I connected my smart TV to my first smart plug as soon as I installed it. The TV is now on, Google! Nothing. Well, it’s not precisely zero. As my TV’s “standby” light went from green to red, it signified that it was ready to be switched on.
I hadn’t considered standby mode at all, and I began to worry if a smart plug could possibly turn my television on.
Is a smart plug capable of turning on a television?
A smart plug is not an option for turning on a television.
Standby mode is activated when a television is switched off. When you use a smart plug to switch on your TV, it will simply put the TV into sleep mode since the power is entirely shut off.
When a television is switched off, it goes into standby mode, which means that it never completely shuts off until it is physically disconnected. When you use a smart plug to turn off the TV, you’re basically disconnecting it from the wall every time you do so. In this case, the TV will be put into standby mode when you turn it back on through the smart plug, and you’ll have to manually turn it on.
It’s a pity.
What does “standby mode” imply?
TVs with tubes and valves in them might take several minutes to switch on if they had been plugged in and unplugged.
You’re correct, it’s been a few minutes. What a suck.
These “old school” TVs included standby mode, so that your TV could be instantly activated using a remote control.
Fortunately, modern televisions use much less energy than old-school televisions, yet leaving an old-school television in standby mode quickly racked up the power bill.
Standby mode is still present in modern television sets despite the absence of tubes and valves, which are now obsolete.
If you’re looking for a simple way to put your TV into standby mode, you’ll find it in current televisions.
Since standby mode is so cheap, practically all current televisions feature it.
Having a fast-starting TV is simply a nicer experience all-around.
Is there a way to turn off “standby” mode?
To use a smart plug to power on your TV, you may need to disable the TV’s standby setting.
Sadly, this isn’t possible on all TVs, so you’ll need to check with your specific manufacturer and model.
However, for TVs that support this option, you’ll likely find it under “settings” more frequently than not.
You should be able to use your smart plug to switch on your TV if standby mode is turned off (Your television will just turn itself on without going into standby mode).
Various methods for turning on the television (without using a smart plug)
The standby mode on my TV isn’t an option, so I’ll have to come up with a workaround.
Fortunately, there are a few choices.
Google Chromecast and Amazon’s Alexa voice-activated speaker system
Google Chromecast may be used in conjunction with your Google Home to stream content. As you may expect, the setup isn’t as simple as you might imagine.
For your convenience, I’ve put up a tutorial that shows you step-by-step how to switch on your TV using Chromecast.
Alternatively, you might use Amazon Alexa to switch on your TV.
Alexa is compatible with a wide range of television brands and models. In my case, I use an Alexa-enabled TCL Roku TV that I switch on using my voice commands.
I came up a comprehensive guide on how to use Alexa to switch on your TV.
Conclusion
A smart plug won’t be able to switch off your TV in most circumstances. That’s because today’s televisions don’t totally shut down while they’re in standby mode.
To get around this, you may turn off standby mode in the TV’s settings. Using this method, your smart plug will just turn on the TV, eliminating the need for standby mode.
Google Chromecast and Amazon Alexa installations may be used to deactivate standby mode if your TV doesn’t have this feature.