The Government’s Energy Bills Support Scheme (www.snipca.com/44919) will end in March, with a final payment of £67 towards your electricity bill. After that, you’ll be responsible for everything you consume, so it’s time to check that you’re not using more than you need.
In Issue 644’s How To we explored how an energy meter can help cut ‘phantom’ power use by identifying devices consuming power on standby so they can be unplugged (read it on our 2022 Back Issue CD: www.snipca.com/44660). This issue we’ll go one step further, and use TP-Link’s Tapo P110 smart plugs (pictured right), which not only can be turned off remotely using a voice assistant, but has built-in energy monitoring too. At the time of writing, you can buy a twin-pack for £19 on Amazon, down from £28 (www.snipca.com/44909).
1 Set up the Tapo control app
Once you’ve bought the plugs, download TP-Link’s Tapo app from the Google Play Store () or the Apple App Store (), depending on whether you have an Android or iOS device. When it’s installed, tap Sign Up and enter a valid email address for your username and
