ᐅ Energy management systems and control of washing machines, dryers, and the property

Mycraft schrieb:

The same applies to household appliances, and sometimes systems like Home Connect can even be a hindrance. Of course, it doesn’t work right out of the box—you need someone with expertise. An amateur with a Wi-Fi plug probably won’t get very far.

OK, understood. A good comparison with the hotel mode on TVs (there are sometimes interesting menus that you can actually use yourself).

So, buying a washing machine with a rotary dial again – great!

Almost every washing machine has a delayed start function. Somehow, I’m skeptical whether the extra effort is really worth it compared to a washing machine that simply starts around midday when there is usually enough sunlight.

Sometimes, the energy managers from photovoltaic manufacturers can do this as well. Otherwise, a control unit needs to be installed that can communicate both with the photovoltaic system (usually via Modbus or a relay) and the devices you want to control. For example, you can look into ioBroker or HomeAssistant, both of which are free. I would say that it is hardly possible to activate a modern large household appliance through switchable power supply without deeper modifications (literally).

Iobroker is the affordable and practical choice. Since I don’t currently have a photovoltaic system but am considering getting one, I tested configuring the Home Connect adapter for my Siemens dishwasher on iobroker. This allows the dishwasher to be controlled automatically.

However, one thing to keep in mind, at least with the BSH group, is that all devices must be manually set to remote control mode. This means the device must be turned on manually by a person and the remote control button must be pressed.

Excess electricity can then be detected in iobroker via the inverter adapter or, if none is available, by measuring the photovoltaic system’s output using a Shelly 3EM.

The cost is about 100€ (approx. 110 USD) for the Raspberry Pi; iobroker itself is free. If needed, the Shelly 3EM costs close to 100€ (approx. 110 USD).

Thanks for the information. Of course, I am familiar with setting timers on machines.

I just tested it, and no machine automatically turns on when powered. However, they keep running if the program was stopped mid-cycle, except for the Siemens dryer, which pauses.

This doesn’t sound very elegant, but it would work for now.

I would rather not install any Wi-Fi home connectors at this point.