Kasa Switch

The ability to turn a light switch off and on by itself would be great, wouldn’t it? Well, we are in the most significant technology movement we have seen. So is it possible? That is the question I hope to answer.

Back story

I talked about how I tried to be smart when it came to building my house back in 1999 by adding plugs that are controlled by a switch. It was easy on me and made me look really smart.

It did for the longest time. We could turn it on and off very easily, but when we weren’t home, It didn’t do anything but just sat there turned off. So the house looked dark and lonely.

I got a couple of smart plugs (but this is a topic for another blog post). I needed something to control the plugs that were controlled by light switches.  That would make my life a whole lot better.

Smart Switch

I am not sure when these became a thing—they could have been around in the 1400s, and I just found them now. But this has been a lifesaver.

My neighbor suggested that I use the Kasa smart switch by TP-Link. He uses them for his house, so I thought, what the heck? I picked up one of these on Amazon back in October 2019. Then I bought a couple more, for a total of three.

The model number I got was Kasa Smart (HS200). Here are the features:

• Single Pole
• Needs neutral Wire
• 2.4Ghz WIFI
• Works with Alexa and Google Assistant
• UL Certified

Was this what I needed?

Install

I am sure I have a video or pictures of my son installing it. Yes, I made him do it. He needs to learn how to do this type of stuff. I mean, I learned how to do this when I was little. I was there to supervise.

The installation went quickly. Well, we had to install several smart switches that day, three in total, and fix four other light switches. Yes, one of those was another brand of Smart Switch. I will talk about that in the next post.

What these operate

The three Kasa switch I have I labeled them

• Living room light
• Cairo Light
• Fireplace

I have a lamp in two of those places. The Fireplace just means to me that the plug is by the fireplace; it doesn’t operate the fireplace. There was a lamp there, but I moved the lamp, or I should say my wife told me to move it, and it powers the Christmas stuff at Christmas time.

Useful

I know I am not like many people or people who don’t think like me. I don’t know. When my aunt and uncle built their house, they had one outlet per plug in the living room on a switch. So, if you plugged anything in the top plug, you would have to turn on a switch. They think along my lines. They want to control the flow of power to certain lights when needed and have a method of turning them all off at one time.

These can also be used to turn on other stuff. Like, what gadget guy? Well, let me tell you.

• Outside lights
  • To turn on at dusk and off at dawn
• To turn on a ceiling fan
• Bedroom lights

I could go on, but you can turn on anything that runs on a switch. Now, that is smart.

Yes, this runs on an app; here is what It looks like.

Check out the video below

My opinion

Well, did you think I would not give my opinion? I like these switches; they have helped me out in so many ways. I can now have lights on at certain times, and it turns lights off at certain times. It makes life a lot better. Now I can go on a trip, knowing that the house isn’t dark and lonely and will attract the bad people of the world.

This is a different type of post then my usual ones, I thought I would try a different approach.  I hope you like it.

Video

YouTube Video