How Much is Too Much?

Adding Smart Home Functionality to Your Lights – What Can They Handle?

If you are looking for an opportunity to jump into automating your smart home devices, your holiday lights and decorations are a great place to get started.

Gone are the days of being asked to go around and make sure all the lights are on, or having to try and set the schedule with pins on a noisy clicking manual timer.

❄️ Need Something to Show You Why You Should Replace Existing Incandescent Holiday Lights with LEDs?

Most holiday lights you see across the market today are LED lights, due to their efficiency and significant decrease in energy consumption.

While the drastic increase in our electric bill used to be something we had to consider, moving your decorations to LEDs costs the same as leaving a few extra lights on each night! For example, consider using the following general averages for C7 and C9 incandescent holiday lights based on a few popular products on the market.

 

	Incandescent (Watts Per Bulb)	LED (Watts Per Bulb)	Energy Consumption (Watts Per 100 Bulbs)
String Lights	0.425	0.072	42.5W vs 7.2W
C9 Bulbs (Larger)	7	0.6	700W vs 60W
C7 Bulbs (Smaller)	5	0.6	500W vs 60W

 

💡 Can I Use a Smart Plug with My Lights?

Most smart plugs offered by Tapo and Kasa are rated to handle up to 1800W, allowing you to automate most modern-day lights and devices.

Most Home Circuits are rated for 15A. This means that all devices consuming power on a circuit must add up to less than 15A. While our Outdoor Smart Plugs are rated for up to 1875W, please consider your overall environment and circuit load to avoid overloading your breaker and circuits.

When possible, spread the load of your decorations and lights across multiple circuits and locations in your home. This will be far safer, and with automation or groups for your smart plugs, you can still have your National Lampoon moment by turning them all on simultaneously.

 

⚡ Can I Use my Smart Plug with my Appliances? What Types of Devices are Recommended?

However, if you connect the appliance that has a motor inside (i.e. Air-conditioner, fan, pool filter, water pump, etc.) behind the plug, it is a bit more complicated.

Such Appliances are also called Inductive load-type appliances, which will produce a much higher instantaneous peak current at the moment they are powered on. This may shorten the plug’s lifespan or even damage the plug if it exceeds the plug's limits.

Please compare the horsepower rating of your device against the rating provided by your appliance:

• 1/2HP: KP400 / KP200 / KP401/ HS100 / HS110
• 1/6HP: HS103 /HS105/ HS107/ KP115 / KP125

Note: If the type of load device is capacitive or inductive, the maximum power/current of the load device cannot exceed 1/6 of the rated power/current value of the plug.

 

Ready to Get Started?

Check out the Outdoor Smart Plugs from Tapo and Kasa: Kasa EP40A, EP40, KP401, and the Tapo TP25:

When Looking to Purchase a Smart Plug for your lights, always verify that your plug will not be overloaded, especially if your holiday lights allow you to connect multiple strands together

 

Looking to Automate Your Indoor Lights and Decorations; or Keep Track Your Energy Usage?

Measure Your Holiday Spirit: Using Smart Plugs to Save Energy and Measure Usage

 

	EP40M Outdoor Plug w/Matter	EP40A Outdoor Plug w/ Homekit	EP40 Dual Outdoor Plug	KP400 Dual Outdoor Plug	KP401 Outdoor Plug	TP25 / P400M Dual Outdoor Plug w/ Matter
Product Overview	EP40M	EP40A	EP40	KP400	KP401	TP25 / P400M
Connection Method	Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi / Bluetooth-Setup
Number of Outlets	2	2	2	2	1	2
Individual Control	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	-	✔️
Weatherproofing	IP64	IP64	IP64	IP64	IP64	IP65
Maximum Load	15A / 1875W	15A / 1875W ½ HP	15A / 1875W ½ HP	15A / 1875W ½ HP	15A / 1875W ½ HP	15A / 1875W ½ HP
Matter-Certified	✔️	✖️	✖️	✖️	✖️	✔️
Apple HomeKit	✖️	✔️	✖️	✖️	✖️
Voice Control	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️
Away Mode	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️
Dimmable	✖️	✖️	✖️	✖️	✖️	✖️
Buy Now		Amazon	Amazon	Amazon	Amazon
Operating Temperature		-20 ºC ~ 50 ºC (-4°F ~122°F )