Looking to move house in coming weeks and was all excited at the prospect of picking some new white goods that would play nicely with SmartThings - your washer talking to your fridge and god knows what else has been the IOT home automation story for years right?!
I wasn’t surprised, but genuinely disappointed, to not be able to find anything current that claims to work with Zigbee or Z-Wave or just SmartThings!
I found a few washers and dryers that have smart phone apps and have web connectivity (but no claim to have a WebUI) No idea or clear indication if these would be able to work with ST. Does anyone know if its possible at this stage. Really dont want to invest in decent appliances (that I wouldn’t rationally want to replace for 5+ or so years) that i cannot build into a bigger overall smart house plan.
Is anyone from SmartThings able to comment on the Samsung range of washers / dryers specifically - these have mobile phone apps and connect to the web via wifi - is there a plan to extend this to a ST device type in the current range? Would seem really flawed if a unique phone app is the only way, ultimately splitting the eco system back into isolated apps for each task - not to mention show a real lack of confidence in the ST ecosystem if Samsung approved to build brand new isolated mobile apps for products.
Keeping my fingers crossed and look forward to hearing back on any thoughts or potential successes already!
I’m not from SmartThings, I’m just another customer, but Samsung had announced that over the next few years all of their appliances will be able to talk to each other and SmartThings. But they’re not there yet. Right now I believe there’s one model of washer, two models of refrigerators, and one model of robot vacuum and they’re not available in all regions.
Support can tell you exactly which UK models can work.
Meanwhile, anything that has an IFTTT channel will have indirect integration with SmartThings. So you might check those as well.
Oh, and we should also say that I believe the integration with Samsung appliances at present is based on Wi-Fi, and may even be cloud to cloud, I’m not sure. But is not a coincidence that the same Samsung devices that have smart things integration also have an IFTTT channel. I just mention this because I’m pretty sure it’s not a direct local integration.
I’ve just been through all of this, loads of new appliances and very few smarts. When it came to it though, I did consider how useful connectivity would be. The Internet fridge has come, flopped and gone. I waited for Samsung’s latest iteration with bated breath, only to find out it was going to be around £4,000 plus when it came to market. Out of my budget.
For a fridge, an internal camera and perhaps smart egg tray might actually be useful. Not much else, I concluded. So I got a dumb fridge.
As for a washing machine, I’d just want to know when it had finished. As it happened I just kept my old one and stuck a sensor on it. When the sensor stops vibrating for 60s, I know the washing is done. This also turns the lights on with motion, and measures the temperature.
Dishwasher, forget it. Nothing useful can really be done. Spend your money on other features.
I do have a smart oven (Samsung) which cost me an arm and a leg, and it doesn’t even work with ST (yet, I’m hopeful) but rather Samsung’s smart home app.
Thanks @JDRoberts - i did just install the Samsung Smart Home app on Android - which has a real look of a successor / companion to the SmartThings app - i was also very surprised that my email was already in use when trying to register and that my SmartThings account details when tried logged in first time…until reading more of the link you sent me that told me what i was hoping to hear - that link is perfect btw as at least one of the products ive been looking at in wonder - is confirmed as working with ST.
Regarding the WiFi approach - i can live with that although appreciate there are pros and cons of this approach. My evening just got better - although more expensive
Its a very valid point @eibyer. The wife is pretty good tbh though …and on the whole see’s that when it works it makes up for the times it doesn’t. The fact she’s let me keep adding things and doesnt mind me making holes in brand new walls to mount SmartTiles tablets says a lot i think. I am very tempted in the new house to have a redundant mobile connection for the router so i can always access and remote reboot should the primary internet connection go down
Thanks for the input! I think i will focus on washer, dryer & maybe try the hoover thingy if i find a cheap enough one somewhere.
Strangely that list has washers but no dryers so have dropped support a line. 4k for a fridge id hope it comes pre filled with a few years worth of food and drink!! If you were that desperate to have a picture of inside the fridge im sure you could rig up a Pi + Cam - but thats the point you realise you really dont need a streaming image from inside your fridge right
The sensor approach on the washer is the back up plan so good to know it works!
I’m not sure there were any smart dryers when I bought. I thought I was getting one, but it turns out not to be.
It just has an accompanying app which lets you scan an error code on the display (via the camera in your smartphone) to take you to a specific troubleshooting page.
Currently in the UK Samsung Smart Home enabled washing machines (WW9000 & most “AddWash” washing machines - check for Smart Control in the specs and do not confuse with “Smart Check” smart check alone is not wifi enabled.) Can be integrated with SmartThings.
Also the VR9300 robot vacuum can be ST linked via SmartHome.
Some Samsung Smart Home devices can also work with “IF” for even more flexibility.
The oven I too am waiting for ST to integrate I have bugged @Aaron but I think he only understands “Ranges”
In light of recent reliability issues I would seriously think twice about connecting anything that can start a fire like an oven to smartthings. @bamarayne said his fireplace came in by itself in another thread!
Difference is the smart home app is unlikely to have crazy sessions and switch itself on unexpectedly for hours for no reason unlike the ST eco system. The reliability of ST is definitely not one of its strong points. It’s your choice I’d just be cautious and think of worst case.
It’s not possible to actually turn the oven on remotely, so that scenario wouldn’t happen. The device has been designed with a lot of mitigation built in, which does mean that it’s not as feature rich as it could be, which I accept.
If ST were to spontaneously increase the temperature from 150c to 275c while I was baking a cake, or unexpectedly stop cooking altogether then there would be a problem, but only an inedible one and not a life threatening one.
I trust ST enough, and my experience has been largely positive enough, to at least give it a go.
Like John says it’s more of a read integration - would love for the lights to flash or a speaker to notify by TTS when the oven announces it is finished.
As the SmartHome app is local WiFi control only i think & hope you are right @a4refillpad regarding stability. I do wonder if the ST integration is a direct ST to device or if it uses the hub to then pass its command back via your WiFi network - be interesting to analyze network traffic if / once set up. Not sure if any other devices for sale on the market are using this type of capability of the ST Hub but as the washers don’t have any of the other protocols(or at least reference to them) i don’t know how else this would work, Be nice if they opened that type of connection up to other brands as a simple way to get products on the compatibility lists rather than relying on forum users to build custom DTH’s.
I have inquired with support regarding dryers and nothing is known or planned apparently. Seems very odd to have the washers on sale but not the dryers from the same range and that already talk to the SmartHome app…
I also noticed there is a Samsung Washers IFTTT channel which opens the opportunities up if you cant achieve something via SH or ST’s apps.
Recent reports from fire services that dryers being a common cause of fires during the night I’ve stopped the practice of automating mine. The only real kitchen appliance I automate is the dishwasher. That’s unlikely to do me any harm
Its a fair point regarding unattended use of dryers - but if anything having SmartThings to check presence and perhaps pause if everyone went out or alert you that the dryer is still on when leaving would be a perfect scenario to automate and actually enhances the SmartHome functionality for safety?! I personally would love to know when things are done but might be sat in a different room or on a different floor… im sure we dont all sit in the utility or kitchen and watch our dryers for however long it takes… but would love to know when current load is complete so more could go on or you can grab stuff out before it all starts to crease up. Id say if given a standard “dont be stupid” disclaimer when connecting the dryer up this would actually make things safer when used with ST.
Many people get a laundry done notification just by having a vibration sensor on the machine that alerts when the vibration stops. Generally works well, although it depends on the specific cycle pattern.
