While technological progress and legislation have cut the power consumption of many household appliances, the onslaught of new types of devices that are always on, such as smart speakers, smart TVs and Wi-Fi range extenders, threatens to wipe out all the gains made. So, what can you do?
All features of Eve Energy
Dec 22, 2020 - by Lars - Comments
Make your home smart the easy way by equipping it with HomeKit-enabled smart plugs. They’re super intuitive to use and you can set them up in no time at all. Once that’s done, you're ready to make your lamps and appliances smart and control them via an app, using easy-to-learn voice commands, based on a schedule or even depending on your location.
Within minutes, you’ll have a Siri-enabled Christmas tree, your reading lamp will turn on in the evening automatically and your fan will start with a simple tap. Eve Energy also offers additional features including autonomous schedules, a power meter and a child lock – which is why our smart plug has been one of the best-selling HomeKit products out there.
Efficient, easy, and more secure
A major selling point of Eve Energy’s is that it uses Bluetooth wireless technology. Compared to even the latest Wi-Fi chips, which are still power-thirsty, Bluetooth merges energy efficiency and good performance. This makes it perfect for smart plugs that are usually only ever switched on and off a few times a day. Eve Energy is also easy to set up and works completely independently of your home network, saving you the hassle of having to jump through all the set up and security hurdles – who needs yet another device crowding their home network anyway?! On top of all this, Eve Energy doesn’t have an IP address and isn’t reliant on a bridge that goes sharing your data with some random vendor’s cloud service, which means that Eve Energy isn’t vulnerable to internet attacks; instead, this 100% HomeKit-enabled accessory talks directly and exclusively to your iPhone, HomePod, HomePod mini or Apple TV so you enjoy maximum security.
NOTE: Select models of Eve Energy go even beyond Bluetooth as they offer support for Thread. Read more about Thread and Eve's Thread strategy.
Setup
For best performance, plug Eve Energy directly into a wall outlet and only plug one appliance into the accessory – don’t go plugging Eve Energy into a power strip, and don’t go plugging one into the accessory either. Eve Energy is rated for a maximum current of 2,500 W (Europe/U.K.) / 1,800 W (North American; see this link for all other variants). Eve Energy is the only smart plug with HomeKit technology that bears the TÜV Rheinland seal (Europe/U.K.), offering you unparalleled reliability. To get started with installing and customizing Eve Energy, simply follow these steps:
Open the Eve app and tap Settings > Accessories > Add Accessory to [your home] to access the HomeKit dialog. Name your plug and add it to a room. Also choose an appropriate type so HomeKit can select an icon and suitable category for Siri. You can additionally assign the default HomeKit scenes to Eve Energy at this stage too.
The Eve app will now let you drill down and add further details to the type. Tap one of the three entries to choose from the range of accessories and icons on offer – and if you want, you can customize the name.
You can change everything at a later stage by going to Settings > Accessories > and then tapping the Eve Energy accessory. Here you can also change when/if the status LED lights up and set its brightness level to suit your needs and the room.
Top tip: Use the Child Lock button to lock the on/off switch and prevent anyone accidently switching off your freezer or aquarium pump.
Using Eve Energy in Eve
The detail view of Eve Energy contains the main controls such as the power on/off button, the schedule editor, plus a range of report and measurement functions showing you when Eve Energy was last switched on/off, how much power is currently being consumed and the projected cost. By tapping Edit, you can also add advanced parameters such as current and voltage in the detail view and change the order in which everything is arranged.
The Eve app not only shows you how much power the appliance plugged into your Eve Energy is consuming, but also keeps a record of total consumption and estimated annual cost, based on your electricity rate.
Enter your electricity rate under Settings > General > Energy Cost. The default is the average tariff for the country in which you are located (to do that, you just need to allow Eve to access your location).
Did you modify the schedule for an appliance and do you want to check the impact on your electricity bill? Change the calculation basis in the detail view of Eve Energy by expanding the Projected Cost segment and selecting a different basis such as the last day or minute.
In the detail view you can display the Total Consumption and Total Cost graphs by hour, day, week or month simply by tapping the i icon beneath each graph. In the Total Consumption view, you can display the information in a list or even export it in a spreadsheet format by tapping the share icon.
If you use several Eve Energy or Eve Energy Strip accessories, the Rooms > Types view gives you a concise overview of how much it’s costing you to power your appliances.
Top tip: You don’t need to worry about Eve Energy adding to your electricity bill as it only consumes a negligible amount of power at significantly less than 1 W. See here how to cut your power consumption in three simple steps.
Autonomous schedules
Like several other Eve accessories, Eve Energy also offers you autonomous schedules. They are stored on the accessory itself and even run when Eve Energy is not connected to your iPhone or home hub. They’re perfect for countless purposes as you can add schedules based on sunrise or sunset. Want to set your plant light to bathe your plant in a constant stream of growth-promoting light with a break at nighttime?
Simply go to the Schedule segment in the detail view and tap the gear icon. Then, set the weekday power off time to 2 hours after sunset and the power on time to 2 hours before sunrise.
If you want Eve Energy to control a lamp to give the impression that someone’s home, program Eve Energy to turn it on daily at different times so potential burglars will have a hard time identifying a pattern.
If you plug in an appliance that you use differently on weekdays and weekends, such as an espresso machine, simply configure Eve Energy to turn it on early enough on workdays so it starts to warm up ready to serve up an espresso when you get to the kitchen.
Top tip: Other Eve accessories, including Eve Thermo, Eve Aqua, Eve Light Switch (EU / US), and the sister product of Eve Energy – the smart power strip Eve Energy Strip – also feature these handy autonomous schedules. Please note that this feature is not available for Eve Energy models sold in China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
HomeKit automations
Using automations to switch the power on or off makes sense if you need to control several appliances at once or if you only want them to be active when you’re actually at home. This is where HomeKit comes into play (or more accurately: an essential home hub).
The example rules below each trigger a scene, which in turn activates Eve Energy and the connected appliance. You can add these scenes quickly and easily via the detail view of your accessory. Tap the Automation segment and then Add Scene. In the case of a lamp, set the target value for Power to ON, test your scene, and then complete the scene by entering a name and choosing an icon (such as "movie night" and the armchair icon).
Create an automation which triggers your movie night scene when you enter the family room in the evening. To do so, tap Automation > Rules > Add Rule > Next > Add Trigger > Accessory > Motion and then choose MOTION as the trigger value for the Eve Motion accessory in that room. Following that, as a Time Condition set the TYPE to DAY EVENT, the RELATION to AFTER and the TIME to SUNSET. Now all you need to do is select the movie night scene.
If you don’t have a motion detector, you can instead use your presence as determined by your iOS device as a trigger – at appropriate times, of course. Simply tap Add Trigger > Leaving or arriving at location > ARRIVING AT [...] > Add. As the Time Condition, this time select TYPE > EXACT TIME, RELATION > AFTER and set the TIME to 5 pm. Once again, complete the process by selecting your movie night scene.
Top tip: In many respects the Apple Home app offers fewer automation options than the Eve app. However, it does offer several special options due to the privacy architecture of HomeKit. Thus, the Home app lets you add rules that run based on your or a family member’s presence such as "When somebody/nobody is home" or "When I am home/When I am not at home". Scenes which remain active for a set duration are another automation option exclusive to the Home app. While rules and scenes configured in the Home app are displayed in the Eve app, you can’t change them at the relevant points.
Control using Siri
Smart plugs and Siri are a match made in heaven. First, you can phrase really simple commands as the plugs only have an on or off state. Second, you can tag plugs in multiple ways because they carry a Siri name, represent a type of accessory and are assigned to scenes, groups, rooms or zones.
Control using the Siri name: "Hey Siri, turn on the Christmas Tree."
Control based on device type: "Hey Siri, is my light on?"
Control as part of a scene: "Hey Siri, Good Morning!"
Control as part of a group: "Hey Siri, turn off all kitchen appliances."
Control by room: "Hey Siri, turn off the power in the Bathroom."
Control by zone: "Hey Siri, turn on the air dehumidifiers in the Basement."
Use cases
with Eve Motion:
Automate your festive lights with Eve Energy and Eve Motion
with Eve Room:
Improve indoor air by automating your dehumidifier
Tackle dry air caused by your heating
Enhance your morning routine:
Lighting the Way to a Peaceful Routine
Enjoy the perfect espresso in a shot with Eve Energy serving it up nice and hot
The perfect way to start your day – with HomeKit
Smart Plug & Power Meter
Learn more
Posts you might also be interested in.
Use Cases
Cut your power consumption at home in three simple steps
Aug 11, 2020
Product Features Use Cases HomeKit
Schedules: Automate your lighting, heating and more
Eve Energy, Eve Energy Strip, Eve Thermo, Eve Aqua and now Eve Light Switch – many Eve accessories support autonomous schedules.
Oct 18, 2019
Product Features HomeKit
The home hub: An essential device for HomeKit-enabled accessories
Whether you connect to your HomeKit accessories via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or Thread, your connected home is simply incomplete without a home hub – an Apple TV or HomePod. Your home hub gives you both secure access to your accessories while you’re on the go and enables you to set up automations.
Mar 20, 2020
- Reply
In which condition could you use the current Eve Energy (EU)(gen4) outdoors? Is there an outdoor version planned with higher IP rating?- Reply
Hello Peter! Eve Energy (EU) is for indoor use only. Some customers use it outside but is has to be covered because of 0°C - 35°C / 32°F - 104°F, 5% - 95% humidity. No plans for an outdoor version. Best regards, Volker- Reply
We’re using the Eve Energy Smart Plug to automate our Victorian farmhouse in the Welsh borders. A terrific product.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q26draFDvT0