Ellyse1d ago
i got a lot of friends that love to do that whole home automation thing. like a real luddite, i still get up and flip a switch for my lights. can someone explain to me the appeal? is there some killer feature that you couldn't do without? i don't even have my thermostat programmed, and i think it can do that already. #homeautomation #homeassistant
Show threadMichael Weiss1d ago

@ellyxir automating my thermostat cut my heating costs by 10%.

Yes, most of the time my lights are controlled by a wall switch. But having an automated one in my laundry room is really handy because wall switches are hard to use when your hands are being used to hold a full basket. Or have an alert let you know that someone forgot to turn a light out.

The biggest benefit I got, though, was from data collected by sensors. You learn a great deal that can enable you to make things more energy efficient and/or comfortable.

Show threadEllyse1d ago
@mweiss 10% isn't nothing! good job! that reminds me, i should do the laundry!
Show threadMichael Weiss1d ago

@ellyxir and I love getting alerts when the laundry is done because I'm often out of earshot so I don't know otherwise.

Of course, I got fancy with it and have it alert only in the occupied parts of the house, but that's more because I could than because I must.

Monitoring can do great things. Because I added my own temperature probes, I was able to tell proactively that something was wrong in my refrigerator and didn't have to wait for food to spoil.

Show threadEllyse1d ago
@mweiss interesting! yes, for laundry i have a timer that i set by turning a crank and set it for 90 minutes, thats how i don't forget my laundry because it will beep incessantly. how does the house thingy know that the laundry is done, does the washing machine have some API?? or pubsub?
Show threadMichael Weiss1d ago

@ellyxir in my case, it's plugged into a Zigbee power monitoring plug. I have a #homeassistant helper sensor that considers the washing machine to be on if consumption is above a threshold, and off if below a threshold. When it registers as off, it sends alerts.

Other people use vibration sensors, or have a smart appliance with an API.

Show threadEllyse
@mweiss hah pretty simple solution, and here i was thinking the washing machine exported some REST API.
Mar 25 at 10:19pmWeb
Show threadMichael Weiss1d ago
@ellyxir in most cases if there is such an API, there's already a #homeassistant integration to abstract it.
Show threadJohn Deters9h ago

@ellyxir @mweiss The nice thing is that just about any dumb thing can be plugged into a smart power monitoring plug, and you can get power usage from it. Laundry appliances, dishwashers, refrigerators, etc., all can be monitored.

Turning the monitoring into an actionable alert is a matter of studying the power usage, then writing (or copying) a small script.