Zwave sensor to detect washer/dryer vibration

If you're thinking about getting Xiaomi, I advise you to read some of the forum posts about them before buying. They might be cheap but you're going to have to use VERY specific repeaters or they won't stay on your network. I won't use them. But a lot of people love them.

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@Ryan780
Thanks for the heads up.

@erktrek
That's pricy, but basically doable. Here's my concern. All the 240V circuits in my house are L1, L2, and G (so ground is basically being used as return path for the current).

The wiring diagrams I've seen for the Aeotec heavy duty switch use L1, L2, N, and G. Can it be used with the three-conductor wiring my house has?

I do not know the answer you might have to check with Aeotec.

Also there is another way as well:
https://www.amazon.com/Aeotec-Aeon-Labs-ZW095-ZW095/dp/B00XD8WZX6

Here is the thread about it:

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You have to put one of the clamps around one of the 120 lines going into your dryer. The other can be uses for the hot 120 to your washer. But you can't but the clamp around the whole wire. I was able to separate the lines going into my dryer quite easily as it was flat and had about 1/4" of insulation between the lines. But just unplug it before you try to separate them. PLEASE! :slight_smile:

If you're looking for a DIY solution, I just built one of these using an ESP8266 board and a Split core Current transformer. But if you're not into that kind of stuff you're going to spend more on getting all the needed other "bits" to do it than you would on the HEM. But it is an option if you wanna look at it.

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Yes, I have Sense CTs for one of panels and Efergy CTs for the other one.

I'm going to look into the heavy duty switch first, and the Smartthings multisensor second.

Sense has an IFTTT trigger. You can just have it send you a notification when the washer or dryer turn off. You could use Pushover for the notifications and just add delays before notification for the washer if you have issues with it detecting a pause as off. Although I believe Sense should be able to differentiate between the two.

Sense had picked up my dryer, but in two years it hasn't picked up my HE washer.

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Does your dryer have a "Done" LED? That's how I'm "sensing" my washer being done. A photo resistor over the done LED reports to a contact sensor.

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Surprising. They claim to be able to identify anything. Even show it in this TOH interview @ 5:00

It's not a cheap system. I would reach out the them for help with that if you haven't already.

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Reached out plenty of times. It comes down to their claim that my house is more electrically noisy than their algorithms can cope with.

It also doesn't pickup newer fridges with linear compressors. Lots of niggling issues.

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The washer does. I could do that for the washer. Good idea!

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That's disappointing to hear. I was so impressed with their demo.

Well, now I'm REALLY glad I didn't waste my money on that. Was this close to buying one a while back.

That's a neat idea! Sounds a lot cheaper than HomeSeer's new "light sensor" (not a lux sensor like it might sound; literally what you are describing). I just learned the Monoprice 15270 contact sensor (they have two and I don't think the other one has this) has posts for external connections like the famous Ecolink does, and it's usually a bit cheaper, so I might have to get a couple more of these and experiment with some more projects like this (currently working on a couch occupancy sensor with a pressure mat to suplement my motion lighting, another topic).

I just know my dryer's LED blinks a lot so I'd have to observe it and see if could actually use something like this. :laughing:

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So you've got it covered. Use IFTTT with sense for the dryer and use @Ryan780 method for the washer. I'm using Aeon gen 1 HEM clamps with a driver originally written by @mike.maxwell and modified for HE by @ogiewon. It works outstanding for the dryer, but the start stop for the washer means it's just OK, not perfect. The delays I have setup help, but it sometimes notifies me the washer is finished when it's not even running. That's why I need to supplement with a vibration sensor.

Ryan's idea to use the light is a really good one. Unfortunately for me, mine just displays 0 min remaining. No "finished" light. Hmmm, has me wondering about maybe triggering from the voltage to the run LED though. :thinking:

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That;s the one!

I couldn’t ever get the external connections to work, supposedly only works if magnet is against the sensor while in closed state. It’s disabled by default and I connected it to ST and used Rboys DH to enable it but again gave up. Maybe you will have better luck than me.

That's because the Monoprice is designed for windows that can be opened from either side. So, you would use an external reed sensor for the other side of the window. That way, if either side was open the sensor would reed open. The monoprice isn't designed to use without the magnet at all like some of the others.

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