Just because your goal is to have a smart home doesn’t mean that every item you own has to be smart. The same old lamps, fans, humidifiers, kitchen appliances, hair styling tools, and even water heating systems you’ve already got in your house can be made “smart” by plugging them into a Wi-Fi enabled smart outlet.

Essentially, what this smart plug does is let you control and monitor whatever device/appliance you’ve got connected to it, from anywhere you are in the world (provided you have internet). You can even use voice commands via Alexa or Google Assistant (using either your smartphone or an integrated device like the Amazon Echo) to turn things on or off without raising a finger.

Never again do you have to worry about being away from home and wondering whether you forgot to turn something off. You can check in on those kinds of things — along with energy consumption — anytime you like, or you can simply set up timers to customize exactly when things should be active. There’s also an ‘Away Mode’ you can activate while traveling that will randomly turn things on and off and potentially deter would-be home intruders.

As I write this on January 31st, 2023, the KP115 mini smart plug is temporarily out of stock on Amazon, but once it’s back, you can expect a price anywhere between $13–$20 per plug.