Controlling 220V Power & Light with HomeKit

HomeKit smart power plugs - Elgato Eve Energy EU, Koogeek P1, Elgato Eve Energy US, and Incipio CommandKit Smart Outlet (from left to right)

Selecting HomeKit devices that control the power, whether they be power plugs/outlets or light switches, is a bit tricky when you're living in a country with 220V mains power. This is because much of them are made to serve the U.S. market, which uses 120V. If they are designed for dual voltage it wouldn't be a big issue, but some devices don't list this capability. A Philips Hue light bulb has 110-130V printed on the U.S. version and 220-240V on the Korean version, but they all support 110 to 240V.

The list of devices that are specifically tailored towards the 220V market is growing, but still sparse. Thus, I sought and picked out the ones that were definitely 220V compatible. In the case of power plugs, products from Elgato, Koogeek, and Incipio fit the bill. Power plug solutions from iDevices are listed and confirmed as 120V only.

Despite the shapes, the smart power plugs shown above all have dual voltage support. Interestingly, the EU version of the Elgato Eve Energy is the smallest and won't block an adjacent outlet, while the US version of the device and the Koogeek P1 are larger and may block an outlet below or above. Incipio's CommandKit Wireless Smart Outlet with Metering is much larger and and longer than the competition, just like its full name. I should also note that only the Incipio devices had a problem with HomeKit pairing, where the process would succeed only on the second try, and leave a phantom entry in the device search screen that won't go away until the iPhone reboots.

Elgato Eve Energy plugs replaced the SKT Smart Home plugs in the distribution board

Elgato's Eve Energy smart power plugs have the most regionally varied line-up, with US, EU, UK, and AU versions, all having 100-240V, 50/60Hz support. The energy monitoring function in the app is also one of the the most sophisticated in the market. So I went primarily with these plugs in my house. I bought the EU version from Germany, but since I order a lot of things from the U.S., there are some US version plugs in the house as well.

Elgato Eve Energy US version (120V) monitors and controls a 220V air conditioner

US version of the Eve Energy is rated at 120V 15A / 1800W for output. But I decided to see if it would handle an air conditioner that runs at a peak of 220V 10A / 2200W. Fortunately, it operated continuously without any issues, so with a proper adapter the US version could be used in place of the EU version, rated at 220V 11A / 2500W.

Elgato Eve Energy US uses a 250V rated relay (HKE V6-S-DC5V)

I wanted to see how this was possible, so I opened one up to have a look inside. There, I found out that major components like the relay was rated to handle that sort of voltage and current. I can safely assume that the basic circuitry design is similar across the regional variation.

Koogeek Home (left) and Elgato Eve (right) apps show power consumption statistics

All the smart power plugs I bought had a power metering function of some sort accessible from the app. Of those, Incipio CommandKit app was the most simple, as I was only able to check the current consumption information. The app itself was somewhat cumbersome to use and didn't properly show many of the HomeKit devices.

Koogeek Home app fared better, with current information and historical data showing up in an organized manner. A couple of disappointing aspects I found out were that the daily consumption data could only be browsed up to two months ago, and that the data could not be exported. The app's main page let me see detailed information of all the HomeKit devices so long as they could be retrieved via API, but it wasn't grouped together and felt a little disorganized.

Elgato Eve app was the most well-thought out of them all. Presentation of the HomeKit devices in a home is top notch and is a good replacement of the default Home app. Real-time power consumption information is available, of course, but the presentation of the historical data really shines. Individual data, recorded in 10-minute steps, can be browsed and exported as a spreadsheet file to other apps or external services. Data graph can be shown in hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly scale. Because of the the level of detail, you should periodically run the app to retrieve the data from the device. Elgato says that a device stores up to 3 weeks of data internally.

Nominal retail price of the smart power plugs are around $40 to $50. However, Incipio's offering is the most heavily discounted one online, going below $20 in most cases. Given the enormous size and the rudimentary capability, it's not surprising. Koogeek P1 is also discounted and generally sells for $30, partly due to a newer version, P2, being available. I think the P1 offers a nice balance of price and performance. Elgato Eve Energy is rarely discounted and holds the most expensive position at $50, but the extra price may well be worth it.

Smart light switches - Koogeek KH02 (left) and Leviton DH15S-1BZ (right), without wall plates

Moving onto the light switches, a mix of traditional wall switch makers and the newer smart device manufacturers are on the scene. Some offer dimming function and some require separate hubs to interface with HomeKit. I didn't care for the dimmers because my regular lights don't support it and I didn't want to add another hub, so I focused on the ones that work directly and offered simple on/off function.

In the U.S., some lightings use 277V, which is what you get from a single phase on a 3-phase 480V line. If a switch supports 277V, then it's highly likely that it would work on 220V because the circuit is going to accept wide input voltage range. HomeKit light switches that fall into this category include Leviton DH15S-1BZ and iDevices Wall Switch. In the case of Koogeek light switch line-up, including 1-gang KH01 and 2-gang KH02, only 120V is officially supported but user reviews showed that it worked on 220V just fine. I would have liked to try the Elgato Eve Light Switch, but the company confirmed that it's 120V only.

I ended up buying Leviton switches first because iDevices one was too costly ($100 vs. $45). Then I eventually found out the 220V support of Koogeek switches, so I later bought some 2-gang version at a nominal price of $48 each, with some time-limited discount at the time of purchase. One interesting physical difference between the two is that the Leviton one can use any wall plate conforming to the standard "Decora" style, while the Koogeek one must use its custom wall plate and lacks the screw holes to mount a standard wall plate. This will become a problem if you want to install two or more of them in a row, since there won't be a wall plate suited for that.

New and Old - Koogeek KH02 (left & right) and Cheil CSDNF200011W (center)

One prerequisite for installing a smart light switch is a neutral wire because the switch itself needs to be powered. But in most switch boxes omit this and simply have a live wire and a wire leading to the lighting because the switch simply works to connect or disconnect the two. Interestingly, my house already had two smart light switches controlled by the integrated Samsung Smart Home system and these had neutral wires. In such cases, all I needed to do was remove the existing switch and connect the wires to the new switch.

Connecting the neutral wire from the lighting to the switch along the ceiling

Unfortunately, most other switch boxes lacked neutral wires. A way to add one would be to tie additional wires to a wire coming out of the ceiling for the light fixture, then pull down the wire from the switch box. When I tried this, though, the wire refused to budge, so there was a chance that the wires were tied up somewhere inside the wall. Not willing to risk damage, I decided to run a white wire along the ceiling and the wall instead.

Installing Leviton DH15S-1BZ, with custom switches on the wall plate

You'll notice the neutral wire coming into the bottom right of the switch. Now, the rooms at my house use 2-gang switches to control three ceiling lights. One of the switches turn two lights on, and the other turns the remaining light on. But because most HomeKit light switches were 1-gang only, including the Leviton one, I had to get creative. The smart switch would control the overall power to the lights, but two additional manual switches would turn on or off the individual lights. It wasn't elegant, but got the job done.

Installing Koogeek KH02 on the wall

Of course, once I got the Koogeek 2-gang switch, this problem was solved. I had wished Koogeek would let the switch's dual voltage capability be known more clearly, but I suppose there may be a regulatory/certification issue involved. During installation, I did have one minor issue of the switch sinking into the switch box and preventing proper attachment of the wall plate. This was fixed by adding a bit of supporting plastic on the edges.

Both Leviton and Koogeek switches were easy to setup via standard HomeKit pairing process, and were very responsive from my iPhone. Leviton's Decora Smart Home app (not available in the Korean App Store, so I downloaded from the U.S. account) let me control when the indicator light on the switch would be turned on (on when the switch is on / off, or always off).I could also select what sort of lamp was attached to the switch, although this had no apparent effect in operation. On the other hand, Koogeek Home app had no options for controlling the indicator light but the power metering function worked nicely.

To summarize, if you need to use standard wall plates, are okay with 1-gang switch, and may have need for 3-way switching, the Leviton switch will suit you. Otherwise, the offerings from Koogeek should be looked at, since 2-gang option and metering capability can't be had in most other solutions.

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Wesley's Tool-Box on : The state of HomeKit in iOS 10

Continue reading "The state of HomeKit in iOS 10"
HomeKit platform goes back to iOS 8. It was not very fleshed out at the time, needing more polishing over the years. Last notable change to HomeKit was made in 10.2, which enabled device notifications. This, along with other improvements in iOS 10, led me

Comments

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Dov on :

What about Insteon? I see that they have many 110-270v rated switches.
https://www.smarthome.com/switchlinc-on-off-insteon-2477s-remote-control-switch-dual-band-white.html

Wesley on :

Yes, Insteon switches will work. But they were excluded because I specifically mentioned that "I didn't want to add another hub" in the post, and they require a separate hub to function under HomeKit. It costs $150 at the site you linked, which is a significant overhead. Mind you, Insteon was one of my first considerations. But the fact that only 1-gang variety is available and that the HomeKit-enabling hub is so expensive, pretty much put them out of question for me. I went looking for hub-less solutions after that.

Nguyen on :

My country uses 220V power and I find out the useful in your post. Great!!!

Fede on :

Excelent post! So, the koogeek kh02 will work on 220v? Where do you found that reviews? I want to buy it because I think is the best 2 gang option...

Wesley on :

Yes indeed. I first found the reviews on AliExpress.

kraken darknet tor vtor run on :

whoah this weblog is excellent i like studying your articles.
Stay up the good work! You know, a lot of persons are hunting around for this info, you can aid them greatly.

Chule on :

Great and usuefull article!
Have you tested noon switches?
The product seems great.

Matt Beechey on :

This was a very useful article that confirmed it was safe to try my Koogeek 2 gang switch here in NZ on 230V. It is working very well - I have an elgato eve in our office garage and that triggers the light switch almost instantly on the Koogeek as the light switch is a long way from the door to the garage so we constantly walk into the garage and then have to walk all the way back and around to get to the switch.

My question is - Is it actually SAFE to use this switch at 230V or is the fact that it works luck. The light switch is in an office that has an apartment upstairs and I really don't want to come to the office and find a smouldering pile of ash because the switch overheated and caused a fire.

I have reached out for comment from Koogeek if its manufactured to run at 110-240 but just not yet certified or if its not designed for high voltage at all as their FAQ's on their website specifically say it can't run at 230 volt - It is 100~120VAC Only. I'm guessing they will probably conform to safety certifications etc and tell me its 120 only.

Do you have electrical design type experience to confirm the components should be safe (I'm not asking you to stake your reputation on it or anything) or are you like me just trying it and finding it appears to work ok at 230V

They have 230V versions of the european style square light switches but NZ uses the rectangular style switches like the KH02 so I really want to use this one.

Wesley on :

I do have experience in electrical design, but unfortunately I haven’t taken the switches apart to verify the components personally. What I can tell you is that the three 2-gang switches have been operating flawlessly in my house for the past 11 months under 220V. My hunch is that the circuit was made for wide voltage coverage - and thus is safe to use worldwide - but simply wasn’t certified for the target region. I have an Elgato Eve plug made for US outlets working with air conditioner running at 220V under high load (10A+), so similar things have happened.

Matt Beechey on :

Thanks Welsey - 11 Months is a pretty long time :-)

I hope Koogeek keep expanding their products as I've got a bunch of Wemo gear but they have dropped support for the Maker and the Motion sensor so I've made a couple of product suggestions to Koogeek - I'm hopping the run with the idea of a Wemo Maker type device, basically a wifi enabled Relay Switch to use for Gate/Garage door openers and similar products.

Now I just have to invest in an Ipad 4, apple TV or HomeHub to be my homekit hub at the office.

Francis Ace S. on :

This was very helpful! I live in the Philippines here and our plug here is kinda weird. Its same as the US. But its only 220-240v so seeing that the Koogeek would work is amazing. Thank you very much!
If you found any products that can do 240v please post them :-)

Peter on :

HI Wesly,
Did you find out if Eve Light switch 120V works on the 240V, I am in the Philippines, and getting anything here is limited

Wesley on :

I once saw a claim a while back elsewhere that it did, but wasn’t able to confirm.

Suleman Khan on :

I love to read it. There is something I assume that Smart Dimmer for Electricity Control By using this device you can also adjust the brightness of the lights. It is a Wi-Fi-based device that supports Android versions that are greater than 6.0 and IOS greater than 10

dan mathews on :

Hi, looking for a "plug-in" 120 volt dimmer. That reduces power down to just a couple volts (if not down to zero volts) ...and then turns up to 120 volts. Do you sell one? How much? and how much for shipping?

thank you!

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