Clothes Dryer Automations

It seems like its a bit all over the place for me even when its going…

Ranges from 252 all the way down to 7 in the space of 10 minutes?

Done. Thanks for the tip on the temperature!

As discussed, I’ve also gone and created an automation for the battery so that if the sensor is ‘unavailable’ for 30 minutes then it’ll notify me. That said, if anyone is able to figure out how we could detect ‘low battery’ as opposed to the battery being completely dead, then I’d definitely prefer that if possible. Regardless, you and this thread have been a lifesaver and I really appreciate all the guidance. Thank you!

I have tried (and failed) to do the ‘dryness’ calculation on the ESP32, so that it automatically comes across as an entity, rather than editing to make one.

Does anyone know how to edit the config file to do this basic calculation?

This topic might going to have a new influx of people as the author of this article referenced it.

I am sad to see another company leaving a product like this behind.

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Just out of curiosity. I didn’t use my dryer for a week and noticed that while the ESP32 device was connected and online, the sensor was unavailable in HA until I started my dryer. Does this mean that the SmartDry sensor in my dryer goes into a low battery state to conserve battery?

Yes. It does not send BTLE updates a short period after it stops “shaking”.

I purchased the esp32 mentioned above, successfully got it setup, but am having trouble finding a project box that’ll fit it. I sent away to have someone 3d print the below box but it didn’t fit. The case for it was way too small even after removing part of it using a Dremel. It’s a pity too because I really liked the look of it. Did it in white and blue to match the home assistant theme too.

Oh well… Anywho, does anyone who purchased the suggested esp32 board have a project box that worked for them? Looks like there’s no recommendations even on Amazon.

I like this case too, I’ll print it on my printer and then start adjusting it to fit the board properly. I’ll send you one once I have one working (and I’ll send you a pic so you can decide if you like it).

Now I have a project for the long weekend!

That’s very kind of you to take the time to do that. Thanks for the help! I should mention that I purchased the USB C version of the suggested esp32 board.

My biggest issues I had with this case are:

  1. The hole for the usb power connector seemed a bit small. Maybe it was made for the micro USB board? Was hard to tell in the photo. May even have been small even for the micro USB.
  2. The walls of the project box seemed to curve inward, and the board seemed very slightly too wide and long. So it never completely seated down into the case.
  3. I didn’t realize the pins below the board would be exposed outside the case. Kind of made it more challenging to sit on a shelf or wall mount.
  4. The design shows two pressable areas to interact with the buttons on the board. Both of these were immobile and still connected on my print. When I pressed both they snapped off. Seems like it would be nice if the pressable area had more space.

I printed the top in white and the bottom in a filament color called fjord blue. Seemed to match the colors of HA really well.

That’s likely the issue. I’ll grab a USB-C one to work with, but that’ll delay things a bit (as I’m guessing when I print this case, it’ll work fine on my board). Thanks for mentioning that!

I have a smart dry gen 1 sensor.

Would someone mind listing the specific steps to get this working correctly?

A condensed set on instructions would be appreciated.

Thanks!

For everyone that has asked or for those that may ask, here is a full write-up that should get anyone operational with the instructions found here, without having to pour through this post. I have credited all of the great folks that contributed to this within this thread. I didn’t do the work, you all did:

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Quick update, I printed the STL file you provided and it works fine with my board and everything lines up. I’m not thrilled that it allows the GPIO pins to stick out, but I understand why. I just received my USB-C version and will modify the case to fit that model as well. It’ll take a bit though, as my weekend just evaporated waiting for it. :slight_smile:

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Good to know the original version fit! Still very new to all of this. Thanks for confirming.

Patiently waiting for the redesign. :slight_smile:

I got my USB-C versions of the board, the board dimensions seem to be the same, but the two buttons are definitely not in the same place, so that’s likely causing the fit issues. I’m starting to work on redesigning the case for the USB-C version and will let you know how it progresses. Since not many other folks have chimed in about it, I’m going to stop posting in this thread and just DM you directly about the progress. Once the STL file is confirmed working, I’ll link it here for anyone that wants to pull it.

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I put the Dryer Dryness in my Config.yaml file and it never updates from on to off.

This is what I put under binary sensors:

- platform: template
    sensors:
      dryer_dry:
        value_template: "{{ states('sensor.smartdry_humidity') | float * -1.03 + 100 }}"
        friendly_name: DryerDryness

Am I doing something wrong or did I put it in the wrong place?

Also Thank you all for all this hard work. Everything works so good and Way better than the original SmartDry ever worked.

I followed the above guide and I have the following under my template.yaml.

# SmartDry (sensor - local ESP32 version) - calculates level of dryness of clothes
  - sensors:
      dryer_dry_full_value:
        value_template: "{{ states('sensor.smartdry_humidity') | float * -1.03 + 100 }}"
        friendly_name: DryerDryness - Full Value

Then under my configuration.yaml I have the dryer_on entity which will tell me if the sensor is on or off.

# Smartdry (local ESP32 sensor)  
binary_sensor:
- platform: template
  sensors: 
    dryer_on:
      value_template: "{{ states('sensor.smartdry_shake')  | float > 10.0  }}"
      friendly_name: Dryer
      delay_on:
        minutes: 1
      delay_off:
        minutes: 1
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I had a SmartDry and it was super flakey, I switched to a cheap AEON DSC06 and measure the energy and send a home assistant notification when power usage drops. I have one one my washer and one on my dryer and they work like a champ. BTW, I have a gas dryer so I only need 110v.

Unfortunately, this just tells you when it’s on or off. SmartDry actually senses and tells me when the clothes are dry, regardless of whether or not it’s running. So, I can automate with a SwitchBot to turn the dryer off when the clothes are dry. And my dryer is 220v.

Exactly. Helps save power and also stops shrinking the clothes. This combo makes a dumb dryer smart!