Smart home technology is one of the fastest growing sections of technology. It is very convenient to be able to turn things on or off with your phone or voice. Also it is just plain cool. A lot of people are not sure where to start building their smart home though. Do you use Google, Alexa, Smart Things? I would recommend Google or Alexa since they are the main players in voice assistant technology. Also they usually don’t require a hub to connect things to them. Luckily the TP-Link Kasa Smart Wifi Plug Lite (model HS103) works with both.
The other thing that most people have trouble with is figuring out what products to start with. Usually I recommend a smart speaker of some sort first. This isn’t a requirement though since you can use the smart assistant on your phone to run your smart devices. The next thing that I always recommend is a smart plug adapter. These adapters can make anything you plug into them smart by allowing you to turn them on or off with a voice command. You can also push a button in the app on your phone from anywhere as long as you have an internet connection. This makes them great to use with lamps that have hard to reach switches, diffusers, coffee makers, or anything else that you want to be able to turn on or off with your voice or an app.
Design
The Kasa Smart Wifi Plug Lite is a very well designed smart plug adapter. It is a nice glossy white to match almost all outlet plates. The other thing that makes this a very well designed smart plug adapter is its size. A lot of adapters are a little too large. They either hang over the sides of the wall plate and/or block the other outlet when they are in. The Kasa Plug Lite does neither of those things. TP-Link did a very good job of making this plug adapter just the right size.
Another thing that I appreciate is that this plug has no LED lights when it is off. Most adapters have a LED light whether they are on or off. This can get a bit annoying in a dark room. Also by having no light this adapter does not draw attention to itself. It just helps it blend into the room. A nice blue LED does turn on when you turn on the plug. I don’t mind this though since it lets you know if it is on or not.
The adapter itself is three pronged, so it is grounded. If you have old wiring in your house that has no ground wire then you will not be able to plug in this adapter. The other thing to note is that this particular model of adapter is only rated for 12 amps. Most standard houses have either 15 amp or 20 amp breakers. Since the Kasa Plug Lite is only rated for 12 amps you have to watch what you plug into it. Some things that work normally may overload this adapter.
A good way to estimate how many amps something uses is to assume 1 amp per 100 W of load. So if you have a 100W light bulb on it is probably using approximately 1 amp. This shouldn’t be much of an issue though unless you are trying to plug in something that heats up. Coffee Makers, Toasters, Hair Dryers, etc. all may draw over 12 amps. TP-Link does make another adapter that can go up to 15 amps, so you may need to look at that model if you want to use it with higher draw products.
Setup
The first thing that you do when you are setting up the TP-Link Kasa Smart Wifi Plug is download the Kasa App. The Kasa app is pretty well designed. Another nice thing about the Kasa app is that the same app will run any Kasa device that you buy. TP-Link makes a whole slew of smart home products like cameras, smart switches, smart outlets, etc. so having one app to control them all is nice. The app also lets you set up other things like automations if you want. You can also use the app without Google or Alexa to run the devices. You just will not have the ability to turn things on or off with your voice. To do that you need to link the app with Google Assistant or Alexa which is really easy to do.
Once you have the app installed you have to plug in the adapter. After you plug it in the LED will flash orange and blue. If for some reason it doesn’t flash just push the power button on the side. Next, you open the app and click the “+” icon to add a new device. The app will find your device and you go through a short setup and tell the device what wifi network to connect to. After a minute or so your device’s LED should turn blue and the adapter will be connected and turned on. At this point you can press the button on the app to turn it off or go to your voice assistants app to link your TP-Link account.
USE
Using the adapter couldn’t be easier. Like I mention above you can use the app directly to turn it on or off manually or you can connect it to your voice assistant and use your voice to turn it on or off. You can still turn it on or off manually if you want as well. I have a few of these adapters around my house. I have one plugged into a ambient light lamp behind my TV, a couple plugged into some Himalayan Salt Lamps and another plugged into a wax melter.
These devices are in three separate rooms in my house. Since I have them hooked up with Google Assistant I have set up routines to be able to turn them all on or off with one command as well as a couple other commands. That is just an example of how these can be used in your smart home. It is very nice to be able to say one command and have a bunch of things turn off when going to bed or leaving the house. You can also turn things on or off on a schedule or manually from anywhere that you have an internet connection. This can come in handy when you accidentally leave a light on or if you want to turn something on to make it look like you are home.
Conclusion
The TP-Link Kasa Smart Wifi Plug Lite well designed and very easy to use. It works flawlessly and can convert many non-smart devices into smart devices. The only things that you can’t use it for are anything that draws over 12 amps or devices that default to off when the power cuts out. For anything that turns back on when the power is cut and turned back on these are amazing. To me the best use is with lamps. With these adapters there is no more need to climb behind or over furniture to turn on a lamp that is in a corner or to turn on something that has the switch on the cord.
I would recommend the TP-Link Kasa Smart Wifi Plug Lite (model HS103) to anybody. If you are just getting started building your smart home this is a great place to start. The Kasa app is well designed and easy to use. Also since TP-Link makes a whole slew of different smart home products you can continue to add a lot of different devices to your smart home and will not have to add a bunch of different apps. It doesn’t hurt that almost all Kasa products come at a very good price either.
Click the pic on the left to see an unboxing video of the TP-Link Kasa Smart WiFi Plug Lite.
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