Hey everyone! I wanted to share a fun and practical project I recently completed using my SwitchBot Mini smart plug. I have a garden fountain with a small pump, and while it’s been running smoothly for years, I noticed that it occasionally runs dry, which isn’t good for the pump or the motor.
I decided to monitor the pump’s power usage to detect when it runs dry. After a bit of tinkering, I discovered that the pump draws around 36-37 watts when functioning normally. When it runs dry, the power draw drops to about 30-31 watts. This insight led me to create a simple automation that turns off the pump and sends a notification if the fountain runs dry.
Here’s how I set it up:
python
alias: Fountain failure
description: >-
If the fountain is drawing less power than normal (36W-37W) turn it off and notify us
trigger:
- platform: numeric_state
entity_id: sensor.fountain_energy_power
for:
hours: 0
minutes: 1
seconds: 0
above: 10
below: 33
condition:
action: - type: turn_off
device_id: 86d10ac589cd11429f03147bc28b2bff
entity_id: 5b9b9042bdd51bac3ec3b5f60d96f548
domain: switch - service: notify.both_of_us
data:
title: Fountain
message: The fountain is out of water.
mode: single
This automation has been a lifesaver! It not only protects the pump from damage but also gives me peace of mind knowing the fountain is running smoothly. I’m now planning to apply the same monitoring technique to our sump pump to ensure it’s always ready for any unexpected water issues.
If anyone else has creative ways to monitor and automate their home systems, I’d love to hear about them! Let’s keep the smart home ideas flowing! 