Price Light manual: Shelly plug colours, power when cheap | SaveElectro
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Manual

Price Light manual: everything your plug can do

This Price Light manual covers everything a SaveElectro Shelly plug can do: the colours, brightness and night dimming, and the optional Power when cheap mode with its one-touch boost, stop-when-full and safety off without internet.

For a Shelly Plus Plug S, Plug S Gen3, Plug PM Gen3 or Plus Plug UK running the SaveElectro plug script from My price lights.

1. What it does

The Price Light is an ordinary Shelly smart plug with a small SaveElectro script on it. The plug's light shows the electricity price right now as a colour: green when it is cheap, yellow when it is normal, red when it is expensive. You see the price at a glance from across the room, without opening an app.

You choose per plug in SaveElectro what its socket does — three choices — and Boost gives power right now:

💡 Light only — power off

The plug only shows the price colour; its socket is off. This is how every Price Light starts.

🔌 Always on

A normal socket that also shows the price colour: the power stays on, and the plug's button switches it on and off as usual.

⚡ Power when cheap

The socket gives power only while electricity is cheap (green or lime light). Plug in a battery charger and it charges when electricity is cheap, by itself.

👆 Boost: power now, any price

In Light only and Power when cheap, press the plug's button or Boost 1 h on My price lights: power for 1 hour at any price (+1 hour on the phone if needed). Press again during a boost to end it early — the plug goes back to what you chose.

2. What you need

  • A Shelly plug with a coloured light: Plus Plug S, Plug S Gen3, Plug PM Gen3 or Plus Plug UK.
  • Your home router's 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi with a working internet connection. Not a phone hotspot: the plug stays connected for good.
  • A SaveElectro account. The free plan includes one price light; Premium includes up to ten (see Free and Premium).
  • About 15 minutes and a laptop for the first set-up. No Shelly account or Shelly app is needed.

3. Setting up a new plug

A. Create the light in SaveElectro

  1. Sign in and open My price lights in the menu.
  2. Press Add your first price light, give it a name (for example "Hallway") and save.
  3. Press Install plug script and then Copy script. Your personal key is already inside, so there is nothing to edit.

B. Put the plug on your Wi-Fi

  1. Plug it into a socket. A new plug opens its own Wi-Fi network. If it doesn't, it was set up before: hold its button for about 10 seconds to reset it.
  2. On the laptop, join the Wi-Fi network whose name starts with Shelly (no password).
  3. Open http://192.168.33.1 in the browser.
  4. Go to Settings → Wi-Fi, enter your router's 2.4 GHz network and password, and save.
  5. Put the laptop back on your home Wi-Fi and find the plug's new address in the router's list of connected devices (a name starting with "shelly"), for example 192.168.1.57.

C. Install the script

  1. Open the plug's address in the browser. If a firmware update is offered, install it first.
  2. Go to Scripts → Create script, name it "SaveElectro Price Light", paste and Save.
  3. Press Start and turn on Run on startup, so it starts again after a power cut.

D. Check it

  1. Within a minute the plug lights up in the price colour and SaveElectro shows ● Connected.
  2. Unplug it for ten seconds and plug it back in. The plug blinks red briefly while it starts (that is Shelly's own start-up signal), then the price colour comes back by itself.

E. Finish: SaveElectro locks the plug

  1. In the plug's settings, switch off its own Wi-Fi network (Access Point). It is only needed for the first setup.
  2. Nothing else to do: within a minute SaveElectro gives the plug a password by itself, and My price lights shows 🔒 Secured by SaveElectro. Only SaveElectro then switches the plug — no other device or system on your home network (for example the control unit of a solar or battery system) can connect to it.
  3. The password is always in your account: Show plug password on My price lights. You only need it to open the plug's own page (user admin), for example to update its script.

Keep the script private: it contains your key. If you think it has been shared, press New key in SaveElectro and paste the new script into the plug.

4. The colours

The colour follows the spot price including VAT for the current quarter-hour, the same price levels you see everywhere in SaveElectro, so the plug, the website and your alerts always agree. The plug checks the price every quarter-hour.

LightSpot price incl. VAT (standard)Meaning
Purplebelow 0 c/kWhNegative price
Cyan0 c/kWhFree
Greenup to 3.8 c/kWhVery cheap
Limeup to 6.3 c/kWhCheap
Yellowup to 10 c/kWhNormal
Orangeup to 18.8 c/kWhExpensive
Redabove 18.8 c/kWhVery expensive
White—No internet or no fresh price: the plug can't reach SaveElectro. It turns white within about two minutes and never keeps showing an old "green". Without Wi-Fi, and while reconnecting, Shelly's own red or blue signals may show instead.

Moving lights

  • Slow pulse between cyan or purple and green: electricity is free or below zero right now. The plug pulses for the first few minutes of each quarter-hour, then stays steady cyan or purple, to spare its memory.
  • Fast purple and yellow blink (Premium): your full price, including transfer and taxes, is below zero. Using electricity now pays for itself.

Your own colour limits (Premium): if you set your own price colours in Settings → Price colours, the plug follows them too, within a quarter-hour.

5. Brightness and night dimming

Choose Bright, Medium or Low for each price light in SaveElectro. With Power when cheap on, the light is a bit dimmer while the plug's power is off, so you can tell whether it is switched on.

Tick Dim at night and the light goes to Low during your quiet hours: 22:00–07:00 on the free plan, or your own quiet hours on Premium. "🌙 dimmed now" in SaveElectro shows when it is in night mode.

Changes reach the plug with its next price check, within a quarter-hour. Nothing needs to be changed on the plug itself.

6. Power when cheap

In this mode the plug's own switch follows the price: power on while electricity is cheap — the light is green or lime, or cyan (free) or purple (below zero) — and power off at yellow, orange and red. On Premium you can also allow yellow (normal price) for an appliance that should run more often: choose “Cheap or normal” under Power on when on My price lights.

Turning it on

  1. In My price lights, press ⚡ Power when cheap on the light.
  2. Read which appliances are suitable, tick the confirmation and press Turn on Power when cheap.
  3. The plug follows within about 10 seconds. If My price lights shows One more step, replace the script on the plug once (see Updating the script).

Press 💡 Light only — power off to switch the socket off (the light keeps showing the price), or 🔌 Always on for a normal socket.

An evening with an e-bike battery

  • 18:00You plug in the charger. The light is orange, so the plug stays off.
  • 21:00Yellow. Still off.
  • 23:15Green. The plug switches on and the battery charges.
  • 02:40The battery is full and the charger draws almost nothing. Ten minutes later the plug switches off (stop when full).
  • 07:00You take a full battery that was charged at the cheapest time of the night.

7. Boost: power for one hour, at any price — with the button or your phone

In Power when cheap mode, the plug's button always wins for one hour:

  • Boost — power is off and you need it now: press once. The plug switches on for one hour, whatever the price. Need more time? When the hour has passed and the power goes off, press again for another hour.
  • Done before the hour is over? Press again during the boost: the boost ends and the plug goes straight back to cheap hours. Plug in the next appliance and it charges at the next cheap time by itself.
  • Power is on at a cheap price and you want it off: press once. The plug stays off for one hour, then the price decides again. To end that sooner, use Back to cheap hours now on My price lights.
  • After the hour, the price decides again.

The button works on the plug itself, so it works without internet too. SaveElectro shows "Boost until 22:45" or "Off until 22:45" once the plug has reported it.

Boost from your phone

  • On My price lights, press ⚡ Boost 1 h: the plug switches on for one hour at any price, within about 10 seconds.
  • Not enough? Press +1 hour (up to 4 hours ahead).
  • Done early? Press Stop boost — back to cheap hours: the boost ends and the plug follows the price again (power off now if electricity is not cheap).
  • This needs the internet. If My price lights asks you to, press Install plug script and replace the script on your plug once.

In Light only — power off the button works the same way: press = power for 1 hour, press again = off sooner. In Always on it is the plug's normal on/off button.

8. Stop when full

Battery chargers keep drawing a little power after the battery is full. With Stop when full (on by default), the plug switches off when an appliance that was running has used almost nothing for ten minutes. It tries again at the next cheap period, or after one hour if the price stays green.

Technically: the appliance counts as running above 20 W and as finished below 3 W. This needs a plug that measures power, which all the listed plugs do.

Turn Stop when full off for an appliance that has long pauses but should keep its power, for example a dehumidifier that stops when the room is dry.

9. Safe without internet

A plug that gives power by price must not get stuck on when it can't see the price. Two safety rules handle that:

  • No fresh price for 30 minutes: the plug switches its power off and its light turns white. When the price comes back, it carries on by itself.
  • If the script itself stops: each time the plug switches on, it also starts its own 30-minute off-timer, which the script renews every minute. If the script stops for any reason, the plug switches off by itself within 30 minutes.
  • After a power cut: the plug remembers the mode and starts with the power off until it has a fresh price.

The button still works offline, also right after a power cut: a press gives one hour of power, then the plug switches off again until the price is back. The plug counts the hour itself, so it doesn't need the internet or a clock for it.

10. What to plug in

Power when cheap switches the power off and on without asking the appliance. Only use it for appliances that are happy with that.

✅ Good for

  • E-bike and e-scooter batteries
  • Power tool batteries
  • Phone, tablet and laptop chargers
  • A dehumidifier
  • A small water heater with its own thermostat

⛔ Never

  • A fridge or freezer
  • A washing machine, dryer or dishwasher
  • Medical devices
  • Aquarium or pond pumps
  • A desktop computer, network router or anything without a battery that must not lose power
  • Heaters that must not stop, or anything that is unsafe to restart without someone present

Stay within the plug's limit: for the Plug S Gen3 that is 2 500 W for a resistive load. Never use an extension lead or a multi-socket after the plug to go over it. Follow the appliance maker's charging advice: some batteries should not be charged unattended or at night.

11. Reading the status in SaveElectro

Each price light shows the price now, its colour and where it sits on the colour scale. In Power when cheap mode you also see what the plug is doing:

You seeWhat it means
⚡ Power onThe price is cheap, the appliance has power.
○ Power offWaiting until the price is cheap (or normal, if you allowed yellow).
⚡ Boost until 22:45Boost: on at any price (button or phone).
○ Off until 22:45Someone pressed the button: off for one hour.
✓ FinishedThe charger has finished. Tries again at the next cheap period.
⚠ No priceThe plug can't reach SaveElectro, so its power is off for safety.

"● Connected" means the plug checked in during the last half-hour. "Last seen" with a warning means it hasn't: check that it is plugged in and on Wi-Fi.

12. Updating the script

One script works for all choices; changes you make on My price lights (and Boost) reach the plug within about 10 seconds — it checks for them every 10 seconds; My price lights shows ⏳ until the plug confirms. New features sometimes need a newer script: paste it again when My price lights asks you to (One more step).

  1. In SaveElectro, press Install plug script and Copy script.
  2. Open the plug's address in the browser and go to Scripts.
  3. Open the existing SaveElectro script, Stop it, select all its text and paste the new one over it.
  4. Save and Start. Check that Run on startup is still on.

Run only one SaveElectro script per plug. If you created a second one, stop the old one and turn off its Run on startup. Also remove any schedules or auto-off timers you set up for the plug in the Shelly app, so they don't fight with Power when cheap.

13. Free and Premium

FeatureFreePremium
Price lights1Up to 10
Price colours, live status✓✓
Brightness, night dimming✓ (night 22–07)✓ (your quiet hours)
Power when cheap, button, stop when full, safety off✓ (cheap)✓ (cheap, or cheap and normal)
Your own colour limits—✓
"Pays for itself" blink by your full price—✓

14. Troubleshooting

SaveElectro says "Waiting for your plug"

The plug hasn't checked in with this light's key. Check that the script is started on the plug. If it is, the key may be old: press New key, copy the new script and paste it over the old one.

The plug is white

It is on, but has no internet or can't get a fresh price. It turns white within about two minutes of losing the internet, and takes the price colour again within a minute or two of the internet coming back. Shelly's own red or blue blinking while it reconnects is normal. If it stays white with a working internet, check the Wi-Fi: open the plug's address shown on My price lights.

The colour doesn't change after I changed a setting

The plug picks up changes with its next price check, at most a quarter-hour later. To see it at once, stop and start the script on the plug.

My price lights says "One more step"

The plug runs an older script. Press Install plug script and replace the script on the plug once (see Updating the script).

The power switched off although the price is cheap

Either the charger finished (Stop when full: the status says Finished), someone pressed the button (Off until …), or the plug had no fresh price for 30 minutes. Press the button for an hour of power, or turn off Stop when full if the appliance has long pauses.

I have a solar or battery system that controls Shelly devices (for example Victron)

SaveElectro locks the Price Light plug with a password, so that system cannot connect to it and the two never work against each other. If you want the other system to switch this socket instead, choose 🔌 Always on in SaveElectro and give that system the plug's password (Show plug password on My price lights).

The plug's page asks for a login

SaveElectro has locked the plug. User admin, password: Show plug password on My price lights. After a factory reset the plug is unlocked; SaveElectro locks it again with the same password within a minute.

The plug blinks red when I plug it in

That is Shelly's own start-up signal. The price colour returns within a minute.

I bought the plug from SaveElectro. Can I return it?

Yes, within 14 days of receiving it, without giving a reason: Withdraw from contract here (you need the order number from your order email). A faulty plug is covered separately, also after the 14 days. See the Refund and Returns Policy.

Turn your plug into a price light

One Shelly plug, one script, and the price is in the room with you. Free for one light.

Free plan needs no card · Up to ten lights on Premium

Plug limits: Shelly: What's the difference between the Plug S, Plug M and Plug PM Gen3?

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