Notify when fridge turns off?

I'm using the same driver with both.. Kevin LaFramboise's Custom Dome driver. I don't remember why I don't use the native one.

I've placed sensors in the fridge and freezer while testing drivers and they surprisingly still reported, but my hub is only about 8' from the fridge and I have no idea how reliable it would be long term so you're probably better off with the switch.

That's a great device and it has a flat plug where the cable goes straight down which should make it harder to unplug. I think you'll be really happy with it.

The Dome On/Off Plug is the only Dome product I don't recommend. An electrical tester reports an open neutral, 3 out of 5 of mine are dead, and the other 2 randomly shut-off with a white LED which isn't a documented led color.

The built-in drivers for those devices have the same functionality so there's no longer a need for a custom driver.

@rudy

Wow :slight_smile: I'm surprised both work in a steel cabinet (refrigerator / freezer). I'll no longer suggest these devices won't work in these types of appliances. Sure makes it easier.

Do you have a device near by to act as a repeater for does it go directly to the hub?

John

I've been using Iris contact sensors as temperature monitors in my side by side refrigerator/freezer for a couple of years with my ST hub; no issues with performance and amazing battery life-- the Iris contact sensor in my 0 degree freezer has been using its original battery for 18 months now. I do notice that they tend to choose a nearby repeater (a Zigbee bulb on a lower floor almost directly beneath the refrigerator) as a parent in preference to the hub which is about 12 feet further away.

One advantage to monitoring temp vs. power is that you will probably know pretty quickly if someone left the door open unless you're really good at analyzing the usage data.

They go directly to the hub.

Zooz now makes an angled plug for the Zen15. I used one where I had to use the top socket on a duplex outlet. I ordered my from thesmartesthouse.com I’m not affiliated with any of these companies (or any company for that matter) FYI.

My fridge is 8' from the hub direct line of sight which might be the only reason it works.

I wouldn't recommend buying a device for that purpose unless you've been able to test it because there are probably a lot of factors determining whether or not it will work...

If you have any device on your system that can interpret temp, you can test the fridge operation by just tossing it in the fridge and see if it works. Leave it in there a while too. Maybe a whole day or two.

"just tossing it in the fridge" inside an airtight container, even if only a ziplock bag.

You don't want condensation to form and short out the internals. After removing it from the fridge, wait for the device to fully warm up.

Nothing wrong with putting them in a bag, but mine have been in there naked for 2+ years. I’ve let them warm and cool repeatedly when cleaning the fridge with no issues.

Just a quick update: the ZEN15 is working beautifully so far. It arrived Saturday afternoon, and it's been plugged in for a day and a half. Setup was super smooth, and it's handling the load just fine.

image

It looks like the fridge spiked at 1632W when I first plugged it into the ZEN15, but most of the time it spikes to ~400W, sits between 180-160W for maybe 25 minutes, then drops to ~3W for another 25 minutes.

image

Thanks again everyone!

3 Likes

What driver are you using for the zen15? Mine is not showing the power levels. It shows 0. I’m using the built in driver. I did the automatic include for the device.

Thanks

I woke up this morning and there was a value shown in the power meeting (700.521). BTW, this is a freezer not a fridge. So it might be working okay. Not sure why it took so long to finally showed up.
What setting do you all have in your Device area? Mine are below. Also do you see the power fluctuation in the logs?

Spoke too soon. I'm back to reporting power of zero.

Not sure if this is your issue. I have 2 switches. One installed fine, the other didn't. On the device page go to the bottom Device Details. On the Data line make sure the inClusters are as below:

If not, remove and reinstall the device.

Thanks bill.d. It looks the same as yours. Now I'm thinking the problem is not really a problem with the switch. The freezer is in the unheated garage. It is winter here and I'm thinking the compressor is not running for a really long time. I'm going to keep watching and see what happens.

I'm using the built-in "Zooz Power Switch" driver. This is how I currently have mine configured:

Current values:

image

That "powerH" value is rather surprising. Maybe I should reset my stats sometime, haha.

Thanks. Yeah, that powerH is a bit high :smile:

I guess I'm going to bring the switch in and plug a light or something to it just to see if it is working. As it is right now, I'm confused. I changed my settings to the ones below to see if I could see some changes in the logs. I'll see.

Tested with a space heater and it works. So it looks like the freezer goes into a deep freeze for a long time. So I don't know how I will be able to get this done.

Thanks all for your help.

I went out and bought https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BSXX5TD/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03__o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I just put it in the freezer in the garage and seems to be working fine. The temp is going down so far and being reported. I will have to see how the battery behaves though.

The freezer is about 15 feet and a wall (besides the device being inside the freezer) from the next device.