Hey everyone,
Welcome to this new episode dedicated to home automation. In this previous article, I discussed my general choices for making my home smart. To recap, I’ve chosen this ecosystem:
- Smart devices: Shelly (sensors/lights/power meters) + other sensors from various brands or IoT devices
- Home automation server: Raspberry Pi + Shelly Cloud (only for Shelly devices and as a backup system)
- Home automation software: Home Assistant (to connect shelly to other devices)
Today’s project could be completed using just Shelly’s app.
My problem
My washing machine is fairly old, and I don’t want to replace it for that exact reason—older appliances are often more durable than modern ones.
The issue is that to know if it has finished its wash cycle, I have to check on it in person frequently. To make matters worse, my washing machine is in the garage, so I have to go outside and walk to the garage every time to see if it’s done.
In this article, I’ll show you how I made my washing machine smart to receive notifications at the end of each wash cycle!
The solution
I used a Shelly PM device to monitor power consumption (from the electrical outlet where the washing machine is plugged in) to generate a notification on my phone when it finished.
Let’s see, step by step, how I accomplished this.
Requirements/materials needed
- Shelly PM (shop link)
- Washing machine
Warning Always turn off power at the breaker and work safely when dealing with electrical installations.
Choosing your appliance
In this article, I’ll show you how I made my washing machine smart, but the same approach can be applied to dishwashers or any other appliance where you want to know when it’s finished.
warning Before proceeding with the connection, verify that your appliance’s maximum power consumption doesn’t exceed what the Shelly device can handle.
How to connect a Shelly device
In this article, I’ll use a Shelly PM (Power Meter), a device with an internal sensor capable of detecting current consumption. The wiring diagram is as follows:
The neutral (N) is connected to both the Shelly PM and our appliance
The live wire (L) enters the L pin and exits from the O pin before entering the washing machine. This way, the Shelly can measure current flow.
Making the power outlet smart
Now that we understand how to connect the Shelly, let’s disassemble the electrical outlet and see how the connections are arranged. I also have a switch to cut power to the electrical outlet (if you don’t have one, use the wiring diagram I showed above).
Once the connections are complete, step away from the outlet, turn on the power, and from a safe distance verify that the Shelly starts up correctly. Before closing the electrical box, proceed with pairing the device to the Shelly app.
Once the device is associated with our account, turn off the power again and reinstall the outlet in its housing.
Shelly devices are safe when properly connected and used within their maximum load specifications.
Testing functionality
Let’s plug a phone charger into the outlet and connect our phone: if everything works correctly, we should see the power consumption directly in the Shelly app.
Creating a scene with notifications
All that’s left is to create a scene on Shelly Cloud to receive a notification when power consumption drops below a certain threshold (in my case, I set it to 5W, which is my washing machine’s consumption during its final minute—probably related to draining residual water).
To create a scene, we need to go to the “All Scenes” tab and then press the + button.
This will open a wizard directly in the app that allows you to configure all the scene steps. The final result will look like this:
Testing functionality
To conclude, we can run a wash cycle or plug in a device that consumes more than the 5W we set (recommended): when we turn off the device, we should receive a notification. I tested everything by connecting the phone charger—every time I unplugged it, I received a notification.
Each washing machine will have different power consumption, so once you set up the scene, you’ll need to run it and determine the appropriate threshold for notifications.
Conclusions
In today’s article, we’ve seen how to make an “old” appliance smart using just a Shelly device. The operation is very simple: when the washing machine starts, it begins consuming power, the device detects this and sends us a notification when consumption drops below a certain threshold. Everything works both at home (when connected to WiFi) and away from home, thanks to Shelly Cloud.
Additionally, from the Shelly app, we can monitor consumption in real-time and view consumption history and analytics.
