Privacy-compatible "smart" electric outlet?

Hey everyone,

I would like an outdoor, wifi-enabled electric outlet adapter so I can turn on the heat in a cat shelter. My dream device would have an IP address, an authentication mechanism, and an API with at least three functions: turn it on; turn it off; report whether it’s on or off.

Every product I see online (e.g, https://www.costco.com/feit-electric-wi-fi-smart-outdoor-plug%2C-2-pack.product.100515906.html) brags about compatibility with Alex, Google Home, and the like. But I consider these are liabilities, not features. I am happy to control it from inside my home network with curl or a dedicated client I would write. If I want to control it from afar I would SSH onto a box inside my home network and do it from there.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

Greetings, nice to see you here. :wave:

Precisely. Indubitably.

That’s too much difficult work for most users, which is why such products aren’t popular, which also means it’s hard to find, if it is at all available.

The best thing I can think of for your situation would be to check out what devices are most compatible with something like OpenHAB and then pick one from those. As far as I know, this is the best middle ground you can get, without spending too much money and effort on such a little thing.

If a device is compatible with that open source application, then you will be able to use it without the spyware, even if you cannot control it directly through curl. :wink: