{"id":21831,"date":"2014-04-07T08:16:15","date_gmt":"2014-04-07T07:16:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automatedhome.com\/?p=21831"},"modified":"2020-04-19T17:24:34","modified_gmt":"2020-04-19T16:24:34","slug":"review-home-automation-insider-on-the-fibaro-z-wave-wall-plug","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automatedhome.com\/reviews\/review-home-automation-insider-on-the-fibaro-z-wave-wall-plug.html","title":{"rendered":"Review: Home Automation Insider on the Fibaro Z-Wave Wall Plug"},"content":{"rendered":"

In what we hope will be a regular slot, we’ve talked Automated Home reader, turned Home Automation Industry Insider, Martyn Wendon, into reviewing some smart home kit.\u00a0For his first review we asked him to give us the low down on the\u00a0Fibaro’s Z-Wave Wall Plug.<\/p>\n

Background<\/h2>\n

I\u2019ve been a Z-Wave convert for several years now and have been slowly migrating my legacy Home Automation equipment across to equivalent Z-Wave devices. Unfortunately there\u2019s a lack of \u201cmetering\u201d wall plug socket to suit the UK style, so this is one area that I\u2019ve not been able to migrate so far.<\/p>\n

Despite several rumours of UK style wall plug sockets from manufacturers like Everspring, TKB, Philio and Fibaro, nothing has been released yet and I\u2019ve waited long enough! So I decided to look at using a Schuko version of plug socket in the meantime with appropriate adapters and since these would likely add bulk I decided that starting out with the smallest possible device was a wise move.<\/p>\n

Out of all of the available Schuko plug sockets the Fibaro version is incredibly compact at just 65mm long by 43mm wide.<\/p>\n

New Toy Buzz<\/h2>\n

After the obligatory \u201cunboxing\u201d ceremony \u2013 yep, even on a device like this \u2013 I gave the device a quick once over. It\u2019s not often that I\u2019d refer to a piece of hardware as \u201ccute\u201d, but I think that about sums up the looks of the Fibaro FGWPE\/F-101 Wall Plug! It really is tiny, not much bigger than a USB stick of a few generations vintage.<\/p>\n

\"fibaro_wall_plug_unbox\"<\/p>\n

As a side note, I have to tip my hat to the Fibaro design team, they really do come up with some incredibly good looking devices compared to their competition. Even the boxes are nice \u2013 I\u2019ve been buying a lot of Z-Wave gear in recent years and the vast majority of it comes in plain brown boring boxes. Fibaro even manage to make the packaging look sexy!<\/p>\n

Looks Aren\u2019t Everything<\/h2>\n

In readiness for the imminent new arrival I\u2019d ordered some Schuko <-> UK adapters and a Schuko <-> UK extension lead, so I set about attaching them to the Fibaro wall plug in various combinations to see what it looked like. To be honest, I was a little disappointed, the cuteness of the Fibaro plug rapidly disappeared when it was surrounded by the black plastic adapters.<\/p>\n

Maybe I could have sourced some white ones instead and they would have looked less obtrusive. But really, once the Fibaro wall plug is \u201cin use\u201d and tucked behind a cupboard, sofa or A\/V unit of some description, it\u2019s not going to be visible anyway, so do I actually care what it looks like?<\/p>\n

\"fibaro_wall_plug_adaptor\"<\/p>\n

Aesthetics aside then, I still had some concerns surrounding the stability of this \u201csandwich\u201d of adapters and Fibaro wall plug when actually plugged into a socket. Fortunately the tower proved quite solid, but you probably don\u2019t want to be using one of these in locations where it could get knocked \u2013 I suspect that it wouldn\u2019t take much to snap the plastic adapter and leave some dangerous combination of exposed electrical connections.<\/p>\n

\"fibaro_wall_plug_stability\"<\/p>\n

I also tried it out with the Schuko extension lead and this seemed to be a better idea as it made it slightly less awkward looking and with the lead running down to the floor it added a bit of support to the front of the tower. I still wouldn\u2019t like to leave it exposed though, so I think this will definitely be one for behind the A\/V cabinet. That probably makes more sense really, since the Fibaro wall plug is quite a costly device for just controlling and measuring the power usage of one piece of equipment.<\/p>\n

\"fibaro_wall_plug_extension\"<\/p>\n

Testing the Hardware<\/h2>\n

The keen eyed amongst you will have no doubt noticed that there is what looks suspiciously like an LED \u201cring\u201d at the front of the Fibaro wall plug. This is another neat touch by Fibaro as it illuminates different colours depending on the status of the Z-Wave network and the load of any connected equipment.<\/p>\n

Out of the box I connected it up to a kettle and a hair dryer to see the LED ring in action. It looks nice, but really serves no useful purpose in my opinion \u2013 although I did subsequently learn that \u201cflashing violet\u201d when the kettle was boiling indicated an overload condition, so probably powering your kettle through it isn\u2019t the best of ideas. Fortunately the manual states that it\u2019s rated for 2.5kW at continuous load and 3.0kW at momentary load, so the kettle test is probably just on the limit \u2013 nice that it handled it fine without any nasty side effects.<\/p>\n

I also noticed that the plastic body got a little warm to the touch with both the kettle and hair dryer testing \u2013 not alarmingly so though, just slightly warm. I think that this is just a result of the Fibaro wall plug being so small, there can\u2019t be a lot of space inside for air flow \/ cooling of the internal components.<\/p>\n

What Else Do I Get For My \u00a355?<\/h2>\n

Since this is a Z-Wave device you get the usual benefits such as mesh networking, two way communications and local status change reporting. But, as mentioned previously, at \u00a355 it\u2019s quite a costly device, so is there anything else to sweeten the deal? Well, as usual, Fibaro have absolutely crammed in the features which more than justify the price in my opinion.<\/p>\n

\"fibaro_wall_plug_colours\"<\/p>\n

Metering<\/h2>\n

Since this was the whole reason for buying the Fibaro wall plug in the first place, can I really say that this is an \u201cextra feature\u201d that would justify the price? The manual states that \u201cmeasuring is carried out by an independent microprocessor dedicated exclusively for this purpose, assuring maximum accuracy and precision\u201d so it does sound like this is something to shout about. Devices from other manufacturers obviously use lesser means for their measuring and are therefore less accurate and precise. Joking aside though, from my testing a little later on, it does seem to be the most accurate device I\u2019ve used in this respect.<\/p>\n

Both \u201cpower\u201d and \u201cenergy\u201d are reported by the Fibaro wall plug giving you current usage and consumption over time data. This data is also stored in memory, so a power cut or removing it from the socket won\u2019t lose any accumulated information.<\/p>\n

Flashing LEDs<\/h2>\n

I\u2019ve already mentioned that these serve no real purpose, especially if the Fibaro wall plug will be hidden out of sight, but just for completeness the LEDs have several functions:<\/p>\n