#Safe to put 800w portable AC on a smart Plug for energy monitoring? (Uk)

8 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

spice stump
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I want to put my portable AC unit on an energy monitoring Smart Plug. Is it safe to do so or do I have a high risk of overloading the Plug?

It is a UK plug which probably has some relevance. In theory if it did overload it should trip the breaker.

plucky wren
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It should be fine as long as you get a decent smart plug. howevers air conditioners are a mix of resistive and inductive loads so the relay might get a little upset but as long as your not switching it then I imagine it would be fine. however you could get a monitoring only (no switching) solution like wiring it through a "Shelly PM Mini Gen3" or something.

To answer the worst case scenario question: if the plug goes bang or sets on fire etc... then its likely to trip your mcb/rcd.

personally I wouldn't be worried about doing it. but do obviously check the rating of your plug and maybe keep an eye on it for the first couple of hours for peace of mind.

severe loom
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Those smart plugs are usually rated for 10 Ampere, the better ones for 16A. Your 800W AC, I assume UK also has 230V, would draw around 3.5A. So from that point it should be also safe.

serene sphinx
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Unfortunately as mentioned it is not as simple as just calculating running amps < 10. Motor/inductive loads can have spikes of 10x-100x their rated current for microseconds during startup and this can really play havoc with some relays.

So the answer is a little complicated

spice stump
severe loom
oak bramble
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There are monitoring versions.