Need Smart-Plug Help

[Djinn252]

Greetings,

I recently installed a Gosund smart plug on Amazon.  Though the instructions were crap, I was able to connect it to my network, and then I was able to connect it to Alexa.  So yes, it appears in my Alexa app, and I can issue the command "Alexa, turn on the fan" and it works.

However, I was really hoping that I could issue verbal timer commands, such as "Alexa, turn off the fan in 30 minutes," or "Alexa, turn on the fan for one hour."

I'm not interested in setting up a schedule with specific on/off times ... I'm just looking for the functionality described above.  Is it possible?

Many thanks for any help

[jwlv]

Did you enable the Smart Life Alexa skill for the Gosund devices and link it your account?
https://www.amazon.com/Tuya-Inc-Smart-Life/dp/B01N1ZVI7M

Also, if you changed the device names after setting it up, Alexa will need to discover it again.

Update: I just read some of the reviews on the Gosund smart plugs. There are quite a few low and 1-star ratings. It seems that many people have problems with it. In general I always recommend name brand devices over generic or no-name when it comes to products that require a back-end server.

Consider this: How long will the server for a no-name device be around? They might just pack up and disappear tomorrow and leave you in the dust. Smart plugs won't work without a back-end server. Will they make firmware updates? App updates? Alexa skill updates?  Some well known smart plug manufacturers include Philips, TP-Link, Wemo, Netgear, and Amazon has their own in-house brand too. With these brand names, you can be reasonably certain that they won't disappear overnight.

[Djinn252]

Thank you for the reply - but I'm not sure that the no-name brand is an issue.  After all, the plug is fully-connected, and I can de/activate the plug both with voice commands, and with the Alexa app.  The issue concerns issuing timer-specific commands - and in theory, that should be a function of the Echo device.  When I say "Turn on the fan for 30 minutes," the Echo should recognize this as three commands; turn on the smartplug, countdown for 30 minutes, turn off the smartplug.

To the best of my knowledge, this doesn't work with our Eufy smartbulbs either, and Eufy (a division of Anker Innovations) is well-known.

Assuming you have a smartplug, can you issue the command to turn on/off in __ minutes?

[jwlv]

Sorry, I misread your question.

Alexa cannot schedule turning on/off a smart plug on the fly. It would definitely be handy feature if Amazon made it available. But alas, Amazon isn't doing it yet. As you already know, this can only be done through a predefined routine.

[Djinn252]

I think I found a workaround... The "Smart Life" app I installed as a part of the installation supports a countdown timer.  It's not as convenient as voice control, but once the fan is on, I can run the app, and then set a 30-minute countdown timer, after which it will turn off the plug, shutting down the fan.

Given Amazon's push for automation, it's surprising that they don't support such a simple feature.

[SylvainG]

A combination of Alexa, SmartLife, Stringify and IFTTT, all of them working together could do what you're asking but it's not really straight forward. Good luck.