NEWS – The holiday season is upon us, and it’s time to begin thinking about putting out lights on our porches and on our lawns. If you’re looking for a smart plug that you can use to control those lights from inside your house, then you might want to take a look at Belkin’s newly released Wemo WiFi Smart Outdoor Plug. It hangs straight down from your existing outdoor outlet and offers a pair of IP44 weather resistant outlets. You can control the outlets using Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, or Hey Google. It connects to your home’s WiFi but does not require a subscription or a central hub device. If you use the Home app or the Wemo app, you can set a schedule when your lights come on, perhaps from 8-10pm every night. The plug also has an “Away Mode” that turn the lights on and off randomly to make it appear like you’re home, even when you’re not. This gadget is currently available for pre-order for $39.99 from Belkin’s website, and it has an Amazon page that’s not yet in stock. Wemo is the connected home division of Belkin, an American manufacturer of consumer electronics.
UPDATE (4 Novermber 2020) – I bought one of these for myself and put it out front. It powers a set of lights that we setup along the front porch. As it supports HomeKit, I use automation to automatically turn them on at 6:30 PM every night and turn them off three hours later. After a week, I can say it works like a champ, and I’m very happy with my choice.
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Too bad it is WEMO. I was in the WEMO eco system (4 wall switches, 7 plugs). JUNK. Switched to Kasa. Have had very good luck with them.
I actually bought this smart plug for myself. Once I’ve had it running for a while, I’ll let you know how it goes.
Yeah, my WEMOs randomly wig out every now and then. All together too. I am suspecting it’s sensitivity to some wifi packet bug. My other equipment is usually fine, so it’s not a power surge.