We have several measures in place to make sure that appliances are successfully switched back on after an equivent.
We understand that an appliance that doesn't switch back on after an equivent could create some inconvenience for users. So there are a number of measures we take for appliances that participate in an equivent via Smart Plugs.
Energy Monitoring
The reason that equiwatt only integrates directly with energy monitoring smart plugs (TP-Link HS110 and TP-Link KP115) is that the energy usage data received enables us to identify that a plug is receiving power and has therefore turned your appliance back on after an equivent.
Automated Retry Mechanism
There are occasionally delays or interruptions to the control communications that are sent to Smart Plugs which can be caused by anything from slow broadband or WiFi to a localised dropout in power.
If a plug is detected as not having switched back on, then a series of automated retry communications are sent to the smart plug for up to an hour.
Email, notifications and telephone alerts
If your Smart Plug does not appear to be consuming power after an equivent has finished then we take action to contact you and make you aware. This is through a series of automated messages and where necessary personalised messages or calls to users.