Having heard that IKEA offers some of the best value-for-money ways to make your home smart, I headed down to the brand's relatively new central London store to pick up a few of its products to test for myself.
I'm a big believer in the genius ways to use smart plugs, and so I was sure to put IKEA's TRETAKT to the test and see how easy it is to set up and use.
However, when you shop for TRETAKT, either in store or online, you might notice it's in IKEA's clearance section, making room for a new IKEA product to come along later this year called the GRILLPLATS. However, TRETAKT is the only set that comes with a remote control, rather than being sold separately. It's not a big thing, but if you're less confident with your smart home system, it's something that'll make you feel like, yes, I can actually set this up myself. If you're confident enough, you'll be able to do the same with the GRILLPLATS, you'll just need to pick up IKEA's BILRESA remote as a companion for your plug.
Because I wanted to use this smart plug with a remote, rather than setting it up on my existing smart home network (I will do that, too, in time), all you need to do is insert a battery into the remote, insert the plug into a socket and turn on, and press and hold one button inside the remote to link them together. It really took less than a minute.
The box comes with a mounting if you'd like to put your remote on a wall, too, so if you want it next to your room's light switches, in a garage, or just as you leave the front door, you can have it perfectly positioned.
And what I realized after I'd unpacked a few other TRETAKT smart plugs is that this very simple piece of tech is actually brilliant for tackling some problems in my house, even without connecting it up to my smart home.
Here are some of the things I've realized I can tackle with one of these IKEA products.
1. Inconveniently Located Lamps
Let me tell you something — I hate, hate floor lamps with foot-push switches. Wherever I want to put a floor lamp, I can guarantee it won't be easy to access one of them to turn it on. To be honest, the same can be said for table lamps with switches on the cable, where I'm left awkwardly fumbling down the back of a cabinet.
Turning on lighting is always going to be my favorite use of a smart plug with a remote, but it works especially well because one remote, IKEA BILRESA or the one that comes with the IKEA TRETAKT, can be connected to up to 10 devices. That means all your living room's occasional lighting can be switched on with one button. Instant ambience.
2. Hard Resetting a TV
It might just be me, but sometimes my TV's operating system just needs a bit of a time out. When certain apps won't load, the remote gains a life of its own, or it gets stuck on a load screen, only a hard reset seems to solve the problem.
Putting your TV, and any other equipment, on a smart plug with a remote can be helpful where you can't reach over the back of the TV to switch the outlet off and on manually. In my case, for example, the TV is actually plugged into the back of a cabinet.
It also can be a good idea to have a TV on a smart plug for this next point, too.
3. Turn Off 'Vampire Appliances' All in One Go
Once upon a time, I used to turn the TV off at the plug before leaving the house, but now, with a house full of tech and electronics, I've sort of lost the will. However, certain appliances, even when on standby, can be energy vampires, slowly consuming and driving up your electricity bill.
However, get those appliances on a smart plug with a remote, and suddenly you can turn up to 10 of them off with just the flick of a switch. It's a clever way to use a smart plug to save energy, and get peace of mind that something like a charger is never going to overheat when you're not there to keep an eye on it.
4. Connect It to Your Wider Smart Home
Yes, I love the simplicity of the remote control paired with the smart plug, but your world does open up quite significantly if you add them into a wider smart home system that you can control from your phone. You could, for example, also buy IKEA'S Dirigera smart hub, and control from the IKEA HOME app, but IKEA's product range is largely all matter-compatible now, so you should be able to use an IKEA TRETAKT as part of other systems, whether that's something like your Alexa set-up, or more niche uses such as Philips Hue.
From there, you can start to create actions that happen on timers (for example, allowing your lights to turn on at a certain time when you're on holiday so it always looks like you're home), or even connect up to smart sensors so that if, for example, an indoor air quality sensor flags poor air quality, a smart plug controlling your air purifier could turn on.
Once you've made the leap to setting up a smart home, you'll be amazed at what you can dream up.
If this has inspired you to shop IKEA's smart products, take a look at some of the brand's other clever sensors for some more inspiration. And, while you're at it, why not sign up for our newsletter, too?
