Monitoring Dryer with Sonoff Pow2

Hi Guys,

I bought a Sonoff Pow2 for my washer machine, which uses HA to inform me when my clothes are done washing and announces it over Alexa. Now I want to set up the dryer to do the same thing.

My dryer is electric and uses a 3 prong plug thats 240v 30amp (2 hot, 1 neutral). My question is: can i take 1 hot wire and run it through the Sonoff Pow2 to monitor when the dryer stops running or will this cause an issue.

I understand i would need to monitor both hot wires if i wanted an accurate reading on how much power consumption, but i just want to know is the dryer on or off.

I know this is more of an electrical question but im hoping someone in the forums has done this already and can give me an answer.

Thanks everyone!

Assuming that your load is balanced between the two phases you will be running the Sonoff at its maximum current rating. No room for error. Not only this but this rating is for a resistive load, not an inductive load like the dryer motor.

So yes it will very likely be an issue.

Have you considered monitoring the dryer another way?
e.g.

  • Vibration sensor
  • LDR on/near the power LED
  • Sound sensor