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

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ZDNET Highlights

• Smart plugs can automate idle devices, but they shouldn’t power everything.
• Devices you can connect include lamps, chargers, fans, string lights, and TVs.
• Skip the smart plug for appliances that get hot, have a compressor, or exceed 1,500W.

Smart plugs have great uses in the home, but they aren’t designed to handle every single electrical device in your home. Using smart plugs incorrectly can lead to dangerous situations, including tripped circuits, damaged plugs, and even house fires. It is important to know which devices can be used with smart plugs and which cannot.

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Typically, smart plugs are rated for a maximum power consumption of 15A, so you should never use a smart plug for anything that draws more power than this, like heavy appliances. Besides amperage, there are other risks to consider before using a smart plug. These include unexpected appliances, those that generate heat, and those that are high priority.

5 Devices You Should Never Plug Into a Smart Plug

Comment: Always check the specifications and instructions for your smart plug to make sure you’re following the manufacturer’s guidance before using it.

1. Heavy-duty tools and equipment

Most smart plugs are rated for 15A, making them suitable for lamps, televisions, computers, fans, and other home appliances. Even if you plug the Smart Plug into a 20A receptacle, its limit will still be at 15A, so you can’t use it for heavy appliances like full-size refrigerators and multiple A/C units.

Even if a heavy-duty appliance is turned on with a smart plug, you will push the plug to its limits, which can trip it, overheat its internal components, and cause it to wear out over time. High current can create excessive heat at the connection points, and many cheap smart plugs cannot dissipate it effectively. If your smart plug smells burnt or shows signs of damage or burning, it means heat is building up inside, and you should not use it with that device.

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Homes typically have mostly 15A outlets, with a few 20A circuits in areas where they are needed most, such as kitchens, bathrooms, laundry rooms, and garages. A 15A receptacle is allowed in a 20A circuit, as long as that circuit has multiple outlets. Some devices require a real 20A outlet with a T-shaped slot, but the 15A smart plug won’t exceed its capacity.

What should you do instead

• Check your device: Common appliances for which you should check the specifications 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 wattage (1,200W-1,800W) for both the device and the smart plug before plugging it in.
• Upgrade when it makes sense: If controlling your devices remotely from a smart component is important to you and you are okay with them changing, it may be worth looking for devices that are already smart.

2. Critical and frequent use equipment

If you have critical medical devices that need to be constantly plugged in, you should never use smart plugs with them. These include oxygen equipment, life support machines, CPAP machines and other essential medical gear.

What you should do instead:

• Skip Smart Plug: People who use these devices need a reliable connection, and even a brief disconnection can be dangerous. Because smart plugs can accidentally turn on or off due to a forgotten routine or voice-control misunderstanding, simply plug them directly into a wall outlet.

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3. Power strips

Unlike critical and medical devices, decisions about power strips are made on a case-by-case basis. The biggest problem with plugging your power strip into a smart plug is unintentional load stacking, which occurs when you add multiple devices to a power strip and their electrical load adds up to an excessive total. When you add multiple devices to your power strip, it’s easy to lose track of each one’s load and how they connect.

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The smart plug processes the total current required for the power strip, whether it’s one or five devices drawing 400W, so it’s easy to exceed the plug’s limit. If you do this, heat will build up within the smart plug and failure is possible.

What should you do instead

• Check your device’s load: A power strip and smart plug combination can work perfectly when used only for low-power devices whose combined load does not exceed 1,400W. These include lamps, chargers, televisions and small fans.
• Higher power goes to the wall: If you need to plug in a heavy-duty appliance or high-powered device, be sure to plug it directly into your wall outlet.
• Plug your power strip directly: Skip the smart plug for your power strip – just plug it directly into the wall to avoid accidental overload.

4. Heating equipment

Plugging a heat-producing appliance into a smart plug has some of the same risks as plugging a heavy-duty device into a smart plug, but it also poses greater risks. Plugging a hot tool into a smart plug might seem like a good idea, since you can turn it off remotely if you forget to unplug it — but that can present its own problems, too.

Some coffee makers, toasters, ovens, hot plates, heating pads, and hot hair styling tools should not be used with the Smart Plug. here’s why:

• Excessive heat should not be automated: Hot tools and equipment can cause fires that can get out of control if not taken care of. A person using a heating device knows not to turn it on when it’s on a towel or near water, but the smart plug doesn’t do that. For example, hot hair tools are one of the leading causes of home fires.
• Avoid accidental activation: Never use a smart plug on a device that gets hot 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 even automations or routines. There may be mistakes in them too. Considering how often Alexa misunderstands me and starts doing bad things in my house, I’m very aware of the risks.
• It overheats and exceeds limits: Some heating appliances may not exceed the smart plug’s limit at all times, but they may have wattage spikes. Check your device’s specifications to determine how much power it draws at high temperatures.

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What should you do instead

• Buy Safe Tools: I do put some heating appliances on smart plugs, but I make sure they are ones that require someone to physically turn them on after they are plugged in, and that they have an auto-off feature after a certain amount of time. I only use smart plugs for appliances that don’t draw a lot of energy near the plug’s limits. For example, I don’t use them for my hair dryer.
• Check the specifications of your smart plug: It will tell you if the wattage and amperage are within the smart plug’s limits, which you should confirm before using.
• Plug it into the wall: When in doubt, plug your heating device directly into the wall instead of using a smart plug. You should never take the risk if your device could overheat, melt, or cause a fire.

5. Tools that run automatically

There are devices that cycle automatically throughout the day and should not be plugged into a smart plug. Some AC units, dehumidifiers, and refrigerators have internal sensors that need to run constantly for the devices to function properly. A smart plug that turns these types of appliances off and on can damage their compressor or shorten their lifespan.

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It’s not about drawing a lot of power; Appliances with compressors require time to equalize their internal pressure when turned off. If you plug in a smart plug for one of these appliances and the power comes back on too quickly, the compressor has to fight built up pressure and overheat, struggles to start, or even has its protective system malfunction.

What should you do instead

• Plug it into the wall: Like the other devices above, if you need to run an appliance constantly, your best option is to plug it directly into a wall outlet.
• Upgrade to a smart device: If having smart control over automatically running devices is important to you and you are willing to upgrade, you can purchase the Smart version.