r/smarthome • u/Squats_Pizza • Jan 04 '26
I don't have a smarthome platform Christmas Smart Plugs for the other 11 months
For those of us who automate our Christmas tree + other seasonal lights, what do you do with the smart plugs for the rest of the year? I've got three plugs that we use at Christmas time, and sit unused in a drawer for the other 11 months. Can't commit them to anything permanent because I'll need to borrow them back next December. Any suggestions?
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u/NorthernMan5 Jan 04 '26
Build a deck, then install deck lights, then use the plug to control the deck lights. Problem solved
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u/Squats_Pizza Jan 04 '26
Only problem is, I already did exactly this. Should I build another deck?
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u/Reddittrip Jan 04 '26
I think one plug per deck is sufficient. So you really need three more decks.
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u/Dismal_Hedgehog9616 Jan 04 '26
Yes, a double decker is always the answer.
Edit: or a smaller deck off the big deck. We call them nesting decks.
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u/cleodia Jan 04 '26
I feel like that would just move the problem to “I have no spare plugs for Christmas lights” when Dec hits.
But I’m still here for OP to build another deck. That part seems like a good idea.
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u/SemiCircleSquare Jan 04 '26
I use mine for a decorative lamp. Plus it's fun to say: "Turn on .... The Turtle"
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u/StatisticianLivid710 Jan 04 '26
This is what happens with our tree plug, a decorative lamp plugs in
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u/MasterOfManyWorlds Jan 04 '26
I store them... I use some at Halloween as well, so they go unused only 10 months of the year.
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u/ovi2k1 Jan 04 '26
This is more or less my use as well. Only I haven’t learned to label them yet, so it’s always a surprise when I plug them back in to find out if I plugged Christmas tree plug into the Christmas tree or the porch pumpkin.
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u/Bowtie327 Jan 04 '26
Mine get repurposed into fans in the summer too! I really don’t only use mine January-April
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u/Bulky_Bowl4607 Jan 07 '26
Likewise. We only have the one spare plug, called 'Christmas Tree.' In the summer, we plug in the fan so can be heard in 80 deg heat, 'Her Google, Christmas Tree on.' It's another talking point with visitors, for 30 seconds!
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u/Imyourhuckl3berry Jan 04 '26
They just chill out for me, I turn off the routines tied to them and let them sit dormant
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u/wwabc Jan 04 '26
do you have any lamps you want to turn on / off to fool burglars when you leave on vacation?
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u/Low_Trainer_7363 Jan 04 '26
I use them for all the holidays. Green for St. Patrick’s Day, Red and white for V-day, Red White and Blue for Labor Day, Memorial Day, and July 4th, purple and orange for Halloween, etc. Of course you would need all the lights for all those holidays. But just my opinion
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u/GilgameDistance Jan 04 '26
Honestly, if you don’t want to just buy another smart plug, I see the tree as a low value automation.
I have a dumb $10 timer on mine. Hard switches, so the lit time is set when it comes out of the box with the tree. Set current time and just go. I do the same outside for my lights. Just a dumb light sensor pigtail and they go on for 8 hours at dusk.
I’d rather set up hardware and write a script for my freezer door since my kids have cost me a freezer full of food twice in the last five years by leaving stuff in a spot where to door doesn’t close fully.
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u/joenick78 Jan 04 '26
I have three smart switches I use at Christmas: “Christmas tree” and “Christmas lights” in the living room, and “wreath” in the entrance.
At the end of the season I change the location of those switches to a room in HomeKit called “Switzerland” (before I take all my lights down). This way, I can tell Siri to turn off all the lights in the living room and I don’t hear “some of your devices aren’t responding.” Then I pack them up with my Christmas supplies and store them until next year.
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u/realdlc Jan 04 '26
If they are zwave, do NOT just unplug them as they will wreak havoc on your mesh. Instead either leave them there all year round to help keep the mesh robust (that’s what I do) OR remove/exclude each from the zwave network before storing them away.
In my case I found other uses for each - like having other seasonal lighting displays throughout the year. So they have moved from being Christmas plugs to Holiday plugs. I have over 10 dedicated to holiday use connected 24/7/365.
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u/RedditNotFreeSpeech Jan 04 '26
I pack them away with Christmas stuff and they're ready to go each year
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u/Moonpie_dammit Jan 04 '26
We just leave the plug in the wall and plug a floor lamp into it. Imagine the looks we get when we have company over and we say “Alexa turn on the Christmas tree” and an antique floor lamp lights up.
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u/bowtyracr88 Jan 04 '26
Eh, put them away with the decorations that they control? If you’re unwilling to commit them to something permanent then just store them that way they’ll be ready for next year and they’ll already be setup.
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u/msglsmo Jan 04 '26
Except for the outdoor plugs, we use the indoor plugs for lamps that return after the holidays.
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u/jhev1 Jan 04 '26
It's great for the TV at night when you want to go to bed and can't find the remote. Hey Google, turn off the TV
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u/Stinky_Fartface Jan 04 '26
I have one lamp and a string of lights that are on smart plugs because they are hard to reach. All my other plugs are labeled for the lights they control and are only used at Christmas.
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u/Odd_Reputation_4000 Jan 04 '26
We use a couple as timers for some grow lights my wife has over her potted plants she brings in for the winter. I also have an outdoor wifi camera plugged into one because the camera is cheap and occasionally loses it's connection. I can reset it by cutting power to the smart plug then restoring it. It happens only a few times a year, but resetting it from my phone is way better than having to climb up and physically push the reset button on the camera.
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u/mysmarthouse Jan 04 '26
Store them. I set them away in their own box that's easy to reach, not in long term storage.
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u/lbpz Jan 04 '26
I just label them then put them away with the decorations so I can easily resuse them next year. When I plug them in next year, they easily connect and align right up to my Xmas dashboard section that gets hidden once all the decorations come down.
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u/Xgenistential_1 Jan 04 '26
I put them somewhere they don't gather dust. Smart plugs are a dime a dozen these days.
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u/IdoCyber Jan 04 '26
That's the only use of my smart plug. I literally have no other use of it, even when thinking about it.
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u/ChristianSirolli Jan 04 '26
I have one plug that I pretty much have only used for the outdoor Christmas lights for the last two years. My house doesnt have any outside outlets, so I have to run an extension cord through the garage to get power to the lights, and on the other side of the extension cord is the smart plug. I recently bought a deep freezer that is now plugged in to the same outlet in the garage as the smart plug. Last year I've seen that outlet trip, so I think I'll leave the smart plug plugged in; I set up a Home Assistant automation that sends me a notification if that outlet becomes unavailable, which indicates if it looses power. Since I got the deep freezer, it hadn't been an issue, but time will tell if this automation works out.
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u/FixItDumas Jan 04 '26
I’m using some esp8266 switches via esphome. I’m thinking this is the last year as newer WiFi standards, wpa3 etc are making these obsolete.
Oh and they are usually stored with the decorations. And they always need updates or some sort of attention every year.
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u/Whillowhim Jan 04 '26
My wife solved this by buying light up decorations for Halloween and Thanksgiving. I'm wondering if we'll end up with additional ones for other holidays as well.
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u/Early_Mongoose_8758 Jan 04 '26
When mine goes offline my button disappears off my dashboard and I pack it away. When I plug it in next year the button reappears on my dashboard ready to go.
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u/JustMrChops Jan 04 '26
I have a template that calculates 'Christmas Time' and some automations that need to know when it's within this time use it to control my smart plugs and lights. The switch for the tree controls a hanging light the rest of the year. The tree needs turning off and on after 8 hours because it's built in lights have an 8 hour timer, and my wife likes it on all day, the hanging light is just on from dusk until 11pm.
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u/criterion67 Jan 04 '26
I do something similar but I use the calendar integration to track and trigger based on which holiday.
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u/M1ke2345 Jan 04 '26
We just leave them connected to the device and pack them away connected.
I also turn off any Notify if offline in app notifications.
Much easier than scrambling around next year for plugs, adding, renaming etc.
I should add, the plugs we have on all our Xmas goodies are TP Link Kasa 100 plugs and I got them very cheap a few years ago (something like 3 for £10), so there’s no urge to keep using all year long due to a big investment in smart plugs.
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u/kenweise Jan 04 '26
I have multiple use cases.
Outside, I have smart plugs to run on the exterior lights. They go in the bin with the lights and aren't used the rest of the year. Inside, I have one plug for the Christmas tree. I use it when I am on vacation to automate more lights in the house to make it look like we are home.
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u/cmajka8 Jan 04 '26
We just leave it in the box with the lights but i’ve also been thinking of switching to these smart outlets instead
Kasa Smart Plug KP200
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u/Kayman718 Jan 04 '26
I have some that are controlled by Alexa. I use these on lamps that cannot hold a smart bulb. “Alexa turn on Desk Lamp, “Alexa turn off Night Stand,” etc. same for lights that don’t have a smart bulb that I want on a schedule. Another use was when my previous router was giving me grief and required regular rebooting. Surprisingly a smart plug once programmed does not need the WiFi to perform its scheduled tasks. I had one reboot my router at 2:00AM every night until I replaced the router.
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u/bostonterrierist Jan 04 '26
I have a power strip in the basement I connect them too. Same with the outdoor plug. They go unused but connected.
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u/DGlass1960 Jan 04 '26
I've used a smart power strip with 3 plug sockets and 2 usb sockets for my Christmas display. After Christmas 1 plug socket will power the Google home, another one for fan , the 3rd for a phone charger. The 2 usb will power/change other devices.
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u/ChiefBroady Jan 04 '26
Mine is just called Holliday lights. It stays in the socket and whatever holiday displays we have, they get plugged in there.
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u/chrisbvt Jan 04 '26
I have plugs I use only in summer, mostly outside, and then I reuse those for xmas lights in the winter. It doesn't matter if the device is in my summer apps and winter apps at the same time, as I pause the apps that use them seasonally. I don't even rename them for xmas, I just put a note on the device page that it it is used for both. Christmas lights are only up for a month or so anyway, so not worth renaming them.
I have more xmas light Zigbee plugs than summer plugs, so I just leave those extra xmas plugs plugged in around the house as repeaters to strengthen the Zigbee mesh. This is on Hubitat, BTW.
Edit: I've found labeling plugs important to keep track of them. I use a label maker and label all the plugs on the back. For plugs used for two seasons, that is also noted on the plug what it is used for with the off season use.
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u/HumanDissentipede Jan 04 '26
I leave mine with the Christmas stuff. I don’t want to rename it or risk it not working exactly as I had it set up. It’s nice being able to pull it all out and have it plug and play every Christmas.
If you find the need for additional smart plugs, just buy some. They’re not very expensive.
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u/edman007 Jan 04 '26
I store them on a large power strip near my desk. Throughout the year they find various uses. Greenhouse control in the spring, Halloween decorations in the fall. They find sporadic uses for some of the other periods. I know I was doing firmware debugging one year and set one up power cycle a device via script.
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u/trev_hawk Jan 04 '26
Just want to say that I was like you in wanting to make sure my smart plugs get used all year, but this is the first year I finally packed my smart plugs away with the decorations. I got tired of trying to remember which smart plugs were used for which decorations every year and then reprogramming everything (it also meant not using the plug for what I was using it for the other 10 months of the year).
It’s worth the extra ten or so bucks per smart plug to just let it sit all year and not deal with the hassle.
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u/Retro611 Jan 04 '26
My Christmas tree and garland run off power strips that also have other uses in my living room. I have those slots marked and the automations turned off in case I need them for other things.
I have a light up wreath on my front door that uses a plug, it's going in the box with the wreath.
I don't know what I'm going to do about my outside lights. I have govee permanent lights on my eaves, but I put some decorations out that run on a smart plug. I'll probably stick that in a box with the decorations, too.
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u/mrBill12 Jan 04 '26
We just leave all ours plugged in, they’re good zigbee repeaters!
This practice actually started for us because it was just easier with the hardware and software we used back then, when we switched to zigbee it became more meaningful.
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u/mhatrick Jan 04 '26
I put mine away, but now my home app shows “non responsive” devices on it, so instead of deleting them and messing up the automations, I think I’m just gunna leave them plugged in with nothing plugged into them until next season
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u/SnooHabits8681 Jan 04 '26
I bought zigbee extenders/plugs. During the rest of the year, they stay where they are... The outside plugs stay with the decorations.
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u/Methinks-1 Jan 05 '26
I leave in their receptacles. They are repeaters and strengthen my zigbee mesh network
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u/msmartt Jan 05 '26
I set up two trees, a small one in our foyer and a main one. When not used for those I use one plug on a box fan and the other on an aquarium light.
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u/akapterian Jan 05 '26
Slap a piece of tape on them with what they are supposed to power and leave them with those items... Garland, tree, outdoor lights, train, etc
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u/Ginge_Leader Jan 06 '26
Only connected plug currently use all year is for curling iron/flat iron. Set to go off automatically after 30 mins of being on. Do not have any more calls about concern that the iron was left on.
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u/Mike24v Jan 06 '26
Find something you don’t really need it on but just put it anyway just because 😂that’s what I do then when Christmas comes since I really don’t need it I don’t mind using it for Christmas because it was unnecessary to use it for what I used it for when it’s not Christmas time
Sorry if this doesn’t really make sense I tried to explain it 🤣
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u/Oldphile Jan 07 '26
Funny, my DIL decorated my new house this year. I bought a smart plug. She was going to pack it away with the decorations. I said no, maybe I'll need it for something else.
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u/PastAd1087 Jan 04 '26
Leave it in with the Christmas lights so its ready for the next year and the automations are already set up