When I moved into the new house, I decided I wanted to leave Philips Hue behind. The lights were too expensive and I wanted to incorporate more kinds of devices like switches into the system. At the same time, I wanted to reduce the number of Home Assistant integrations as much as possible. I chose Kasa because I saw a lot of people having success Kasa and Home Assistant. I have been here over 3 years and have not had a device fail yet. I’m adding a few more plugs today and I thought I would share which devices I use so you can find them for yourself.
Plugs
I am using a couple types of smart plugs. I only have two of the outdoor ones, but the indoor variety are all over the place. We even use one in the chicken coop.
I have had really good luck with the HS103 Smart Plugs. I use them indoors for sconces, aquarium lights, vent fans and more.
For outdoor plugs, I am using the EP40 dual outlet. I have one that powers string lights on the house and one that powers string lights and some rear ambience lights from the shop.
Lights
I use several lights from Kasa. The LED Light Strip is great for ambiance. We use mostly KL110 Soft White bulbs in lamps and overhead lights we chose not to install WIFI switches for. I have a few KL125 Multicolor bulbs as well, but honestly never use the color feature.
Switches
I have probably a dozen switches now. I really don’t like having multiple bulbs for a single light source due to a multi-bulb fixture. Those automatically got switches.
I also replaced switches for lights that use specialty bulbs already or switches that control outlets instead of lights like our garage. For single pole switches I use the HS200 and the for the 3-way I use the HS210.
There are many choices for smart devices, but the Kasa (tp-link) devices have been rock solid for me. I have never had an issue configuring one, resetting it or with a failure. The app is pretty simple to use and I haven’t had to do the dreaded “reset” that I needed to do if Philips Hue needed a lot of changes. All of the devices are automatically recognized by Home Assistant.
One I get one set up in Home Assistant, I don’t need the app at all. It is useful for troubleshooting if a light is slow because of the network or Home Assistant specifically.
