r/homeassistant • u/vinny0015 • 16h ago

Dryer notification idea

I'm looking for a small light up button or something I can use so my wife can see when the dryer is done. I'm going to use a vibration sensor. And was thinking of a small led sign but looking for other ideas also

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u/yorb 14h ago

I just started doing this with the Vue, works great except my washer and dryer are on the same circuit so I haven't figured out a good way to distinguish them yet. My notification just says "Laundry is finished" and you can figure out which it is when you get there 🤪

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u/i_do_technical_stuff 11h ago

Vibration sensors on each, can tell them apart if it's just a on/off notification and don't need to record power draw

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u/yorb 10h ago

Ah but they're stacked, what vibrates one shall vibrate both, unfortunately.

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u/i_do_technical_stuff 10h ago edited 10h ago

Bummer. Well then, at least in US, dryers have high amp plugs but washers have normal plugs -- so could use a normal power monitor plug on the washer and compare it against the circuit total draw.

 

  • Circuit has amps, washer does not: dryer running

  • Circuit has amps == washer plug amps, washer is running

  • Circuit has amps > washer plug amps (both non-zero), both are running

  • Circuit has no amps, nothing running

 

I agree with another commenter tho: you can probably tell them apart by their amp draw. A dryer will pull far more amps than a washer. I plot my Vue power draw into HA and I know I can tell apart which fans are running in my greenhouse based on if I see 80 watts vs 130 watts draw (or a combined 210 watts).

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u/yorb 10h ago

Yeah except the washer plugs into the dryer with a special plug, not easily accessible the way it's mounted either. So literally only the dryer plugs into the wall. Good idea though, if we had normal appliances.