SONOFF S31 WiFi Smart Plug with Energy Monitoring, 15A Smart Outlet Socket ETL Certified, Work with Alexa & Google Home Assistant, IFTTT Supporting, 2.4 Ghz WiFi Only (2-Pack)
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J. Whiteside
16-12-2024Like many other reviewers, I have purchased this particular switch to install Tasmota on. I use them for energy monitoring, and in some cases their original intent - outlet switching, in my home. I buy whatever pack is cheapest per unit at the time, be it 1, 2 or 4 pack versions. Theyre all the same in my experience. To get them installed with Tasmota, I first tried to solder leads to them. Then I tried to solder pin headers and that was a little bit easier. Im slightly beyond entry level skill with soldering, but I destroyed at least three units in this learning process. I finally graduated to micro-grabber electrical test clips and have ripped through over two dozen conversions now without incident. Lets be frank. Id rather Sonoff just offered Tasmota OS from the get-go, or made these over-the-air flashable. I will settle for nothing less than local control and Im definitely not itching for a new and different cloud solution or app. Id prefer not to hack these devices in the first place and if Sonoff works towards preventing this from a hardware or software standpoint, I will buy no more of them. At the time of this writing (March 2022), this is probably one of the cheapest way to get local energy monitoring and basic 15 amp capable on/off outlet switching. I use Home Assistant for my home automation platform. These are fully compatible with their new energy monitoring dashboard. This provides me with significant insight into my homes energy use, especially now that theyre widely distributed to the overwhelming majority of my outlets. I usually capture between 13-18 kilowatt hours per day, the bulk of my usage. To be clear, I use higher grade energy monitoring switches in mission critical applications (furnace, fridge, etc.), but these are great even for non-mission critical high amp usage scenarios up to 15 amps. Ive pushed some of mine well up to the limits and havent had any major problems or sparks fly. Out of a couple dozen, Ive had one actual device failure. Oddly enough, even with different firmware, different units operate differently on my WiFi. Some stay connected to Wifi 100% of the time, others intermittently connect throughout the day. I dont lose any granular Home Assistant data because of this, nor are they ever inaccessible and fail to turn on/off. I dont have a good answer as to why different units behave differently with the same software. Odd behavior, but it doesnt result in problems. I really cant complain anyway, Im using them well outside of the manufacturers intended use. Build quality is good enough but I wish there was a bit more consistency. Since the majority of buyers are intending to hack these, I really wish they wouldnt cinch down some of the poor-quality screws like they are Shee-Ra or the Hulk. Ive destroyed way more screws than Ive wanted, and thats with the perfect screw removal tool which Ive determined to be a 2.0mm flathead screwdriver. Again, I just wish I could buy a decent quality, super cheap, 15 amp capable smart switch product with the OS of my choice out of the gate. Ive used these to solve VERY REAL problems in my home. From triggering outlets based on other inputs to making serious dents in energy conservation, I believe the $200ish dollars Ive put into these Sonoff S31 units will eventually pay for themselves. Its fairly easy for me when Im paying almost $0.25 per kilowatt hour, others might not have as good of an ROI. If anything, Ive achieved some level of energy usage consciousness. Ive killed and/or automated quite a few parasitic energy draws I wasnt even aware of, and have easily increased my automation abilities at the same time. Its important to know that these utilize about 2 watts each, just to function. This might not seem like much, but with two+ dozen of them running 24 hours a day - were talking about a ~50 watt constant load just to monitor outlet energy. For me, Ive killed and automated much more than that, so Im in the black as it were. Its important, at least for me, to keep tabs on the cost and value of energy monitoring. Im hoping I can continue to use these to save at least $500 in energy in the next 5 years, and so far, that seems to be a reasonable goal based on how I use them. Lastly, I dont want to get too much into minutia, but you need a fairly robust WiFi network to support the internet of things over WiFi. Personally, I utilize multiple networks, including Lutron, Z-Wave, Zigbee and WiFi to get there. Put simply, I dont use these cheap and ubiquitous hacked WiFi devices to service mission critical applications in any way. If a failure would cost me a fair bit of money, I spend more than $10 to capture energy usage and (sometimes) provide switching capabilities. +4 stars for being a hackable and very useful device overall. You can debate about that last star, even I waver between 4 and 5 stars. They provide much value for not much dollar and a reasonable +/-2 year path to return on investment for many people that are trying to optimize energy consumption or provide local, automated switching controls.
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Dona
> 3 dayEasy to pair and get it working. Alexa, lights on, Alexa lights off! This plug is very handy! I am going to use it for my Christmas tree when its time! Looking forward to not having to struggle with the outlet each night.
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Careful Consumer
> 3 dayThese were not so easily added to the Alexa controlled system. Instructions did not track with the way I had to install them. The plug is large and the light/button, instead of being on the front, is on the side which means horizontal outlets, depending on orientation, may make it impossible to see the status light.
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Mr. Mod
> 3 dayThe Android application itself it quite underdeveloped. It has basic features like a timer, usage graphing, and naming conventions, but lacks any sort of optimization.
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Rigoberto Pérez
15-12-2024Wifi loose connection all the time, device became useless,
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Jared Dunbar
> 3 dayI bought these to use with Tasmota and it works great! Easy to disassemble with a screwdriver and a spudger, easy to solder points that are clearly labeled for programming, and doesnt look scratched up from disassembly at all. The Tasmota software is even able to see the power factor, watts, apparent power, volts, and amps! I didnt try the app that came with it, it probably sucks as most smart outlet apps do.
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Tyler Crews
> 3 daySo far they work great. Easy to connect to my wifi and haven’t had any issues. Big fan of the power usage monitoring.
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pen name
Greater than one weekWorks well with Home Assistant.
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Alex
> 3 dayPretty good, but kinda bulgy. Still good
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Miguel S.
> 3 dayExcelente compra, la configuración con la app eWelink se debe realizar primero via bluetooth y luego si enlazar al wifi 2.4Ghz. A través de ésta app se puede visualizar el consumo real de electricidad del aparato conectado. Enchufes muy estables, espero tengan la durabilidad adecuada