Smart Plug for Hot Water Recirculation Pump
The previous post described how a hot water recirculation pump solved a problem with a shower that took a long time to get hot water.
One problem that was mentioned is that the included dial timer to control the pump was prone to problems of getting out of synch if there is a power outage and the dial stops turning. Also the settings of the dial timer aren’t real accurate given that they are in 15-minute increments:
Solution - Kasa Outdoor Smart Plug
As mentioned in the previous post I thought that the Kasa Outdoor Smart Plug would be a good solution as we already use one for the string lights on the outdoor patio. These devices use the local wifi network for setup and integrate well with a smart-phone app called Kasa.
Installation
Since the timing will be controlled by the plug and power will be delivered to the pump only when it the plug is on, the switch on the pump dial timer that is shown above should be set to “ON” insted of “TIMER”. That way it will come on any time it is getting power.
The Smart Plug is easy to install. It is first plugged into the wall or outdoor plug and an indicator light will start flashing on the top of the device to indicate it is ready for installation.
Then at that point you can use the Kasa app to complete the installation. Once installed the app will show the device with the name given during the installation. Since there wasn’t an icon available for the hot water pump I added one from a picture that I took earlier and this is what it looks like from the app’s device list:
The button to the right of each device can be used to turn the plug on and off remotely from any location.
Scheduling the Plug
To schedule the smart plug to come on at the desired time, there is a scheduling function on the app for each device. The start and stop time for one or more intervals can be set by adding the times for the app:
These timings are very precise and are based on the time from the network.
Integration With Google Home and Amazon Alexa
The Kasa app can also integrate with Google Home and Amazon Alexa which allows for voice commands to control the pump directly. For example: “OK Google, turn on the Hot Water Pump”.
In Conclusion
The Kasa Smart Plug is a very good solution and eliminates the worry about the timing getting out of synch and offers a lot of flexibility in case we need to turn the pump on at a different time for a one-off shower. In that case you can also set a timer on the app to ensure that the pump will be turned off after an interval time.
There are other devices that are available for the Kasa system including smart bulbs, switches, door bells, dimmers, security cameras, etc. They can all be combined together to create a smart home environment.