Washing machines with good HA integration?

This black Friday I’m planning on purchasing a new washing machine and tumble dryer but I’m not sure which brands have a good integration with Home Assistant so I’m looking for advice.

Two years ago I bough a Miele dishwasher to my other house and that integration is pretty good, but I would like to spend a little less this time around.

I would also like to know of any experience with HA integration of washing machines. Doesn’t Samsung have some that uses SmartThings?

Don’t know about Samsung. But I just bought an LG with thinq. And it works good with the HACS integration. Though it is cloud based (not my preference).

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The other approach being to find non-smart washer/dryer that last for years, and then put various z-wave/zigbee/wifi sensors to detect when it is running cycles and when it is done.

Yes it would be more tedious, but then it is more fun, local, secure, and future proof - there’s no guarantee that LG or Samsung or whoever would not shutdown or change any API in their cloud that makes HA integration difficult.

We are in the early days of smart home, after all.

@frits1980 - Just curious - what kind of sensors / entities you would get from the HACS Thinq integration? And among those, what you are using? I mean, what you are using them for? Any sort of automation in HA?

I’ve been down that path several years ago, while you can get it working it’s not near as nice as with for example Mieles integration where you can see all sort of stuff like, water consumed, power, program, door open etc. What made me move away from it was that my machines occasionally used more power than Fibaros wall plugs would allow so they switch off.

For power consumption sensors on washer/dryer (which have motors and resistive heaters) my recommendation would be based on CP clamps - the induction Amp load from motors or pumps starting up would not be the same as your regular light bulbs or TV - so none of those 16A max load smart plugs would be up for the job reliably.

But yes, going with that LG/Samsung/Mieles cloud integration you would get more stuff.

So depends on what you want to achieve, I guess.
Anyways, an option was offered.

I’m also interested in any washers with good HA integration.

In Home connect integration (and API) (Bosch) you can get the time left, temperature, settings (prewash, extra rinse), door position, locked/unlocked door, what cycle it’s in, a lot really.
The only thing I’m really missing is the detergent level and how much is in the washer. It starts by weighing the load but it doesn’t report it anywhere, that would be nice to know how full the washer was.

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This is what my Miele dishwasher reports to HA.

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I would be happy with something simple as being able to switch it on when the electricity rate is at its lowest. I don’t think a smart plug would work, as most dishwashers would require you to set the program or at the very least press a start button.

EDIT: Turns out it may be possible to automate even a dishwasher that requires you to press the start button: https://www.tech-cube.co.uk/2021/10/15/making-dumb-appliances-smarter/

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Just for fun - This is how much power/water my dishwasher uses during a washing cycle.

Water

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Most washing machines and dishwashers have the ability to set a delayed start time.


These are the most interesting entities I think.

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My old one broke down earlier this year so I took the plunge with an LG ThinQ series washer dryer. The Home Assistant integration has been flawless, I’ve never had to reload it or reinstall it or anything, it just works.

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Thank you @thoughton for that information. Would you mind posting a screenshot of what data you get out and what can be controlled?

Sure, the entities look like this:

Accidentally cut off the bottom of the screenshot :smiley:

lg-washer2

I should add I’m using this integration.

Also regarding your comment about your Fibaro plug power limit problem, I have this plugged into a TpLink energy monitoring socket for the whole time, no problems yet. My old dumb washer dryer was plugged into the same socket too.

Very nice! It won’t give you current power, kWh and water consumed?

No it doesn’t detect power usage at all. I have it plugged into a power monitor socket for that. It also doesn’t tell me anything about water consumption. My machine is the catchily named FWV685WSE model. I’ve heard some LG models track power consumption, don’t know about water though.

welke wasmachine is dit?

It’s a dryer from LG RC90V9AV3Q with thinq integration

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