Remotely turning off appliances (lights mainly!) - is there a gadget?

[Midpmcoffee]

Pet peeve of mine is when I get back from work / day out and one of my children in their rush to get out has left a light on all day!

anything I can buy to reduce my frustration levels?

TIA

There are lots of smart bulbs and apps out there now. You can do it with Alexa for sure.

Yes you can do this with Alexa and smart plugs

I don’t have an Alexa

Would I just search smart bulbs on Amazon and select one that doesn’t require Alexa?

sorry - hopelessly tech poor

yeah you can just buy Philips Hue for example and use their app
It can be synced with Alexa but its not necessary. Ours are all on timers.

You can do this with Philips Hue for lights, but they are expensive and lots of people prefer cheaper versions. IKEA do smart bulbs but I've never tried them.

Also we have some Tapo (tp-link) devices - smart plug, cameras - which can be controlled from outside the home via their app, so maybe look at that brand?

Alexa are on offer at the moment I think.

That sounds perfect.

do you have a link for yours?

how do yours work on timers? On an app or manually?

What exactly is an Alexa?

as I say - I’m sorry!

I don’t mind spending money on goodbulbs and gadhets

just need to make sure it’s the right expenditure!

Must go for a bit but thanks so far

Surely the cost of all these new bulbs is going to be way more than the cost of your current ones being left on by accident.

Surely the better option is to change DCs habits - if lights are left on then an amount comes off their allowance / additional chores on their list. Something with consequences that sparks behaviour change. That's more likely to have a long term effect I'd have thought.

See smart plugs where they're plugged in then you plug your appliance into it and say alexa turn this on etc would these cost more in electricity as they're constantly on and waiting?

My father docked 10p off pocket money everytime he found lights left on in our bedrooms, we soon learnt to conserve energy or we were soon out of pocket.
Teach them responsibility and fix the lax behaviour rather than find a gadget.

To reduce consumption upgrade to LED bulbs.
I fitted Dawn/dusk to our external lighting, they also work inside and won't turn on if the light level is good during the day.
Toolstation is a good place to find cheap LED bulbs for all fittings. Recessed halogen lighting has a huge consumption compared to this type of bulb.

Spending £20 on a lightbulb in order to save 0.05 pence per hour if they get left on is not the best use of your money. Charge your kids when they leave them on and they will soon stop

This. Assuming you already have low energy bulbs, it will be far more expensive to replace the light bulbs than pay the additional cost of the electricity.

You could get an Alexa and smart bulbs through the house. We have one and I've set up a routine that turns off all lights at 8.30am because my two are notorious for leaving their bedroom lights on.

Alexa is a smart speaker. It's essentially a speaker that connects to the internet and you can talk to it to tell it to do things. There's an app for it that you can also use to see all the connect bulbs and other items.

BUT your initial outlay for the device and all the bulbs will cost a lot more than it costs to leave the lights on for a few months. I'd work on getting the kids to turn stuff off.

TP-Link do bulbs and plugs that can be controlled via an app on your phone.

I’m a big fan of Phillips Hue. The plain white bulbs are not too expensive (Toolstation are cheap) and you can set them to switch on /off based on local sunrise and sunset times, or give set times, or set them to turn on when you’re a mile from home. You can also voice activate with Google home.

Alexa is very useful for this, however you would need to feel like it has some added value for you besides just turning the lights off as it won’t save enough money for this.
Mine is a lifesaver for reminders and timers (appointments, baking, homework deadlines etc) in a very forgetful household. Also for playing audible or the news etc.
If you look them up they do loads of other things that might be useful for you. They are often very heavily discounted.

I’ve got one of my bulbs set up to be turned off at certain times, but it can also be turned on and off with voice commands (appealing to kids!).

Are the smart bulbs cheap to run like LED though ?
An LED bulb being left on won’t cost a lot.

Yep I was going to say they are expensive we have slowly bought them over 4 years when Amazon has an offer day as they are usually half price. We mostly got them as they are coloured and wanted different mood lighting in the evening. Lights if LED don't cost much once on compared to appliances etc

Wi-Fi plugs. You don’t need Alexa, you control on an app. All my lights are controlled this way. Good for side lights and bedtime - you don’t have to get out of bed. I also turn them on and off when on holiday to look like someone is in.