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

Mycraft schrieb:


Really? That’s too much effort for me. I put the appliances away when I want or need to, not just because the weather forecast predicts sun. That doesn’t mean I don’t like saving money on energy—I would prefer to run the appliances when the electricity comes from the solar panels.

Misconception (by the way, a classic). Nothing will stop you from washing your laundry whenever you want, with or without an EMS.

But then this control system doesn’t make sense. What benefit does it give me? Saving electricity for a few loads of laundry that just happen to run when there’s enough sun? A dryer wouldn’t work for me since I use it in the evening after the few loads are done.

motorradsilke schrieb:

Then this control system doesn’t make any sense.

You are making the common mistake of assuming everyone is the same and that energy management is the only function. In reality, it is always a concept made up of many small elements that come together to form a bigger whole. In the usual scenario, turning on household appliances during cheaper periods is just a side effect regarding consumption, not the system’s main purpose.

A central locking system also seems pointless—you can open everything manually anyway, since almost everything is reachable by hand, and you still need the key. A ventilation system might seem unnecessary too—you can just open a window, right?

And yet, people still go to the gas station that is 1 cent cheaper, even if they only fill 20–30 liters (5–8 gallons).

We have a Sunny Home Manager that already communicates with the heat pump and directs surplus electricity to heating the hot water.

We could also buy special plug adapters to automate running the washing machine and dryer only when the devices don’t lose their program settings during a power outage. Unfortunately, this is often the case with older appliances. I wasn’t able to find out if my machine supports this at all.

However, the purchase price for these socket adapters (I forgot the exact name) seemed too expensive to me. If I have to pay 80€ (about 85 USD), I can easily calculate how many photovoltaic-powered wash cycles this device would need to provide to cover just the initial cost.

Aside from that, I don’t like the principle of the device constantly turning the appliances on and off when it’s cloudy. I imagine it would be better for the laundry if the program runs regularly without many interruptions.

We are now just doing it manually, and it works quite well. Being home during office hours helps, as we are usually at home when the sun is shining.

HoisleBauer22 schrieb:

It is indeed inconvenient to always have to remember to load the washing machine in the morning so it runs at noon when the photovoltaic system produces maximum power. Decisions like: Is it more important to me to save electricity, or to have my children’s clothes clean and dry by a specific time 🙂 Or: The dishwasher always starts when I want to take a nap in the living room, and so on.
Making more decisions definitely means more stress.

I can relate to the dishwasher issue; automatic management can actually be counterproductive if you don’t also program quiet times for the nap. Otherwise, I don’t see the gain in comfort. In both cases, you still need to load the laundry in the morning and unload it in the evening. One way, the machine starts automatically, in the other it runs on a timer. Comfort-wise, it’s basically the same.
Energy management might be somewhat more efficient, but to recover the initial investment, a large family would probably need to do laundry for decades.

Mycraft schrieb:

Software updates, manufacturer/communication interfaces, hidden menus, and so on. This also applies to appliances, projectors, A/V receivers, etc.

Do you have some keywords I can search for?

Mycraft schrieb:

You’re making the common mistake of assuming all people are the same.

No. But everyone faces the issue of loading and unloading the washing machine manually.

Sure, if you enjoy that kind of thing and see it as a system made up of many components that don’t necessarily pay off financially (you first have to recover the initial investment), it might be worthwhile.

Ventilation is pointless anyway; you can just open a window, etc.

True, that’s why we don’t have one.