You Can Make Your Home Smarter Without Buying All New Tech

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In Lifehacker’s series, “A Guide to Automating Your Entire Home,” we’re highlighting all the ways you can power your home with autonomous technology, room by room. Whether you want to build a smart security system, turn a “dumb” device smart, or simply control your lights from your phone, this guide will help walk you through it.

If you're starting out with smart home tech, you may feel overwhelmed by all the devices and protocols available to automate every part of your routine. But you don't need to invest a lot of time and money up front to replace all of your electronics. Instead, consider adding wifi-enabled smart plugs around the house to turn your "dumb" devices smart.

Smart plugs, which are available from well-known brands like Wyze, TP-Link, Amazon, and GE as well as many others, transform your regular outlets into smart alternatives that can be turned on and off remotely, set on schedules, and even controlled with voice commands. All you have to do is plug them in and connect them to an app, and your lights, small appliances, and other electronics become smart.

GE Cync Smart Indoor Plug, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Enabled, Works with Alexa & Google Home, Smart Outlet

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$25.99 Save $9.99

Some of the best smart plugs have useful features like timers, sunrise and sunset scheduling, energy monitoring, and away modes as well as compatibility with smart home platforms from Google, Amazon, and Apple.

Automate your daily routines

With smart plugs, you can put your morning routine on autoplay by setting various devices to activate at specified times. For example, schedule your bedroom lights to switch on to wake you up and have your coffee maker begin brewing simultaneously (don't forget to set it up the night before). You could even use a smart plug in your bathroom to heat up your hair tools before you need to use them.

You can set up routines for each individual plug, or you could link them with a voice assistant—using an Alexa-enabled device, for example—to start the whole routine with a single command. The same concept could apply at bedtime, in reverse: Use smart plugs like sleep timers for your lights and your streaming devices or even for preheating an electric blanket or turning on a space heater in your bedroom.

Control indoor and outdoor lights

Smart plugs can be used to automate your lights even if you don't have smart bulbs. You could set the lamps in your living room to turn off around bedtime and on in the morning—then off again when you leave for work and back on when you return. Or connect your outdoor string lights to a weather-resistant smart plug with a routine to automatically turn on in the evening around sunset and off after an hour or two. Smart plugs are also great for scheduling and automating Christmas lights and indoor grow lights. Aanything you want a timer for, you can do with a smart plug.

Using IFTTT capabilities—or as part of a larger smart home ecosystem if you have one—you could link smart plugs with motion sensors to have lights turn on for a set period of time when motion is detected. This could be useful at night in kitchens or common areas after the lights have been turned off as well as in garages and basements. Outdoor lights could be set to activate when a security camera picks up activity. Other uses of IFTTT include having a fan or heater turn on or off when your thermostat hits a specific temperature.

With smart plugs, there's no need to flip switches or unplug from outlets, making light control much more convenient. As an added bonus, you can save energy (and reduce your power bill) by tweaking routines so lights aren't on when they don't need to be.

Because smart plugs can be automated and controlled remotely, you can also use them for security when you're away: Set your lights to turn off and on at specified times so it looks like you're home.

Command your home appliances

If you have devices you want to manage power to, whether you're away from home or simply across the house, connect them to smart plugs—for example, you can put a water kettle or bottle warmer on a schedule, or at least hometurn them on remotely when you need them. Or set up timers for decorative elements like water fountains, aquarium lights, air fresheners, wax melts, and more.

Smart plugs are also useful for ensuring electronics are turned off, like the aforementioned hair tools and space heaters. If you can't remember whether you flipped the switch before you left home, check the power consumption of the smart plugs they're attached to and disable them if needed.

If you run your washer or dryer through a smart plug, you can get alerts to your phone when they finish their cycles.

Access hard-to-reach outlets

With a smart plug, you can control devices connected to outlets in hard-to-reach places—such as high on a wall or behind heavy furniture or in a far corner of your garage—without needing to climb on a ladder or move things out of the way. Plugging the device in initially is the hard part, but after that, you can simply toggle the power on and off via the app or voice command or set up an automation.

This can also be useful for controlling electronics in areas you don't walk through often, such as water pumps and dehumidifiers in basements and fans in attics and garages.

Monitor energy usage

Smart plugs provide useful data about the energy draw of various appliances and electronics. When a device is plugged in, you can see its real-time energy usage as well as historical data. Use this to reduce standby or "vampire" power, manage battery strain, and identify inefficient, energy-hungry electronics so you can make more informed (and cost-conscious) decisions about your devices.

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