Plogg – Smart Plugs and Home Energy Monitoring

Plogg – Smart Plugs and Home Energy Monitoring

It’s a familiar scene in millions of UK homes. The heating clicks on, the kettle boils, someone throws a load into the tumble dryer, and a few weeks later an email arrives from your energy supplier telling you the direct debit is going up again. You stare at the figure and wonder: which appliance is actually responsible? Is it the ancient fridge in the garage? The kids’ gaming PC that never seems to switch off? The tumble dryer that runs three times a week? Without data, you’re guessing. And guessing is exactly how households end up overpaying by hundreds of pounds a year. That’s where smart plugs and home energy monitoring come in. A single smart plug, costing less than a takeaway, can tell you precisely what an appliance consumes in watts and kilowatt-hours, what it costs in pounds and pence, and when it’s drawing power you didn’t even know about. In this guide, we’ll walk through how smart plugs work alongside smart meters, how demand response schemes like Octopus Energy Saving Sessions can actually pay you to shift usage, and what our team has learned from monitoring real UK homes over months of testing.

Why Smart Plugs Are the Easiest First Step to Energy Monitoring

If you’ve been meaning to “look into” your energy usage for months, a smart plug is the fastest way to stop procrastinating. You plug it into a standard UK three-pin socket, plug your appliance into the smart plug, download the manufacturer’s app, and within two minutes you’re watching live wattage figures. That’s it. No installer visit, no new meter, no waiting list. Devices like the TP-Link Tapo P110 and the Amazon Smart Plug have made this genuinely plug-and-play, and because most UK homes already have Wi-Fi and a smartphone in the house, the barrier to entry is essentially zero.

Compare that to the smart meter experience. The UK smart meter rollout has been running for years, and while millions of homes now have one, plenty of households are still waiting, have had a failed install, or have a first-generation meter that lost smart functionality when they switched supplier. Even when a smart meter is working perfectly, it only tells you what the whole house is using. It can’t tell you that your tumble dryer is costing £1.40 per cycle while your dishwasher costs 32p. For that level of detail, you need something at the socket level. That’s the smart plug’s job.

There’s also a psychological benefit. When you can see a number ticking upward in real time, you behave differently. Our team has watched people become genuinely curious about their homes once they had live data — wandering around switching things off to see the wattage drop. That curiosity is the beginning of real energy saving, and it costs about £12 to unlock.

What a smart plug actually measures (watts, kWh, cost)

A good energy-monitoring smart plug measures three core things. First, instantaneous power in watts — this is the live figure showing what the appliance is drawing right now. A kettle might show 2,900W while boiling, then drop to 0W when it clicks off. Second, cumulative energy in kilowatt-hours (kWh) — this is the total energy consumed over time, and it’s the figure your supplier bills you on. Third, many plugs calculate cost by multiplying kWh by a tariff rate you enter in the app, giving you a running total in pounds and pence.

It’s worth understanding the relationship between these. One kilowatt-hour is simply 1,000 watts running for one hour. So a 100W appliance left on for ten hours uses 1 kWh. At the current Ofgem price cap rate for electricity, that’s roughly 24–25p. A tumble dryer pulling 2,500W for a 90-minute cycle uses about 3.75 kWh, which works out around 90p to £1.15 depending on your tariff. Suddenly the “it’s only a small appliance” assumption falls apart.

Some plugs also track voltage, current in amps, and frequency, though for household decision-making, watts and kWh are the two that matter. Accuracy varies — cheaper plugs can drift by 5–10% on very low loads — but for identifying big consumers, even a rough figure is enormously useful.

Smart plug vs smart meter: different jobs, different data

People often assume a smart meter makes smart plugs redundant. It doesn’t. They answer different questions.

  • Smart meter: How much energy is the whole house using right now, and how much has it used today, this week, this month?
  • Smart plug: How much energy is this specific appliance using, and when is it using it?

A smart meter is brilliant for tracking your overall consumption trend and for spotting anomalies — if your baseline usage jumps overnight, something’s wrong. But it can’t disaggregate. If your whole-home reading rises by 200W, it could be the fridge compressor kicking in, the broadband router, a phone charger, or the TV on standby. A smart plug tells you exactly which. The two work best as a pair: the meter gives you the big picture, the plugs give you the detail.

Top UK-compatible smart plugs we recommend for beginners

Not every smart plug sold online is suitable for UK homes. You need a plug with a standard UK three-pin (Type G) socket, UKCA certification, and a 13A rating for high-power appliances. Here are the ones we’d suggest starting with:

  1. TP-Link Tapo P110 — our default recommendation. Reliable energy monitoring, clean app, works with Alexa and Google Home, and regularly available for under £15. The P110 also supports scheduling and away mode.
  2. Amazon Smart Plug — simple, Alexa-native, and great if you’re already in the Amazon ecosystem. Note that the basic Amazon Smart Plug doesn’t include energy monitoring, so check the model before buying.
  3. Meross MSS310 — a solid budget alternative with energy monitoring, decent app, and HomeKit support on some versions.
  4. Shelly Plus Plug UK — for tinkerers. Excellent accuracy, local control, no cloud dependency required, and deep integration with Home Assistant.

If you only buy one, buy a Tapo P110. It’s the least fussy way to start.

How to read your first week of smart plug data without overwhelm

The biggest mistake beginners make is plugging a smart plug into everything at once and drowning in numbers. Don’t. Start with one plug and one appliance — ideally something you suspect is expensive, like a tumble dryer, an old fridge, or a space heater. Run it for a week in normal use. At the end of the week, look at three things only: total kWh consumed, estimated cost, and the daily pattern.

That daily pattern is often the revelation. You might discover the tumble dryer runs four times a week when you thought it was twice. You might find the fridge is cycling far more than it should, hinting at a failing seal. You might find the games console draws 15W in standby, 24 hours a day, which is 10.9 kWh a month — around £2.60 you’re paying for nothing.

Once you’ve done one appliance properly, move to the next. Within a month you’ll have a clear picture of your home’s real energy profile, and you’ll be making decisions based on evidence rather than vibes.

Smart Meters in the UK: What They Do (and Don’t) Tell You

The UK smart meter rollout is one of the largest infrastructure programmes in the country’s history. The goal has been to offer every home and small business a smart meter, replacing traditional gas and electricity meters with digital versions that communicate usage data automatically. In Great Britain, this communication runs through the Data Communications Company (DCC) network, which securely routes readings between meters and suppliers. In Northern Ireland, the approach differs slightly, but the principle is the same.

Smart meters bring real benefits. No more manual readings. No more estimated bills. Faster switching. And an in-home display (IHD) that shows your consumption in near real time. But they also come with limitations that aren’t always explained clearly at the point of install, and those limitations are exactly why smart plugs remain valuable.

How smart meters differ from energy monitors

A smart meter is a billing device first and a monitoring device second. Its primary job is to measure total consumption at the meter and transmit that data to your supplier. An energy monitor — whether that’s a standalone device, a smart plug, or a whole-home clamp monitor — is designed to give you insight, not to bill you.

This distinction matters because smart meters are not required to expose granular data to you in real time. Some suppliers provide good apps with half-hourly or even live data; others provide almost nothing beyond a monthly summary. The IHD that comes with the meter typically shows current usage and cost, but the refresh rate and detail vary enormously between models.

An energy monitor, by contrast, exists purely to inform you. It can be as simple as a smart plug on one appliance or as comprehensive as a per-circuit clamp system. The data is yours, it’s immediate, and it’s designed for decision-making rather than billing.

The in-home display: useful but limited

The in-home display is the small screen that installers leave with you after a smart meter install. It shows current electricity usage in watts or pounds per hour, and often historical usage too. Used well, it’s a genuinely useful nudge device — seeing the figure spike when you switch on the oven is educational.

But the IHD has real limitations. It only shows whole-home consumption, so it can’t tell you which appliance is responsible for a spike. Many IHDs have poor battery life or need to be plugged in near the meter. Some lose connection to the meter and require re-pairing. And crucially, the IHD is not a substitute for per-appliance monitoring — it’s a summary, not a breakdown.

We’ve heard from plenty of households who used their IHD enthusiastically for a fortnight, then put it in a drawer. That’s not a failure of the technology; it’s a failure of granularity. Without knowing what’s causing the numbers, there’s only so much you can do about them.

Why we still pair smart meters with smart plugs

The smart meter tells you the total. The smart plug tells you the components. Together, they let you do something neither can do alone: attribute your spending.

Here’s a practical example. Your smart meter shows your home used 14 kWh yesterday. That’s about £3.40. Is that good or bad? Without context, you don’t know. Now add smart plug data: the tumble dryer used 3.8 kWh, the dishwasher 1.4 kWh, the fridge 1.1 kWh, the TV and entertainment setup 0.9 kWh, and the rest was heating, lighting, and miscellaneous. Suddenly you can see where the money went, and you can make a targeted decision — like running the tumble dryer on a lower heat setting or air-drying when possible.

This pairing is also how you validate demand response participation. When you join a scheme like Octopus Energy Saving Sessions, you need to know what your baseline usage looks like and how much you actually shifted. The smart meter confirms the reduction; the smart plugs show you which appliances you successfully turned down or delayed.

Common smart meter frustrations UK households report

We’ve spoken to a lot of UK households about their smart meters, and the same complaints come up again and again:

  • Loss of smart functionality after switching supplier. Older SMETS1 meters sometimes stop sending readings when you change provider, turning them into dumb meters with a screen.
  • Installation delays and failed appointments. Particularly for older properties or where meter boxes are awkward to access.
  • IHD connection problems. Displays that stop talking to the meter, or that need to be within a certain distance to work reliably.
  • Confusing apps. Some supplier apps are excellent; others are slow, buggy, or show data with a 24-hour delay.
  • No gas data on the IHD. Some setups only display electricity, leaving gas consumption invisible in real time.
  • Lack of granularity. The most common frustration of all — knowing the total but not the cause.

None of these are reasons to avoid a smart meter. They are, however, reasons to treat it as one tool among several rather than the whole solution.

Demand Response and Time-of-Use Tariffs: Getting Paid to Shift Load

Here’s something that would have sounded absurd a decade ago: you can now get paid for not using electricity at certain times. Demand response schemes reward households for reducing or shifting consumption during peak periods, when the grid is under strain and wholesale prices are highest. For UK homes, this has moved from a niche experiment to a mainstream opportunity.

The National Grid ESO Demand Flexibility Service (DFS) was the big breakthrough. Launched to help balance the grid during winter peaks, it pays participating households and businesses for reducing usage during specified one-hour windows, typically in the late afternoon or early evening. Suppliers like Octopus Energy run their own versions — most famously Octopus Energy Saving Sessions — which pass the payments through to customers, often in the form of bill credits or Octoplus points.

Smart plugs are one of the simplest ways to participate meaningfully. Because they can be scheduled and controlled remotely, they let you automate the shift — turning off or delaying appliances during the event window without you having to remember anything.

What demand response means for a normal UK home

Demand response sounds technical, but in practice it’s simple. Your supplier tells you an event is happening, usually the day before or a few hours ahead. You reduce your electricity usage during that window compared to your normal baseline. You get paid for the difference.

For a typical household, the reductions come from a handful of things:

  • Delaying the washing machine, dishwasher, or tumble dryer until after the event.
  • Turning off the oven and using the hob or microwave instead.
  • Pausing EV charging.
  • Reducing heating or hot water usage if you’re on electric systems.
  • Switching off standby loads and non-essential devices.

The events are usually one hour long, sometimes two. You don’t have to sit in the dark. You just need to avoid the big draws during that specific window.

Octopus Saving Sessions and similar UK schemes

Octopus Energy Saving Sessions are the most well-known consumer-facing demand response scheme in the UK. Customers with a smart meter opt in, receive notifications of upcoming sessions, and earn rewards based on how much they reduce usage compared to their baseline. Payments have varied considerably between events — some sessions have paid the equivalent of several pounds per kWh saved, which is far above the normal unit rate.

The National Grid ESO Demand Flexibility Service works similarly but at a national level, with suppliers acting as intermediaries. Other suppliers have launched their own variations, and the overall direction of travel is clear: time-of-use pricing and flexibility payments are becoming a normal part of the UK energy landscape.

To participate, you generally need a working smart meter that’s sending half-hourly readings. That’s the baseline measurement mechanism. Without it, the scheme can’t calculate your reduction. This is one of the strongest practical arguments for getting a smart meter if you don’t have one — it unlocks access to these payments.

Automating appliances with smart plugs and schedules

Here’s where smart plugs earn their keep. During a Saving Session, the last thing you want is to be running around the house unplugging things. Instead, you can set up schedules in advance.

For example, you could create a rule that turns off the tumble dryer plug, the games console plug, and the dehumidifier plug automatically between 5pm and 6pm on event days. Or you could set a “peak avoidance” schedule that runs the dishwasher overnight every night, so you never accidentally run it during a peak window. Some plugs integrate with IFTTT or Home Assistant, allowing more sophisticated automations — like turning off specific circuits when your supplier sends an event notification.

Even without automation, the plug gives you the data to know what you’re saving. After a few sessions, you’ll see which appliances are worth shifting and which barely move the needle.

Is demand response worth it? Our honest take

Yes — but with realistic expectations. If you participate in every event across a winter and shift a meaningful amount of load, you might earn £30–£80 across the season, depending on your household and the events called. That’s not life-changing money, but it’s essentially free for behaviour you’d probably adopt anyway once you see the data.

The bigger value is behavioural. Once you’re used to running appliances at off-peak times, you’ll likely continue doing so, and if you move to a time-of-use tariff like Octopus Agile or a similar product, that habit becomes directly financially valuable. Demand response is a gateway into smarter energy use, not a get-rich-quick scheme.

Our advice: join if you have a smart meter, automate what you can with smart plugs, and treat the payments as a bonus rather than the goal.

Real Energy Saving: What Our Team Has Learned From Monitoring

Over the past couple of years, our team has monitored a range of UK homes — flats, terraces, semis, and a couple of older properties with questionable insulation. We’ve plugged smart plugs into fridges, freezers, tumble dryers, washing machines, dishwashers, TVs, games consoles, routers, dehumidifiers, space heaters, and more. Some findings were predictable. Others genuinely surprised us. Here’s what stood out.

Standby power: the hidden cost in every UK home

Standby loads are the silent tax on modern households. Individually, each device draws a tiny amount. Collectively, they add up to a meaningful chunk of your bill.

Some real figures from our monitoring:

  • Games console in standby: 12–18W continuously. That’s roughly 9–13 kWh per month, or £2.20–£3.20.
  • TV in standby: 0.5–3W depending on age and features. Older plasma sets can be worse.
  • Broadband router: 6–10W continuously. This one’s hard to avoid, but worth knowing.
  • Smart speaker: 2–4W continuously.
  • Phone charger left plugged in with no phone: 0.1–0.5W. Negligible individually, but multiplied across a household, it adds up.
  • Old fridge-freezer in garage: one we monitored drew 2.4 kWh per day — around £18 a month — because the seal was failing and the compressor ran constantly.

Add up a typical household’s standby load and you’re often looking at 40–80W continuous. That’s 29–58 kWh per month, or £7–£14 you’re paying for devices that aren’t doing anything useful. Not a fortune, but not nothing either — and it’s the easiest saving to capture.

Heating vs appliances: where your money really goes

It’s important to keep perspective. For most UK homes, heating and hot water dominate energy spending, especially if you’re on gas. Electricity is usually the smaller slice. But within that electricity slice, the distribution is often surprising.

From our monitored homes, a typical electricity breakdown looked something like this:

  • Wet appliances (washing machine, dishwasher, tumble dryer): 20–30% of electricity usage.
  • Cold appliances (fridge, freezer): 15–20%.
  • Entertainment and IT: 10–15%.
  • Lighting: 5–10% (much lower than a decade ago thanks to LEDs).
  • Standby and miscellaneous: 10–15%.
  • Electric heating, hot water, or EV charging (where applicable): highly variable, sometimes 40%+.

The tumble dryer consistently stood out as the single most expensive appliance per use. A typical cycle used 2.5–4 kWh, costing 60p–£1.00. Run it four times a week and you’re looking at £125–£200 a year. By contrast, a heat pump tumble dryer uses roughly half that — and in one monitored home, switching from a vented dryer to a heat pump model cut the annual drying cost by around £80.

If you have an electric shower, an immersion heater, or an EV, those will dominate your electricity usage. Monitoring them with a smart plug (where safe and rated appropriately) gives you the clearest picture of where your money actually goes.

Five changes that cut our monitored usage

Across the homes we monitored, five changes consistently produced measurable reductions:

  1. Switched off standby at the wall for entertainment devices. Using a smart plug with a schedule or a simple switched extension lead, we cut 30–50W of continuous load in most homes. Typical saving: £6–£12 a month.
  2. Ran the tumble dryer less and used a heated airer or outdoor line when possible. Cutting two cycles a week saved £60–£90 a year in monitored homes.
  3. Moved washing machine and dishwasher runs to off-peak hours. On time-of-use tariffs, this alone reduced the effective cost per cycle by 40–60%.
  4. Replaced the oldest, least efficient fridge or freezer. One home’s 15-year-old garage fridge was costing £18 a month to run; a modern A-rated replacement cost around £4. The payback period was under two years.
  5. Used smart plug schedules to prevent accidental all-day running. Things like dehumidifiers, space heaters, and towel rails were the worst offenders — often left on for hours without anyone noticing.

None of these are dramatic lifestyle changes. They’re small, evidence-based adjustments. Together, they cut monitored electricity usage by 15–25% in most of the homes we worked with.

When energy monitoring becomes a hobby (and when to stop)

We’ll be honest: energy monitoring can become obsessive. Once you have data, it’s tempting to chase every last watt, check the app ten times a day, and annoy your family by unplugging things they’re using. That’s not the goal.

The healthy approach is to monitor intensively for a few weeks, identify the big wins, make changes, and then step back. Check in periodically — maybe a weekly review, or a monthly look at your smart meter data. Use the plugs to maintain the good habits you’ve built, not to micromanage every device.

If you find yourself refusing to run the washing machine because it’ll cost 40p, you’ve probably gone too far. The point of monitoring is informed decisions, not guilt or deprivation. Use the data to cut waste, not to make your home miserable.

Choosing the Right Smart Plug and Monitoring Setup for Your Home

By now you’re probably convinced that a smart plug or two is worth trying. The next question is which one, and how to build a setup that actually works for your household. Here’s the framework we use when recommending kit.

Wi-Fi vs Zigbee vs Matter: which smart plug protocol?

Smart plugs communicate in one of three main ways, and the choice affects reliability, cost, and how well they integrate with the rest of your smart home.

  • Wi-Fi plugs connect directly to your home router. No hub required, simple setup, works with most homes out of the box. The downside is that they consume Wi-Fi bandwidth and can clutter your network if you buy many. TP-Link Tapo and Meross are primarily Wi-Fi.
  • Zigbee plugs require a hub (like a Philips Hue Bridge, SmartThings hub, or a Home Assistant Zigbee stick). They’re more reliable in larger setups, use less power, and form a mesh network. Shelly offers Zigbee options, and brands like Innr and Philips Hue have Zigbee plugs too.
  • Matter is the newer interoperability standard designed to make devices work across ecosystems. Matter-over-Wi-Fi and Matter-over-Thread plugs are increasingly common. If you’re buying now and want future-proofing, Matter support is a genuine plus, though the ecosystem is still maturing.

For most UK households starting out, Wi-Fi is the simplest choice. If you’re planning to build a larger smart home with dozens of devices, Zigbee or Matter-over-Thread is worth considering.

Must-have features for UK smart plugs

When you’re shopping, check for these essentials:

  • UK three-pin socket (Type G). Obvious but easy to overlook when buying from international marketplaces.
  • UKCA certification. This is the UK’s post-Brexit product safety mark, replacing CE for many goods. A plug without UKCA certification may not meet UK safety standards and could invalidate your home insurance if something goes wrong.
  • 13A rating. Essential if you want to monitor high-power appliances like kettles, heaters, or tumble dryers. Some budget plugs are only rated to 10A.
  • Energy monitoring. Not all smart plugs measure power. If monitoring is the point, make sure the model explicitly includes it.
  • Reliable app. You’ll be using it regularly. Check reviews for stability and update frequency.
  • Scheduling and timers. Basic but essential for automating off-peak runs.
  • Voice assistant support. Alexa and Google Home support is standard on most good plugs; HomeKit is a bonus if you’re in Apple’s ecosystem.

Budget vs premium: what you actually get

Budget smart plugs (roughly £8–£15) typically offer basic energy monitoring, Wi-Fi connectivity, and a functional app. They’re perfectly adequate for most households. The TP-Link Tapo P110 sits at the top of this bracket and is hard to beat on value.

Mid-range plugs (£15–£25) add better build quality, more accurate monitoring, improved app features, and sometimes Matter or HomeKit support. Meross and some Shelly models sit here.

Premium options (£25+) tend to offer local control (no cloud dependency), advanced integrations, higher accuracy, and better long-term reliability. Shelly Plus Plug UK is a good example — it’s aimed at people who want full control and privacy.

For most readers, a couple of Tapo P110s plus one premium plug for a critical appliance is a sensible starting setup.

Our current top picks for different UK households

  • Best for beginners: TP-Link Tapo P110. Cheap, reliable, easy app, accurate enough.
  • Best for Alexa households: Amazon Smart Plug (but verify it includes energy monitoring — some versions don’t).
  • Best for Apple HomeKit: Meross MSS310 with HomeKit support, or a Matter-compatible plug.
  • Best for tinkerers and Home Assistant users: Shelly Plus Plug UK. Local control, no cloud required, excellent accuracy.
  • Best budget multi-pack: Meross or Tapo four-packs, often discounted to under £10 per plug.
  • Best for high-power appliances: Any 13A-rated plug with energy monitoring — check the rating before plugging in a tumble dryer or heater.

Whatever you choose, buy from a reputable UK retailer and confirm UKCA certification. The savings from a grey-market plug aren’t worth the risk.

Start with one plug. Monitor one appliance for a week. Then decide where to go next. That single week of data will teach you more about your home’s energy use than any article — including this one — ever could.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a smart meter to use a smart plug?

No. Smart plugs work independently of your meter. They connect to your home Wi-Fi and measure the appliance plugged into them, regardless of what type of meter you have. That said, having a smart meter is useful for the bigger picture — and it’s required if you want to participate in demand response schemes like Octopus Energy Saving Sessions or the National Grid ESO Demand Flexibility Service.

How accurate are smart plug energy readings?

Good quality smart plugs are typically accurate to within 1–3% on loads above 10W, which is more than sufficient for household decision-making. Cheaper models can drift more on very low loads, and some struggle below 5W. If precision matters — for example, if you’re measuring standby consumption of a single small device — look for a plug with a stated accuracy specification, like the Shelly Plus Plug UK.

Can I use a smart plug with a tumble dryer or heater?

Only if the plug is rated for 13A and the appliance’s power draw stays within that limit. Most UK tumble dryers and space heaters draw between 2,000W and 3,000W, which is within the 13A (approximately 3,000W) rating. However, always check the appliance’s rating plate and the plug’s specification. Never use a 10A-rated plug with a high-power appliance, and never daisy-chain extension leads with high-draw devices.

Will a smart plug save me money on its own?

Not automatically — a smart plug is a measuring and control tool, not a magic saver. What it does is give you the data to identify waste and the automation to shift usage to cheaper times. Households that act on what they learn typically cut electricity usage by 10–25%, and those on time-of-use tariffs can save more by shifting load to off-peak windows. The plug enables the saving; you still have to make the changes.

What’s the difference between a smart plug and a whole-home energy monitor?

A smart plug monitors one appliance at a time. A whole-home energy monitor, usually installed at the meter or consumer unit with a clamp sensor, monitors total household consumption in real time. They serve different purposes. Whole-home monitors are great for spotting trends and anomalies; smart plugs are essential for attributing usage to specific appliances. Many energy-conscious households use both.

Is UKCA certification really necessary for smart plugs?

Yes. UKCA certification confirms that a product meets UK safety, health, and environmental requirements. Plugs without it may not have been tested to UK standards, which poses a fire or electrical risk — particularly with high-power appliances. It may also cause issues with home insurance claims if a fault leads to damage. Always buy UKCA-certified plugs from reputable retailers.

Smart plugs and home energy monitoring aren’t about guilt, deprivation, or turning your home into a spreadsheet. They’re about replacing guesswork with information. Once you know that your tumble dryer costs £1 a cycle, that your games console burns £3 a month doing nothing, or that shifting the dishwasher to 1am halves its cost on your tariff, you can make decisions that actually fit your life. Start small: buy one smart plug, plug it into the appliance you suspect most, and let it run for a week. The numbers will surprise you — and they’ll give you a clear, practical path to spending less without feeling like you’re sacrificing anything. That’s the whole point of Plogg: better data, better decisions, lower bills.

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