Hey everyone,
I’m working on integrating some of my non-smart appliances (like a dishwasher, dryer, and washing machine) into Home Assistant, and I could really use some help. My goal is to create to-do list items that trigger notifications/reminders once a cycle is complete.
The Problem:
I’ve tried using smart plugs to detect when cycles finish, but that approach isn’t reliable for my dryer and washing machine. They have long phases of low or no power consumption at the end, which makes it hard to accurately detect when they’re done.
My Approach:
The appliances do have accurate runtime displays. For example, when I start my dishwasher, I know the selected cycle will take 3 hours and 15 minutes to finish. With the 2024.4 update, we got script field UIs where I can set a duration field. My idea was to:
- Attach a tag to the appliance.
- Scan the tag after starting the appliance.
- Get a UI prompt on my device to enter the duration displayed on the appliance (e.g., 3h15min).
- Use this duration to create a to-do item (e.g., “Unload Dishwasher”) in Home Assistant.
- Set up logic to send reminders if the to-do isn’t completed within a certain time.
- Scan the tag again when the task is done to mark it as completed.
The Issue:
I can’t get the script fields UI to show up when scanning a tag and running an automation. Ideally, I’d like the tag scan to directly bring up the UI for entering the duration, but that isn’t happening. Here’s what I’ve considered so far:
- Setting the tag to open a Lovelace dashboard: However, I haven’t found a card that supports the Duration UI that the script fields provide.
- Using iOS Shortcuts/Workflows: I could build a custom UI to pass the duration to the script, but it seems redundant since the UI already exists in Home Assistant.
- Smooth Workflow: I’m aiming for a seamless flow – scan the tag, quickly confirm the default time, or select from a few predefined options (e.g., eco mode vs. regular mode).
I’m hoping someone here might have a solution or workaround to get the script fields UI to show up after scanning a tag. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance!