Hello,
Is there an alternative to SmartThings Power Outlet but for z-wave protocol?
If you’re not locked into that “look,” the Aeon Smart Energy Switch works well, is half the price, and measures energy draw.
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There is also this gen5 z-wave energy monitor switch from Aeon that also has a usb port. It has a similar form factor to the SmartThings Zigbee one.
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Thanks Bob & Matt.
I think the switch Matt suggested will be more suitable as it needs to hide under the kitchen cabinet where I don’t have much space.
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For outlets (and sensors?), I have a lot of hope in Aeon Labs / Aeotec, but I guess the V6 multi-sensor isn’t working so well yet?
A little off topic: For what it’s worth: Oomi Home ($1.7 million crowdfunded “competitor” in pre-product status) partnered with Aeon for the majority of their non-proprietary components. I have “bad feelings” about most pre-delivered crowd funded ventures, frankly, and Oomi’s latest update makes me really suspicious. The update focused on how well production was going – but if you look closely, nearly all the manufacturing photos were of the Aeon products – Oomi is getting them made in custom black-color. That leads me to believe that production on the proprietary components – a button + touch screen controller, for example, is falling further behind.
Which version of the SmartThings hub are you using, US or UK?
There are a number of different zwave models on the official US “works with SmartThings” list in the “lights and switches” section. (Technically a pocket socket is a switch as it turns a device on or off.)
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Depending on how you feel about replacing outlets you could use this:
In the US now, code requires that most kitchen outlets be GFCI.* For technical reasons, it is not possible to have a Z wave outlet which is also GFCI. That’s because a Zwave outlet must always draw some power so it can hear the next network “on” command, while the GFCI outlet is designed to cut power completely if a surge is detected.
For this reason, you can’t typically just swap out an existing kitchen receptacle with a new Z wave receptacle. You’re usually OK if you’re using a pocket socket because you are maintaining the existing GFCI outlet and putting the Z wave downstream from it.
It doesn’t mean you can’t use Z wave outlets in the kitchen, but you do typically have to wire in a GFCI cut out further upstream, and this tends to move it into a different category of electrical project.
So using a receptacle in a bedroom commonly just means swapping out the old nonnetworked receptacle for the new zwave receptacle, but using a receptacle in a bathroom or kitchen or other areas covered by the GFCI requirement is more complex and will usually require additional equipment.
(Although some people will go ahead and decide to do something which is not to code, be aware that doing so may void your homeowners insurance, among other things.)
*Note also that many popular webpages only reference the 2002 NEC code. The GFCI portions of the code were updated in 2008, 2011, and 2014, each time adding more requirements for GFCI. So at this point, it’s Most kitchen outlets with very few exceptions.
Thanks, but i was’t looking to replace the existing outlet hence wanted something similar to ST’s Smart Outlet…
Thanks.
I wasn’t looking to replace the wall socket or outlet precisely for this reason, GFCI in the kitchen. That’s why I wanted to get something similar to ST’s Smart Outlet to add into the existing wall outlets/sockets. The options given by tgauchat & Matt are what I was looking for.
Thanks again.