Sharing is caring!
TP-Link Tapo P110 Smart Plug with Energy Monitoring Review Rating
generalize
At £15 full price, the TP-Link Tapo P110 is a great buy. Given the current energy crisis, it is useful to gain insight into energy usage over time. The lack of IFTTT is disappointing, but I could pay more than twice as much for the Kasa KP115 without its features.
- Features – 85%
- Price – 95%
advantage
- Less than half the price of the Kasa KP115
- Historical data via chart
shortcoming
- no IFTT
- App UI is a bit clunky
I recently wrote an article about Try ways to reduce your electricity bill. One of the main tools I used to identify power-hungry devices is now discontinued TP-Link Casa HS110.
It’s an excellent smart plug and have used several of them with the KP105 to monitor and control some of my most power-hungry devices, mainly my PC and servers.
Due to the ridiculous increase in electricity prices, I’ve been working on reducing phantom energy usage lately and looking to expand my range of smart plugs to target common problem devices.
As good as the Kasa plugs are, they are pretty expensive when you compare them to the TP-Link Tapo range. For things like TVs and set-top boxes, I might have a hard time recouping my investment in smart plugs with Kasa.
However, the Tapo P110 is currently on sale for £10 on Amazon, down from the already reasonable £15, while a 4-pack of the Tapo P100 is just £28, and each plug is £7.
I really don’t like using unnecessary apps, but at this price, I wouldn’t complain too much. Additionally, TP-Link has confirmed that they are working on integrating the two systems, and they should be compatible later this year.
Specifications/Features
- Remote control – Instantly turn connected devices on/off via the Tapo app wherever you are
- Schedule – Preset schedules to manage devices automatically
- timer – Create a countdown timer list for connected electronic devices
- voice control – Manage your smart plug using voice commands via Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant
- leave mode – Automatically turn the device on and off at different times, giving a feeling of being at home
- Compact Design – Mini size to avoid blocking adjacent sockets
- Easy to set up and use – No hub required, quick setup and easy management via free app
- monitor energy: Monitor real-time power consumption and energy. Current draw, usage today, and data from the past 30 days. 30-day and 12-month charts.
TP Link Tapo P110 vs Kasa HS110 Design
The Kasa HS110 appears to be discontinued and replaced by the KP115 which has an excellent design similar to the Tapo P110.
The Tapo P110 and Kasa KP115 have been shrunk down to a more convenient size that won’t get in the way of any other plugs. The height of the plug is about the same as a UK plug socket.
Plug dimensions are as follows:
- Tapo P110: 72.0 x 51 x 40 mm
- Casa KP115: 72.5 x 51.5 x 37.5 mm
- Casa H110: 144 x 90 x 88 mm
TP-Link Tapo P110 and Kasa HS110 Applications and Data
One of my biggest annoyances with TP-Link is that they created two very similar product lines and then used two separate apps to separate them. I’m pretty sure the P110 has the same hardware as the KP115.
TP-Link says this will change in the future and should be interoperable with Tapo and Kasa products.
Right now, I’m stuck with two apps.
I’m used to the Kasa app and find it well designed and easy to use. It’s easy to set a schedule and manually control the plug.
I also like the way it displays energy data. You have the current battery and total consumption days, then the daily average of 6 and 7 days total consumption, but the same goes for 30 days. I use this information to see how much power I can save by having my server shut down and start automatically every day. My current daily average is 4.37kWh, now it’s 2.64kWh. In the past, I didn’t care much about 1.73 kWh, but now it’s 32p a day or nearly £10 a month.
The UI of the Tapo app is less polished and I’d say it gives the impression of other cheap Chinese smart home apps. There’s nothing wrong with it, it’s just kind of ugly.
At first, it appears to only provide data on current draws, days in use, and lesser data from the past 30 days. However, clicking on these numbers loads a 30-day and 12-month consumption graph, from which you can view historical daily consumption. This is technically better as I should be able to easily see my energy diminish over a few days/months without taking a screenshot.
In addition to energy monitoring, you have the same scheduling, timer and away functions.
no IFTTT
There’s a big difference between Tapo and Kasa that I didn’t realize until I started writing this review.
TP-Link Tapo lacks IFTTT integration. This can severely limit the home automation features you might want to set up. Hopefully that will change when TP-Link gets Tapo and Kasa to play nice together.
You can still use Alexa to replicate some of IFTTT’s missing features.
Price and Alternatives
This The suggested retail price of the TP-Link Tapo P110 is £14.99 Currently only £9.99. The P100 without energy monitoring is currently priced at £10.35 or £15.50 for a two-pack and £27.99 for a four-pack.
The TP-Link KP115 with energy monitoring is £27.46. There’s also the TP-Link Kasa HS300 Power Strip with 6 plug sockets and 3 USB ports for £103.34.
There are a lot of obscure smart plugs and power strips out there, many at attractive prices, but I don’t know of any others that have energy monitoring.
comprehensive
For just £10 a smart plug that monitors your electricity usage is a great value. It’s even a bargain at £15 full price.
Both the TP-Link Tapo P110 and P100 are excellent plugs that I highly recommend to anyone who wants more control over their electronics and wants to reduce their power consumption.
While I have no intention of using IFTTT for my plugin, the lack of this feature can be very annoying for some users. If you want IFTTT, you’ll have to pay more than twice as much for a Kasa plug.
If you don’t need IFTTT, then I see no reason to buy the Kasa KP115.
Last updated on April 7, 2022 / Affiliate Links / Image from Amazon Product Advertising API
