HomeKit surge protectors are a popular way to add HomeKit support to multiple appliances at the same time. Many of them allow you to individually control each outlet using the Home app, Siri, or an automation. This week, I am looking at the Energy Strip as a HomeKit option for power strips and built-in energy monitoring.
HomeKit Weekly is a series focused on smart home accessories, automation tips and tricks, and everything to do with Apple’s smart home framework.
Eve is one of the best manufacturers of HomeKit products, and they’ve been a strong proponent of Thread technology, which I believe will be a vital piece of smart home automation in the future.
Unboxing and setup
One of the first things I noticed about the Eve Energy Strip is the build quality. It’s a premium product that does command a premium price. It’s built out of aluminum and a small amount of plastic. Of all the HomeKit strips I’ve used, it has the best build quality by far.
The plug is flat, so it’s easy to locate the strip behind a dresser or TV cabinet. It contains three outlets that can all be individually controlled by HomeKit. By controlling them individually, you could plug in a couple of lamps and then control them independently from each other.
Because Eve is all in on HomeKit, you can add the product without onboarding it into another cloud provider first. All that is required is to add a new device in the Home app, scan the QR code, and then it’s up and running. If you do have the Eve iPhone app, you’ll get some more information about energy usage and get firmware update options. I did have a firmware update when I set it up, so it’s probably worth grabbing the app as well. As I mentioned, Eve doesn’t run its cloud, so the app is just reading what’s in your Home app.
How I am using Eve Energy Strip
I am using the Eve energy strip to get the ability to reboot the critical parts of my network remotely. There are times when switches or access points. Many of these devices are difficult to access because of where they are in our coat closet, so by having them connected to an outlet, I can turn off and on using Siri; I don’t have to worry about determining which plug is which in the closet. A quick toggle of the outlet in the Home app will reboot the devices.
You can use this product to control lamps or other appliances. But, even if you don’t need to turn the devices plugged into it off and on, you could use it to monitor energy consumption inside the app. This tracking could be beneficial for understanding how a game system draws power when it’s not being used, etc.
Wrap up
The Eve Energy Strip is an excellent option for controlling non-HomeKit devices and tracking energy consumption. It’s not the cheapest HomeKit strip on the market. Still, it comes from a great manufacturer of HomeKit products, and its premium build quality will make it an excellent product for any HomeKit environment.
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