My fridge is misbehaving (inside thermostat is broken, it is way too cold and the brand has discontinued the replacement parts). As it is in a cabinet, I can not replace it (the new ones are not the same ratio for deep freezer and fridge)
So I’ve now a zigbee plug and a temp/humidity sensor inside.
My idea is:
when it is less than 4°C, turn it off
when it is more than 6°C, turn it on
Idealy I’d have like to keep a 7°C constantly but the zigbee sensor is not updating that often.
I sure can do an automation with action on numbers, 2 triggers, less than 4, more than 6 but as the “generic thermostat” integration exists, I’m wondering if this is a use case.
Like “tolerance of 1°C” with a target temperature of 5°. But it is a fridge, so it should off it when it is cold and on it when it hot.
I would buy a ESP-Home powered smart plug and set up the generic thermostat in the ESP.
This would be to costly to fail an ESP will run by it self and maintain the temperature.
A restart, upgrade to new version or other kind of failure will destroy the food.
EDIT: This will need a temperature sensor connected to the ESP also.
Thank you for the help, it is working with my setup, I’ll consider changing the tuya zigbee sensor for something more “waterproof”.
Btw, it is amazing how long a fridge can stay cold even without power.
To avoid a major disaster, I’ve made an automation to stop the “generic thermostat” if the sensor is unavailable and power on the fridge. Also, I’ve setup the “restart” behavior of the plug to “on”.
I would not trust a Tuya product and getting one that can handle it locally on the device, like a Sonoff TH Elite will be hard to find.
A Sonoff TH Elite is generally the professional version of the device HEllis81 suggest making.
It is based on ESP32, so you can also flash ESPHome on it.
It is a tuya zigbee, I’m using it with zigbee2mqtt and a dongle on my RPi. I removed all the tuya wifi from my home long time ago, hated that API to renew every 6 month
It is not the protocol, it is the build quality, that is my concern.
A fridge/freezer/dish washer/washing machine will make big jumps in power draw at times and I do simply not trust firms that do not live more than a couple of months.
There is no support, no liability and brand value.
Ahh, but then you are probably relying on HA to run to control the plug.
The Sonoff TH Elite could do that all on the plug and still be integrated into HA.
I need it in my fridge and the plug is outside, on the wall, unless there is some kind of probe that I can run through the door to get the inside temperature?
Not sure how to make it go to the inside of the fridge without creating a gap in the door seal.
With my current solution, the issue is that the plug is a “one-for-all”, it is turning off the fridge and the freezer. The freezer is also extremely cold, I’ve a 1cm ice that builds up over a month or so (despite the built-in “ice free” system).
But as booth are turned off and do not warm up at the same pace, it might be an issue at the end.
So I’m thinking of another temperature sensor for the freezer part and use both combined to define when to off/on the plug. But that one needs to go down to -18°C or sometimes -24°C.
Another issue, but not that important, is that there is no light inside when it is off
I’ll remodel my kitchen one of these days and there will be another fridge. I’m doing all that because of the power consumption last month, it was craaaazy
I asked a friend for a thermal camera, I don’t see any weak seal rim. I mean, it is slightly colder than the surrounding but no obvious cold spot.
The lights are blinking, stating that the builtin thermostat is failing, so, for now, waiting for kitchen make-over, it is my zigbee plug + zigbee temp/humidity
Btw, I did not use not the generic thermostat. I gave it a try, for a full week, but for some reason it is not working as expected, I set to 6.5° with the tolerances to 1° but sometimes, my temperature sensor is above 9° and the thermostat did not turn on the plug and sometimes it does.
So, I went back to an automation, I was scared that it will on/off it all the time but guess what, the fridge is not warming up fast so it is ok.
EDIT: And I added the condition “if temp is unknow/unavailable then on the plug, keep it cold”
Ok, but this fridge is probably close to 20 years old, the dimension of fridges and cabinets in those days were matching, it is no longer true so I can’t fit a new fridge in the existing cabinet.
It will create a wife’s need to redo/relook the kitchen anyway and there will be a new fridge.
You could try a small led rechargeable under cabinet light that comes on when motion is detected. I use one in a closet. Not sure how the colder temperature would affect one.
and the plug is outside, on the wall, unless there is some kind of probe that I can run through the door to get the inside temperature?
