A smart plug is a small adapter that goes into a wall socket; you plug an appliance into it, and it lets you switch that appliance on or off, schedule it and often measure its power use — all from your phone or by voice. It's the easiest, no-installation way to make one appliance smart. A smart switch (or switch module) instead controls a wall switch itself: a module is wired in behind your existing switch, or the switch is replaced, so an entire light point, fan or circuit becomes app- and voice-controllable while the physical switch keeps working. In short, plugs are for individual appliances you can unplug, and switches are for the fixed lights, fans and points wired into your walls.

This is the most important safety decision, so get it right. A 6A smart plug is designed for small appliances — lamps, phone chargers, televisions, routers, small kitchen gadgets. A 16A smart plug is for heavy appliances that draw a lot of current: geysers (water heaters), air-conditioners, water pumps and the like. Running a heavy appliance through a plug that isn't rated for it can overheat the plug and is a genuine fire hazard, so a geyser or AC must always be on a proper 16A plug, never an ordinary 6A one. If you're unsure what an appliance draws, it's safer to ask before buying — which is exactly what we help with, matching every device to the correct rating.

Yes, and it's often the best approach. A smart switch module is a small device wired in behind your existing wall switch inside the switch box. It leaves the physical switch working exactly as before — so anyone can still operate the light or fan the normal way — while adding app and voice control on top. Nothing on the wall changes, you don't replace bulbs, and there's no re-cabling of your home. The one thing to check first is the neutral wire: many in-wall modules need a neutral connection at the switch box to work, and older Indian homes often ran wiring without a neutral at the switch, so it's worth confirming yours has one (or choosing a module that doesn't require it) before buying. We check this for you so nothing arrives that can't be fitted.

They can, in two ways. First, plugs and modules with energy monitoring show you exactly how much power each appliance is using, which often reveals a surprise — an old fridge, a set-top box or a geyser quietly costing far more than you'd expect — so you can act on it. Second, scheduling and automation stop appliances wasting power: a geyser that only heats for an hour before you wake instead of staying on, devices that switch off automatically at night, standby loads cut completely. The plug itself uses a tiny amount of power, so the savings come from the behaviour it enables rather than the device alone. For a typical home, targeting the few biggest or most-wasteful appliances is where the real bill reduction comes from, and we set the monitoring and schedules up to find those.

Most smart plugs and switches connect over your home WiFi, so app and voice control need the WiFi to be up; if the internet drops, the appliance keeps its last state and the physical switch still works, and many devices keep running their saved schedules locally. For heavy appliances like a geyser or an air-conditioner, safety comes down to using the correct 16A-rated device and, ideally, having it fitted or checked by a qualified electrician — done properly, a 16A smart plug or a suitably rated module is a safe and convenient way to schedule and control them. Remember too that a smart plug only controls power while the appliance's own switch is left on. This is general guidance rather than electrical or safety advice, and models, specs and prices here are illustrative and change often. Smart plugs and switches pair with our Smart Lighting range and rely on solid coverage — see our Smart WiFi Systems page.