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I have my washer plugged into a smart plug with energy monitoring so when the energy use drops to the baseline off power demand for a few minutes, I get a notification that the washer is finished.
For my electric dryer, I have a vibration sensor mounted on the housing and when the vibration drops to the baseline off vibration for a few minutes, I get notification that the dryer is finished.
These are some of my wife’s favorite automations I have setup.
What a nice solution for the dryer!
I’m still looking for a solution to see if my electric stove is turned on.
I think a clamp on type power meter would be 1 way to do this. It could installed in the circuit breaker panel or possibly in the back of the stove.
This would also work for an electric dryer.
Thanks!
Last time I checked it wouldn’t work with three phases (lines) because they would cancel each other out. But I’ll give it a try.
Residential electric stoves and dryers in North America are 240 volt, Single Phase, Split Bus. The device in my link would work with that.
If Europe stoves are 3 phase, these devices would not work. You would need to find a similar 3 phase variation, which would have 3 clamp on current taps.
Aeotec also offers a three phase version of that device in Europe.
See the wiring diagrams in the user manual:
That said, I believe it will only work for this use case if the appliance is on an isolated circuit. In particular, if the washer and dryer are on the same circuit, It may be hard to get the correct notifications.
Have you already found a solution to this?
From Three-phase electric power - Wikipedia
In many European countries electric stoves are usually designed for a three-phase feed with permanent connection. Individual heating units are often connected between phase and neutral to allow for connection to a single-phase circuit if three-phase is not available.
So stove’s each plate is connected to single phase. Three-phase coupling is only for load balancing. You can find out if the stove is on by measuring the current in each phase. Current-measuring clamps must be installed to measure phase conductors’ current (not total current). Since the currents of the different plates are not the same, measuring the current of the neutral conductor alone may also be sufficient to determine whether the stove is on.
Keep in mind the neutral carries the difference current between phases. In other words, if Phase A is drawing 200 watts, and Phase B is drawing 150 watts, the neutral is carrying 50 watts. (Okay, three phase won’t exactly cancel like a single phase 240v line with separate 120v elements between each side and neutral–but the point is the neutral isn’t representative of the total load draw.)
I think I’ll try it with a clamp and hope that it measures something to distinguish between on and off.
i make use of virtual switches as well as power meter/vibration sensor readings, this way i can get my google hub display and speakers to announce through the house when each one is done.
routine 1: if washer (third reality plug with power meter) “power meter” equal or above 20w turn on “washer switch (virtual)”
routine 2: if "washer switch (virtual) is on (precondition) and washer “power meter” equal to or below 2w for 5 minutes then turn off "washer switch virtual) and turn on (auto turn off after 1 minute) “washer google bridge switch”
google routine: if “washer google bridge switch” on then broadcast to home group “WASHERS DONE”
similar events for the dryer… if vibrate turn on. if precondition dryer switch on and no vibration for 2 minutes turn off switch turn on dryer bridge switch (auto off after 1 minute)
google routine: if “dryer bridge switch” on then broadcast to home group “CLOTHES ARE DRY”
I have nearly the same automations up but take advantage of the announcement function to play message on my Sonos. I am using Zooz Power meter switch (ZEN 15) with Zooz Edge driver.
Appreciate the detailed automation description. Set this up as well and it works great. Cheers!
glad it helped. took me some time to put the idea together with the help of others so it’s only fair to share what I’ve learned with others.
It’s not 3 phase. It’s just 220 single phase. Anything connected to neutral is 110. Neutral is just the center of the secondary of the distribution transformer and is used to select 110vac. The stove uses it for the light and maybe some controls. The heater element will be connected to 220 and not neutral. A lot of newer appliances are only connected to 220 and don’t bother with neutral as they can be manufactured for all regions. Either hot leg going to the stove can be metered for power. What I have done is use a door sensor because they’re cheap and a relay current module. I wire the relay into where the reed switch would go. Once the adjustable threshold is reached it closes the relay and makes a connection in the door sensor. It would be programmed turn on and off a virtual switch. When the switch is in the off position a notification could be programmed to be sent. This way it only sends a trigger when the appliance has just turned off.
3 x 230V, 1 N, 1 E here…
How the phases are used in the range/oven depends. Some use one phase for the stovetop and two for the oven (upper and lower heating element), but that’s not guaranteed.
lot of newer appliances are only connected to 220 and don’t bother with neutral as they can be manufactured for all regions.
Not to code almost anywhere.
In North America residential is single-phase. As far as I know most of the world this is true. Some exceptions I’m sure. Anyway, you could monitor all three phases individually and connect the relay signals in parallel. If anyone of the three is triggered it will close the circuit and trigger a door sensor, or any kind of ZigBee or Zwave sensor of your choice. The operation can be done with low voltage and without physical connections to the appliance. I’m not sure what code this would violate as nothing is connected.
Oh you were referring to the omission of the neutral. Very common especially with car chargers and other newer style appliances. Definitely to code. You will see in a lot of newer homes run with 12/2 and 10/2 white and black wire serving a single 220 circuit with white as hot, but labeled as such.
I’m not going to touch the cable at all.
As you might have seen in my previous comments, the solution must be non-invasive (on that side) and if my electrical distribution box would be large enough, I would just install the Aeotec clamps.
Replacing that box is something that’s on my to-do list for 2025.
(Or just buy a smart appliance and be done with that. Waiting for a real Matter over WiFi or Thread device, not that OCF crap.)
Yeah, I know. Would be super easy if it would look like that.
(These stupid wire nuts - interesting history, btw - must die. See the difference between my picture and yours.)