How to make your old geyser ‘smart’

You are fast asleep on a cold winter morning and you need warm water when you wake up after 30 minutes. This is when you may start cursing your geyser as you have to get up early just to switch it on. Now, if you have a newer instant hot water system at your home then this will not be a problem. However, most households in India still use storage water heaters which take time to provide warm water. So, if you are wondering how you can turn your old geyser ‘smart’ without spending too much, then here’s an affordable option.

Enter smart plugs that support Wi-Fi. Not just geysers, you can control any home appliance from your mobile phone or through voice commands from an Amazon Echo speaker with these plugs. Smart plugs will let you turn on the geysers, AC or any other appliance while you are in bed or at a different location.

Smart plugs are easy to install and you simply need a fast Wi-Fi internet connection. These smart plugs are available for sockets of different power ratings. There are different plugs for ACs, geysers and other high-power appliances. So, you need not worry about safety and compatibility. You just need to insert the smart plug on to a wall socket, configure it via the app or Amazon Alexa and then plug the appliance into the smart socket. It simply acts like a bridge between the wall socket and your appliance.

Interestingly, most smart plugs offer a scheduler option as well. This means you can schedule your geyser or AC to turn on automatically at a certain time everyday. Also, if you are stuck at the office, you can switch on the AC or geyser from there itself and get hot water or a cool room when you reach.

Here’s what you need to know and some examples of smart plugs that you can buy:

Always check the power rating of the appliance and smart plug that you are buying.

Get a good Wi-Fi internet connection as you will not be able run these devices with your mobile hotspot.

Remember that you need not change your wiring or plug point to connect a smart plug.

Smartplug options

As for smart plug options, you can opt for the
Oakter (16 Amp) WiFi Smart Plug priced at Rs 999. It comes with its own app and supports Amazon Alexa smart speakers. The plug and play device just requires users to plug it to a wall socket. Other similar smart plugs include
Helea 16A Wi-Fi Smart Plug that can be used with ACs, geysers and water motors. It is compatible with both Alexa and Google Assistant. There are several other smart plug options available online that buyers can look at. These two are just examples. The functionality is the same .