Future smart plugs to be Fire Risk

Future smart plugs to be ‘fire risk’ 

Whether it’s an internet-connected thermostat, lighting that responds to voice commands or a refrigerator that can control the rest of the kitchen appliances, chances are that most of your customers have at least one smart product in their homes.

Many of these devices use intelligence algorithms to do their jobs—for instance, a robot vacuum is programmed to avoid chair legs, or a smart doorbell camera automatically begins filming when someone steps onto the porch.

Utilities can play a role in helping customers design smart homes that fit their needs, simply by letting customers know how many smart-home technologies are available and how easy they can be to use.

For instance, if a customer has a smart phone or smart speaker like Alexa or Google, they can operate the following smart home technologies:
• Wireless thermostats
• Smart lighting programs that turn lights on and off or dim them on command
• Smart security systems, including indoor and outdoor cameras
• Security lights that turn on and off at dusk and dawn
• Automatic door locks and garage door openers
• Smoke alarms and carbon dioxide detectors that are connected to a single hub
• Smart outlets that can automatically turn appliances on and off
• Smart water monitors that can detect leaks and automatically shut off the water supply.

Utilities should work with trade allies that can install all or some of these smart home devices in customers’ homes and interconnect them so they can be operated by a single smart-phone app.

picture copyright Hictkon

A sensible plug on the market on Amazon poses a hearth threat and other people ought to instantly cease utilizing it, an investigation by client watchdog Which? suggests.

Amazon stated it had eliminated the Hictkon sensible plug with twin USB ports from sale, pending investigation.

Its dwell connection was too near an energy-monitoring chip, Which? discovered.
And this might trigger {an electrical} discharge between two electrodes, posing a hearth threat significantly in properties with older wiring.

AN INVESTIGATION by consumer watchdog Which? found that a smart plug available for purchase on Amazon ‘poses a fire risk and people should immediately stop using it’.

BBC News reported on the investigation of the Hictkon smart plug with dual USB ports, with Which? establishing that the plug’s live connection ‘was too close to an energy-monitoring chip’, which could ‘cause an electrical discharge between two electrodes’, posing a fire risk ‘particularly in homes with older wiring’. As a result, customers who have bought the plugs ‘should immediately stop using’ them, Which? warned.

Additionally, the product’s CE mark ‘normally associated with having passed rigorous European safety standards’ was ‘misleading’, as some Chinese companies use a similar CE mark to designate that the product is a “China export”, while others ‘simply fake the safety mark’ as there is no ‘central database to check whether it has been verified and it can be self-declared by companies’.

In response, Amazon said it had removed the plug from sale ‘pending investigation’, and that customers concerned about purchases should contact customer service. It added: ‘We monitor the products sold in our stores for product-safety concerns. When appropriate, we remove a product from the store, reach out to sellers, manufacturers and government agencies for additional information or take other actions.’

Clever Compliance chief executive Max Stralin said that many companies ‘get away with it until they don’t, adding that ‘the same issue arose with the burning hoverboards back in 2015’. Which? Computing editor Kate Bevan commented: ‘Too often we’ve seen dangerous products being sold on online marketplaces from unknown brands - in many cases originating from China’s electronics capital, Shenzhen - that appear to have little accountability and are virtually impossible to contact.

‘This raises big concerns around safety checks and monitoring carried out by online marketplaces like Amazon. Currently, consumers face a lottery regarding the safety of the products they buy from online marketplaces and whether they meet required safety standards in the UK. That’s why it’s vitally important that the government gives online marketplaces more legal responsibility for preventing unsafe products from being sold on their sites.’

She called in turn for both government legislation and an ‘enforcement body with teeth’ to help ‘crack down on rogue devices’.

REF:
https://www.businessinsider.com/ces-top-smart-home-trends-2019-1
https://www.homeadvisor.com/r/smart-home-trends-from-ces/
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/smart-plugs-amazon-fire-risk-consumer-watchdog-which-b739044.html