugs, and even house fires. Knowing which devices can and cannot be used with smart plugs is important.

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In general, smart plugs are rated for a maximum current draw of 15A, so you should never use a smart plug for anything that draws more than that, such as heavy appliances. Besides amperage, there are other risks to consider before using a smart plug. These include unexpected electrical appliances, those that generate heat, and those that are very important.

5 devices you should never plug into a smart plug

Note: Always check the specifications and instructions for your smart plug to ensure you are following the manufacturer’s instructions before using it.

1. Heavy duty machinery and equipment

Most smart plugs are rated for 15A, making them suitable for lights, televisions, computers, fans, and other household appliances. Even if you connect the smart plug to a 20A outlet, its limit will remain at 15A, so you can’t use it for heavy appliances, such as full-size refrigerators and multiple A/C units.

Even if a hard-working device is turned on with a smart plug, you’ll be pushing the plug to its limits, which can trip it, overheat its internals, and degrade it over time. High voltages can cause excessive heat at the plug points, and most cheap smart plugs can’t dissipate it effectively. If your smart plug emits a burnt smell or shows signs of overheating or burning, it means that heat is building up inside, and you should not use it with that device.

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Homes typically have 15A outlets, with a few 20A circuits in places where they are needed the most, such as kitchens, bathrooms, laundry rooms, and garages. A 15A receptacle is permitted on a 20A circuit, provided there are multiple outlets on that circuit. Some appliances require real 20A outlets with a T-shaped hole, but a 15A smart plug will not exceed its capacity.

What should you do instead

• Check your devices: Common appliances that you should check the specifications of before using them with a smart plug include space heaters, window air conditioners, deep freezers, refrigerators, microwaves, and hair dryers. You should also check the amperage (10-15A, depending on the smart plug) and heat capacity (1,200W-1,800W) of both the device and the smart plug before connecting it.
• Upgrade if it makes sense: If controlling your device remotely with a smart component is important to you and you’re okay with changing it, you may want to look for devices that are already smart.

2. Devices for essential and continuous use

If you have important medical equipment that needs to be plugged in continuously, you should never use a smart plug for it. This includes oxygen equipment, life support equipment, CPAP machines, and other medical essentials.

What you should do instead:

• Skip the smart plug: People using these devices need a reliable connection, and even a slight disconnect can be dangerous. Because smart plugs can be turned on or off by mistake due to a forgotten procedure or a misunderstanding of the voice control, just plug them directly into the wall.

Also: Why this $7 smart plug beats any other I’ve tested in my home

3. Power strips

Unlike critical and medical devices, electronic patches are a case-by-case decision. The biggest problem with connecting your power line to a smart plug is unintentional load stacking, which is when you add multiple devices to the power line and their electrical load adds to the total. When you add multiple devices to your power line, it’s easy to lose track of each load and how they stack up.

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The smart plug calculates the amount of current required by the power line, whether it’s one or five devices drawing 400W, so it’s easy to exceed the plug’s limit. If you do, heat will build up inside the smart plug, and failure may occur.

What should you do instead

• Check the load of your devices: The power strip and smart plug combination can work well when used only for low-power devices, those with a combined load of no more than 1,400W. These include lamps, chargers, televisions, and small fans.
• Maximum power to the wall: If you need to plug in a heavy-duty or high-powered device, be sure to plug it directly into your wall outlet.
• Connect your power line directly: Skip the smart plug for your power line — just plug it directly into the wall to avoid accidental charging.

4. Heating devices

Plugging a heat-generating device into a smart plug carries some of the same risks as plugging a heavy device into one, but it also poses greater risks. Plugging a hot tool into a smart plug might sound like a good idea, since you can turn it off remotely if you forget to unplug it — but this can also present its own set of problems.

Certain coffee makers, toasters, ovens, hot plates, heating pads, and heated hair styling tools should not be used with the smart plug. Here’s why:

• Overheating should not occur automatically: Hot tools and devices can cause uncontrolled fires if left unattended. A person using a heating device doesn’t know not to turn it on when it’s a towel or near water, but a smart plug doesn’t. Hot hair tools, for example, are one of the leading causes of house fires.
• Avoid accidental activation: Never use the smart plug on a heating device as soon as it is plugged in, such as many hot hair tools. Smart plugs can be activated remotely from your phone, voice control, or automation or routine. They may also experience errors. Considering how often Alexa misunderstands me and turns on the wrong things in my home, I’m all too aware of the danger.
• It’s hot and beyond the limits: Some heating appliances may not always exceed the smart plug limits, but they may have wattage spikes that do. Check the specifications of your device to find out how much power it draws at high temperatures.

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What should you do instead

• Buy safe devices: I keep some heating devices in the smart plug, but I make sure they are the ones that require someone to physically turn them on after they are plugged in, and have a feature to turn them off automatically after a certain amount of time. And I only use smart plugs for devices that don’t draw too much power near the limits of the plug. For example, I don’t use them to dry my hair.
• Check the details of your smart plug: This will tell you that the water and amperage are within the limits of the smart plug, which you should confirm before using it.
• Plug it into the wall: When in doubt, plug your heating device directly into the wall rather than using a smart plug. If your device can overheat, melt, or cause fires, you shouldn’t risk it.

5. Automatic devices

There are devices that cycle automatically throughout the day and should not be connected to smart plugs. Some AC units, air conditioners, and refrigerators have internal sensors that require constant operation for the devices to function properly. A smart plug that turns these types of appliances on and off can damage their compressors or shorten their lifespan.

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This is not to draw too much power; appliances with compressors need time to equalize their internal pressure when they turn off. If you plug in a smart plug into one of these devices and the power comes back on too quickly, the compressor must fight the built-up pressure and overheat, struggle to start, or trip its own protection system.

What should you do instead

• Plug it into the wall: As with the other devices above, if you need the device to run continuously, your best bet is to plug it directly into the wall.
• Upgrade to smart devices: If having smart control over automation devices is important to you and you’re willing to upgrade, you can buy the smart versions.