I’m a busy dad who works from home. It’s not uncommon for me to throw in a load of laundry, start it, and then completely forget about it until my clean clothes sour. This is the reason I need a laundry automation - not to start my laundry remotely - just to remember to put the clothes in the dryer. Here’s my Aqara automation for how I accomplished this.
Home Assistant - the title says it’s advanced. I have to assume you have some working knowledge with Home Assistant otherwise I couldn’t make this post succinctly.
Pushcut - Yeah, I really meant advanced, but keep reading.
In Aqara
Pair your T1 and place your T1 on the side or back of your washing machine and test it’s sensitivity. I have mine set to Low with a reporting interval of 5s.
Create a Helper for an Input Boolean called “Washer Running.” This is important because it creates a virtual/dummy switch that you can use later on for knowing the State.
Create an automation: If Vibration [occupancy] is Detected for duration of 2 minutes, turn on Input Boolean.
Create a second automation: If Vibration [occupancy]stops detecting for a duration of 1 minute, turn off Input Boolean.
N.B. The durations you choose in your automations should account for any brief pauses that your cycle might have. Also not, the cycle starts with the machine filling with water. I don’t particularly care that the virtual switch might turn on until mid-cycle when the drum is spinning. I just need to know when it stops.
Use HA’s HomeKit Bridge feature to expose the Input Boolean as a virtual switch into Apple Home
Now, we can start to shape up our reminders.
In Shortcuts
Create a shortcut that will run certain actions when triggered. For me the shortcut can do two things depending on the scenario. If I am at home, it can set a 10 minute timer to remind me about the laundry. If I am not at home, it will set a reminder that will trigger when I arrive at home. It looks like this:
Pushcut allows you to create custom notifications that can trigger many actions, including running a Shortcut.
You will create a notification that can run the Shortcut you just created.
In Apple Home
Apple Home, now create an automation with Convert to Shortcut. When “Washer Running” [this is the virtual switch created from your Home Assistant Input Boolean] turns off, Run Shortcut.
The shortcut calls my PushCut URL triggering my Reminder, and also sets a laundry scene that can change a lightbulb blue or send an audio file to my HomePods if needed.
I wish this were a straightforward automation which could be completed directly in the Aqara or Apple Home ecosystem without these extra tools. Unfortunately they don’t have the nuance required.
I did at one point use a power monitoring socket to do this automation. My new washer has too many options with varying power draws that made this now inconsistent.
Finally, the T1 vibration sensor makes the difference here. The original vibration sensor was not quite sensitive enough for this task.
What do you think @AqaraBot? It’s complex, but works well!
@coletti.robert It’s fantastic to see how you’ve creatively used the Aqara T1 Vibration Sensor to enhance your laundry routine! Your setup is quite ingenious, particularly how you’ve integrated Home Assistant and various apps to ensure you never forget your laundry again. The T1 sensor’s high precision really shines in this application, effectively detecting the vibrations of your washing machine to trigger reminders.
Your detailed explanation will undoubtedly help others who face similar challenges. It’s true that while the process may seem complex, the result is a seamless and efficient solution. Thanks for sharing your expertise and encouraging others to explore the possibilities of smart home automation. Keep up the great work, and feel free to share more of your innovations!
Totally get this—it’s easy to forget laundry when juggling work and parenting. A local pickup-and-delivery laundry service can really help free up headspace on busy days.
my fav automation, but I made it more simple: after the start of the laundry is detected by a smart plug, it will start the automation which will turn on the red light once the laundry is finished. And the red light will be on unless I open the door of the washing machine. Also, in case I use wet laundry, it will control the humidifier in the bathroom to help me dry the clothes faster.
I also use smart plugs for this (in Home Assistant) for my washer, dryer and coffee maker. As mentioned in OP it’s a bit more complicated because depending on the device the power usage is not a simple on/off but has cycles of varying power draw of varying lengths.
In general I find the devices will have an initial on state for X time, may switch on and off again for short durations, and then have a longer duration of being off. So the automations tend to go like this:
If the virtual switch is off and the power draw is >X for Y time, turn the virtual switch on
If the virtual switch is on and the power draw is <X for Y time, turn the virtual switch off
To find the values and times I just run the device for a cycle and go back and look at the history graph.
If you’re doing more advanced stuff like this I would highly recommend checking out Home Assistant!
I thought of using the vibration sensor but I have tried with my mailbox and that didn’t work very well. I think my laundry machine has too many breaks where it doesn’t move at all.
My LQ washer and dryer have WiFi connections and they report a ton of useful data to Home Assistant. That is the easiest and probably most expensive way to get the sensor data you need for this kind of automation.
I cannot speak directly to the Aqara vibration sensors, which I’ve not tried yet, but other vibration sensors are not sensitive enough to pick up the vibrations from a washer/dryer unless you have one that dances across the floor. Most are VERY good at detecting large movements, like a drawer opening.
An alternative sensor that I use to detect cycles is a power consumption sensing electrical outlet. Many (not all) will give you very useful information to use in automations. When a cycle completes on a device plugged into such sensor, you can easily see a large drop in power consumption. I use a large number of these to monitor energy use in my home:
Meross Matter Smart Plug with Energy Monitor, MSS315
The T1 does handle the sensitivity much better than the previous generation. I have used energy monitoring as well, but it’s become less predictable with my new washer as each cycle type uses different amounts of power. Keep in mind the goal here is to share automations that leverage Aqara’s products.
This is what I am currently using. It had a feature that will cut off power after the washer stops drawing power for a certain period of time (5 minutes is the minimum in this case) and then it will send a notification. It’s not elegant but it works.
I used to use a Wemo Insight for this but it stopped working. For those wondering, I don’t recommend Wemo as they’re really buggy. I have no experience with the newer models.
