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Homeowner baffled after washing machine uses 3.6GB of internet data a day
(www.newsweek.com)
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this post was submitted on 04 Apr 2024
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This particular homeowner is baffled that anyone would buy a washing machine that needs an internet connection. I'm all for smart appliances, but a smart washing machine is a solution in search of a problem.
I'm personally not. I'm for appliances with a standard interface, maybe, through which it can be connected to some smart home system.
I do not mean internet access or anything else "smart" in the appliance itself. I mean being able to use the same functions as buttons and indicators offer, remotely. I2C will do.
What you have just described could be ZigBee and/or MQTT.
And Z-wave
No need for radio even. MQTT - yes.
I2C is very short range, it's meant for connecting parts on the same board. You want something like RS-485. The Modbus protocol, which runs over RS-485 would be perfect for this.
Yes, from quick googling seems exactly what I want.
For the love of God, I just can't understand how "needs Internet" became synonymous with "smart" in the appliances market slang. I know it's what advertisers do, but this one is abysmal.
Well, calling a machine "smart" doesn't seem smart to me in general
Forgotten laundry leads to mildew. Plenty of home assistance scripts out there to remind users to empty washer/dryer.
Makes sense for manufacturers to want to build this feature into the appliance itself.
Mildew doesn't grow in 15min, it takes hours to even smell weird and days to grow fungi. It's literally been cleaned with soap and hot water, there's not much to grow left.
And the less "smart" function off just automatically popping open the door when done prevents it too...
I just start a timer on my phone?
I have one for both my dryer and my washer.
I load the washer then start the timer, when it goes off I just load it in the dryer then start the other timer.
It's super easy and it's no effort at all.
I had an old wind up kitchen timer with writing on it for a while but I missed it a few too many times so I switched to the phone timers.
You don’t need it to be on the appliance itself. Hook a power metering smart outlet and you can tell. Or a shake sensor. Or an open door sensor. Combine them all for a reliable effective way to tell if it’s done and the door has been opened, all for a much lower price than what those “smart” appliances charge the premium for. This way you can also choose vendors that work on local wifi/zigbee/z wave and don’t own a paper weight or part functional item the moment the vendor decides to shutdown the servers.
Agreed, and this is what I have set up for mine... But this is also technologically so far out of reach for >95% of people...
I love mine. It reminds me when to clean it, when the drain is acting up, and when it’s done. It can even order supplies on its own. Sure all those things can be handled with a calendar but I’m lazy.
The drain issue might be hard to figure out on your own. Mine has a little notification light that comes on to run a self-clean cycle every x number of washes, but I’m pretty sure I’m the only one in my house who actually runs it.
- your grandkids in 2074
You use a calendar for reminders right?
So it has a mechanism to let you know when the drain is clogged?
Seems like it would be better to spend that engineering on making the drain work better.
Weird.
You can also use it to start a load while you’re at work when you didn’t want your clothes sitting after washing all day. True, there’s old school delay functions but this gives a little more control.
Not saying it’s worth it, but a feature I haven’t seen anyone else mention.
If you add white vinegar to load, you won’t get the ick from clothes sitting in washer for hours.
I can imagine that irritates some people's skin though
I personally love smart washers, they are a solution to the problem that we used to have at home.
We have 5 adults at home. The app lets us know if it's being used or not, and lets us know how much longer left.
Also let's us remind the other person to move their stuff in the washer to the dryer.
I personally do not want to walk over to our laundry room in the garage not connected to our house to check each time to see if it's available, then walk back to my room to grab my laundry, then bring it to the laundry room
I would prefer if everything was able to be used on a local network instead though. Like a Samsung machine that hosts a local server where data never leaves the home and still works.
For me it isn't about knowing when it's done, it's about it continuously annoying me if I still haven't flipped it an hour later
There are situations where you might want to monitor water use (someone mentioned delaying cycles based on water softener status), or people like me who might need a phone reminder because I’ll forget I put a load in and get busy with something else and it’s nice if I don’t have the extra step of setting a timer and trying to get it just right.
The problem isn’t the connectivity, the problem is the proprietary cloud ecosystems. HomeAssistant is already a brilliant home automation hub, just make devices repairable and with local control and I’ll be a customer.
This. As someone with ADHD, it's very helpful to get an extra alert when my washer/dryer is done.
I used to pull this off with a Zigbee Smart Outlet + HA, which is frankly an OK fix, but did not work for my electric dryer.
When it came time to replace my old appliances, I got a smart washer & dryer, said what the hell and put it on an isolated network. It's connected to HA via the cloud (not ideal but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯). It just works, and I wind up with mildewy neglected clothes less often.
It's not perfect, but I'm willing to deal with isolating 2 appliances to cover for my attention span.
Electricity is pretty expensive where I live, but solar opportunity is fairly good. Selling power back to grid is nowhere near as cost effective as using solar directly.
So, I could see a compelling use case of, "I want my laundry done by X o'clock. Start the wash when it'll be mostly on my cheap solar."
But yeah. I would never buy one unless it supports local-only/VLAN-restricts-internet-access usage.
When your current washer breaks to the point of being unrepairable, you will find the only choice is an Internet connected washer.
I bought the same model Bosch dishwasher that I bought last year ( I have 2 dishwashers). Bosch added Internet to their dishwashers this year. I was enraged but had no choice. They removed some wash features from buttons and made them selectable only from the app. I haven't turned the feature on but there's Wi-Fi in my dishwasher screaming to get out to the Internet. It could likely be hijacked with the right bot attack.
We need a law that all antennas come with a physical switch. Wifi, Cell, whatever comes next. They need a physical cut off switch just like privacy doors have become common on laptop cameras.
I simply will not buy a washing machine where some of the options for its regular use require an internet connection. I can see adding Bluetooth to it for things like remote control and phone notifications, or even WLAN support for connecting to some kind of smarthome hub that is internet-connected so you can get those notifications remotely. But the idea that smart == device-level internet connection is terrible. Appliances for basic living requirements, like laundry, should not require an internet connection of their own to function.
I set it up to alert my smart speakers when it's done so my family doesn't leave their laundry in the washer to mold and rot all day. That's about all I use the smart features for. And I do it through a 3rd party open source home automation solution.
While I don’t have a smart washing machine, I use a smart power outlet to let me know when the laundry is done, remind me if the load is still sitting in the washer without moving to the drier, etc.
Definitely some legit use cases to make the process smart.
I am completely in agreement and would be even willing to pay more for dumb appliances if it comes right down to it.
I just ordered a dryer that may have to go on top of my dishwasher which is on top of my washing machine - hard to explain why except to say there was no good place for the ~~washing machine~~ dishwasher in the kitchen.
If that happens, I'll be able to reach the clothes, but the control panel will be a bit of a stretch. In that case wifi control could be clutch.
Edit: my brain can never sort those two out.
Also I understand this is not the intended use case, I just think it's funny.
I’m so curious about your kitchen setup
There's no dedicated spot for a dishwasher under any of the benches, and to get a hose out from the sink would need holes drilled that I'm not prepared to do because it's a rental. Also, all the wall area is spoken for, and there are doors immediately next to the kitchen on both sides. One of those doors is the laundry, so I just stuck it in there. It's a small laundry though, so there's no space side by side for anything. If the triple stack doesn't work, the dryer can go on the opposite side of the kitchen under or over my small freezer, since it doesn't need water. That's where my dishwasher would've gone if not for the hoses that would've needed to go across the floor.
I don't know if the stack will work, unless you have tall ceilings. Standard dishwasher is 3ft, a miniature dryer is 2ft, and a miniature washing machine is 2ft. That's 8ft without stacking hardware, and standard ceilings are 8ft 2in.
Before I spent hundreds of dollars on a dryer I did measure the space. Also, "standard" ceilings where? Given you didn't specify, I'd assume you mean in the US.
In the US, the standard size ceiling is due to the length and width of 2x4s. 8ft 2in is an 8ft 2x4 plus the top and bottom plate minus the flooring and ceiling drywall. In newer and more expensive houses, 9ft is starting to become more common as people are spending more and more on building.
If you're putting in a dishwasher just drill the holes. Your landlord will thank you for saving them the trouble of having to do that themselves some day.
I don't think any normal landlord would give two shits about some dishwasher-hose-sized holes drilled under a sink, between internal cabinet walls, that no one will ever see. Such holes are so far back and out of the way... No one would ever notice unless they're missing.
Those aren't the holes I'm talking about, I would drill those in a second. I've done it before.
There's enough information in my post to explain why it's not as simple as you seem to think, plus the other issues with doing it this way, and I can unpack it for you, but I'd need you to tell me you were interested in the information first.
im with this guy, vandalize the apartment to a better condition than you left it.
I doubt it is needed. Certainly hope not.
Idk, in my particular situation I would like a smart washing machine. I have a smart fridge, that is essentially useless, but a smart washing machine would tell me when my laundry was done so I can switch it into the dryer. That actually seems useful in my particular situation.
I don't think any need an internet connection...
But some people connect everything they can for some reason.