DaddyFish
“5 percenter”
There's more than a few recent threads about smart switches, smart power strips etc. I found out something (the hard way as usual) about the Kasa power strips...
The 6-outlet, HS-300 power strip has ENERGY monitoring that includes one very helpful statistic... CURRENT POWER. I use this to quickly determine if a pump, UV etc. is drawing the "normal" amount of power, or perhaps not working (very low power consumption), or malfunctioning (binding impeller on a pump) and drawing abnormally high watts. In the case of UV Sterilizer units it's also pretty easy to determine if the UV bulb isn't working. My suggestion is to use the ENERGY monitoring feature and get to know what "normal" looks like so you can easily spot abnormal.
Where things differ is the KP303, 3-outlet power strip, has a RUNTIME monitoring feature that does not include wattage consumption like the HS-300. I've written Kasa asking why, can it be updated or modified, but no response (I assume NO).
So if you really like the wattage monitoring on the HS-300 like I do, be careful about trying to save money on the KP303 when you don't need as many controlled outlets in one spot.
The 6-outlet, HS-300 power strip has ENERGY monitoring that includes one very helpful statistic... CURRENT POWER. I use this to quickly determine if a pump, UV etc. is drawing the "normal" amount of power, or perhaps not working (very low power consumption), or malfunctioning (binding impeller on a pump) and drawing abnormally high watts. In the case of UV Sterilizer units it's also pretty easy to determine if the UV bulb isn't working. My suggestion is to use the ENERGY monitoring feature and get to know what "normal" looks like so you can easily spot abnormal.
Where things differ is the KP303, 3-outlet power strip, has a RUNTIME monitoring feature that does not include wattage consumption like the HS-300. I've written Kasa asking why, can it be updated or modified, but no response (I assume NO).
So if you really like the wattage monitoring on the HS-300 like I do, be careful about trying to save money on the KP303 when you don't need as many controlled outlets in one spot.
