SmartThings Fridge Integration

Devices & Integrations
1

Hi all,

I’m looking for someone who has experience with integrating fridges into SmartThings. What I am interested in really is temperature control in regards to fridges. I know Samsung have a Family Hub , is temperature control and on/off control available with this product through the SmartThings mobile app/OAuth integration?

What we would be really looking for is the smart fridge to be used as a flexible load in the house so maybe adjusting the fridge/freezer to cooler temperatures when electricity costs are low and then higher temperatures when electricity costs are high. Just want to make sure that temperature control is possible with these fridges 100% through ST remotely first before buying.

Also any other fridge suggestions which integrate with ST people have experience with would be helpful to!

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I have 1 of the new 4 door Samsung refrigerators that allow the bottom right door to be changed from a refrigerator to freezer section. The refrigerator is great, but integration with SmartThings is total junk because the WiFi in that thing is pathetic and NEVER stays connected.
To compare WiFi radio strength, I have $10 WiFi LED strips next to the refrigerator that never have an issue. To date, I’ve been able to keep this new refrigerator connected no longer than 24 hours at a time before I have to shut the WiFi off and back on in it to reconnect.
I would NOT buy any refrigerator based on the “smart” claims because in reality, they are usually poorly designed to do anything but their regular appliance duties.
Oh and also, Samsung goofed the dimensions specs on their own website and it ended up fitting in my space by .1 inch when I should have had 2 inches of clearance to my cabinets above it.

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3

Thanks for the reply and the information on the fridge.

Is this now the Family Hub model or I know there are a few others, would you have a model number/link to where you got it?

That is concerning but when it is connected to SmartThings and operating correctly what control do you have over it through SmartThings? For example are temperature control and on/off control available through the app?
Also what sensors are available on the fridge that you can access/read through SmartThings? For example temperature, power/energy usuage, I know there are cameras on some of them.

Any info on the features the fridge truly offers through SmartThings would be of great help!

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Tagging @garrett.kranz

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I bought this one.

Fridge

No hub screen on this one.

Sensor options were ultra disappointing. You could change some temps and the flex section by app, but nothing worth a hoot in the Automations. Oh, you can be told an average number of door openings per day…which isn’t accurate or useful. Your filter needing replaced is accessible in the app. There may have been a way to monitor for the temp getting too warm, but it seemed to be implemented incorrectly. It was like if the set temp was too high instead of actual temp. Very odd.

I’ll have to try connecting it again to see if anything changed after the “new” skinned app came out.

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Here’s an example of the temperature automation. You can set up the set temp in the IF but there are no THEN options that are useful.
Basically, you could notify yourself if your kid/spouse changed the temp SETTING, but not if the actual temp changes. WORTHLESS

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Yeah, I went with a cheaper standard fridge and just added standard door sensors to the fridge and freezer Then I added some automations to alert me in the event the door is left open or the temp inside rises above a set level. $45 and I smart enabled my fridge and frankly it’s better than Samsung’s own appliance integration.

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This is what you get:

And as @Nameless posted above, the options for control:

I keep an Aqara Temperature sensor in the fridge to track temperature changes.

Otherwise, this is the daily electricity consumption reported by the fridge on coldest settings.

It is about 50Wh if you calculate it, maybe 60.

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Thanks for the reply’s from all,

That is very disappointing, you would think that if control of temperature is available through the app it should be available in a then block, I wonder if this will be updated and if it is the same in the new smart home hub fridge.

Yeah we are going to try out this as well and maybe put an arduino in the fridge for the temperature control, this may be of interest to you as well just an online project I found.

@GSzabados your answer was very helpful I never came across this dongle. It would be a 3rd party OAuth integration I would be getting information on devices from so subscribing to temperature and energy attributes could be done using this along with sending set points back through the API for the temperature control.

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@Nameless, I can build an Automation like this.

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The odd thing with the fridge is that, the temperature setting is actually the temperature measurement as well.

I saw that when the door was left open for a while the display changed the value from 3 Celsius to 4 and then 5 as it was getting warmer inside. But I am not sure how is that reflected in the app.

Obviously there is no history, there is no temperature measurement separately, there is no option to build Automation on the door opening and closing, etc.

Basically the UX is crippled, the options for Automations are crippled. This is Samsung.

There are a few topics where people complaining about not being able to automate Samsung appliances, neither to use as a trigger or control them.

The OCF part provides a lot of information through the API, but it seems to be intentionally not used.

In another topic a user explored what OCF command has to be sent through the API to a Samsung AC to turn off the beep or the back-light, because it is not exposed in the SmartThings app. So the options are there, but not exposed through the UX.

@Warren1, if you do use HA, then yes you can get all the details through the API. But it may not update correctly.

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Oh, I forgot to mention, I have seen a solution as well for the Family Hub fridge with the camera to get the camera image out of the OCF data. But I cannot remember where I saw it.

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And this makes it so ridiculously confusing. I just want an alert if the temperature isn’t where I set it by a few degrees. You’d think that would be simple.

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Stick a temperature sensor inside the fridge (I use Aqara ones) and you will realise, it is not. This is my freezer, it is set to the value what was in the previous post (-23) (I cannot show the fridge, because my wife knocked down the sensor there and haven’t re-paired it yet.)

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If once SmartThings would support RTL 433Mhz devices in some form:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004QJVU78

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14

Honestly I don’t have a need for remote temperature control outside of alerting if it goes out of range, which is typically due to the door being left open. Outside of that I keep my fridge set to 35 and my freezer set to 0 and in the last 25 years, never had a need to change it.

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The app send a notification if you left the door open widely. But it is not recognising it being open if a bigger plate or a wine bottle placed incorrectly just keeps it 1-2cm open.

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Right: that’s why I have two monitors enabled: the window/door sensor will detect if the door is open. But if the door is only cracked, I also use the temperature sensor built into the window/door sensor to fire alerts if the temp rises above a certain level. Covers it from both sides.

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Just out of curiosity, can you share a photo, how and where you fitted it on the fridge (door)?

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Sure: it’s fairly low tech compared to a true native smart fridge or arduino, but it uses all of the native Smartthings functionality and nothing fancy, just more about getting placement right for the sensors.

The first image shows a sensor on a French door fridge with the door closed. The second shows with the door open.

The third shows a pull out drawer for the French door freezer.

Also note that while the include adhesive of the sensor works OK, I reinforced the installation with fabric medical adhesive tape as it is super sticky and maintains its resilience in cold temperatures.

Then I’m using custom monitors in Smartthings for the monitoring rules. I even went a a step further and added virtual switches that will trigger an announcement via Alexa. Note: door sensors may be a degree or two off and you’ll correct for that in the monitor.

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19

Just looking at the first one, does that still show open when the door jammed and leaves just a small gap 1-2 cm? It looks like you fitted the sensor on the hinge side of the door, where in a jammed position the distance between the magnet and the sensor is relatively small. And most sensors has a quite high gap allowance. (More than 5 mm.)

But looks cool setup and installation. I would never think to fit things on the door’s pockets, but that looks reasonable. The freezer one looks really good.

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You are correct and As I said before, If the the door is open more than a little bit, 3-4cm or more then it will register as open but smaller than that and it will register as closed. That’s why you ALSO use the temperature monitor of the door sensor so you are covered from that angle as well.

Mine has been in place like this for 2+ years and it works great. Whenever the door is cracked slightly but registers ad closed, I still get alerted when the temp raises above my set level - in my case for the fridge that is 42 degrees and for the freezer is 15 degrees.

Note: the temp sensor monitor will also alert if you have a complete loss of power to the fridge but don’t notice it (gfci breaker trips or your breaker trips).

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