I have some smart plugs in my house, and I have set certain lights on an automated system.
I recently bought one for my window AC units (it sucks renting a row home without central air) and bought some new wifi sockets gosund brand. After testing them out on the AC unit (Which is an older unit), I blew out the brand new gosund socket (No Power and No Wifi).
I need to figure out what I need, so I can turn the AC unit on, on my way home from work (It's like an oven in there over the summer months). Can anyone point me in the right direction of the appropriate socket to purchase for the old AC unit I use. Apparently, the socket I had couldn't handle the amount of power required by the old AC unit.
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If you cannot figure out how to make the smart plugs work with the AC unit, consider just setting the AC unit to a higher than normal temp (or its lowest power usage setting) before you leave for the day and then adjusting it to be more comfortable when you get home. It is probably more energy efficient than cranking it up to try to cool an "oven" when you get home.
Can you provide more info about your AC unit? Does it have an adjustable thermostat or is it a basic system with just Off, Low, and High settings?
Are you sure that the smart sockets can handle the power necessary for the AC unit?
Can almost guarantee that is the issue. My guess is most smart outlets are for lights, tvs, etc. ACs are going to pull a lot more. The smart outlet should have the rating on it. Check that against the AC rating.
From what I have read this is the issue. At one point I thought I found the right socket to purchase, but I was waiting to get my refund on the other ones before purchasing them. Now I can't find the right one with the proper voltage.
The window unit I have is over 10 years old for sure. I'm not sure I will be able to find the specs on it.
They should be printed on a sticker near where the power cord goes into the unit. You are looking for current rating (not voltage.)
I checked the cord last night. No sticker no numbers where the wire comes out of it.
Yeah, I agree with having the A/C maintain a higher but manageable temperature. Having the unit automatically cut on for 10 min every hour to maintain 80 deg is more efficient than having it run at max capacity for two continuous hours to bring 90+deg down to a livable temperature every evening.
There is a reason people don't turn off their central HVAC while at work.
I use Kasa brand, they are able to run the window units in my home at least. A couple of those beast are ancient and must be power hogs. Whatever you got couldn't handle the requirements of that AC.
I have them on schedules, so to turn them on ~30m-1hr before i typically get home from work.
There are a bunch of temperature and humidity sensors on the market that can push readings over the internet, to your smartphone and generate alerts/notifications if temp is over x or under y. I use one in a greenhouse, but am planning to get one for my home as to be able to turn the AC in the dead heat of summer and keep the dogs comfortable.
I too dream of central air.
Do you know what unit model it is? The Kasa brand?
Amazon order history to the rescue.
Looks like I mostly have the hs105 model, small rectangle, two of them fit stacked in a traditional wall outlet. Paid around $20 a piece on average. Hope that helps.
You would need to find the power ratings for your AC unit, both average and startup power (compressors generally take a significantly higher amount of power to get spun up). Without those values we can't really help you.
Another option would be an old-fashioned timer socket, instead of one that connects to an app on your phone. It would probably do exactly what you want, as long as you have a fairly consistent daily schedule, and would likely be cheaper for your power requirements.
The old-school timer socket is a great idea, as long as they make sure it can handle the power demand of start-up. And is probably a hell of a lot cheaper than a smart socket.
This. This is the info needed to determine ratings for generators as well (whether for refrigerator, AC, freezer, etc.).
Having just gone through some debugging of a tripping breaker on my furnace blower, this comment about the startup surge is good advice. Your AC unit might say X amps but that is usually the steady-state value. I have several Chinese smart plugs scattered through the house and they're great, but I don't need to trust them with anything heavier than lighting.
I'd probably isolate anything like an AC or heater with a heavy-duty relay and have the smart plug just activate the relay.
You might also check with your energy provider. I know here in NYC, ConEd will supply you the smart socket best for your unit (for free) and give you a $25 rebate on your bills during peak summer months for using it consistently. It's clearly in their best interest to do this vs. you running it all day or trying to crank it on max cooling when you get home (peak usage for the grid).
Not a bad idea. We tried this once a few years ago, and I almost lost my mind trying to get them to connect to the wifi. They have updated the technology, as I had the same issue with a slow cooking machine, that I could not get on the wifi when I tried around the same time period a few years ago, but recently tried again, and it worked like a charm.