Adding in a Kasa Smart KP-303 3-plug power strip (Smart Plugs)

I have a couple of 3D printers in a small crafting room - I've automated control of the printers through Home Assistant, but still needed to go into the craft room to turn on the printers.

I found a smart power strip on Amazon for $27, where I can plug in my two Raspberry Pi 2B+'s into the two USB connections (always on). The three grounded outlets each have a button or you can control it through the Kasa app/Home Assistant.

Kasa App angle

I did not see a way to avoid installing the Kasa app...you need it to assign the network/password to your power strip. The Kasa app lets you control the power strip remotely, but I will continue to look for a way to strip the app out of the loop. (Once I have it working with Home Assistant, I don't want Kasa to remove it with an update.)

The Kasa App itself was easy to install. It does ask you if you want to enable for Google Assistant/Amazon Alexa/Samsung SmartThings - but you can skip that. Once you add the device, in the Devices menu, followed by the (+), it will take time to search for your device, then add the network information. The three smart plugs showed up, allowing you to name each plug - this will carry into Home Assistant, so this is worthwhile.

Home Assistant angle

Under Configuration>Integrations, click the "Add Integrations" button in the lower right. Searching for "Kasa" was enough to find the "TP-Link Kasa Smart" integration.

The TP-Link Kasa Smart Integration

I added the device to "Craft Room", and it found the three entities (the three plugs).

The 3 smart plugs named through the Kasa app

Adding buttons for Lulzbot_Micro and Lulzbot_Mini was easy. (Home Assistant even suggested them as the appropriate buttons.)

The "hass:flash" icon is a little big...

Overall, it was super easy to implement. It worked without a grounded outlet, which is convenient until the outlets get updated. I didn't really like having to set up a Kasa account to assign wi-fi credentials - it definitely felt like a constructed "we want people to use the Kasa app" approach. But at least their strip works with Home Assistant, so I'll consider that a win.

 

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