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Displaying My Washing Machine's Remaining Time with Curl, Jq, and Pizauth

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Re: Displaying My Washing Machine's Remaining Time with Curl, Jq, and Pizauth

#41

Post by hoseja »

mauvehaus wrote: post #17
londons_explore wrote: post #5

It is notable that washing machines lie about remaining time. Specifically, there are parts of the wash cycle that are indeterminate. How long will it take to get all the clothes wet with water - well that will depend on the water pressure and how many clothes are inside. How long will it take for the water to heat - Well that will depend on how hot it was when it came in and the grid AC voltage variation. How long w…

We bought a house, and the laundry machines did not convey with it. Feeling a bit tighter than usual, we bought a pair of older ones for $75 a piece from a local outfit that sells reused/unused building supplies. Having endured precisely the phenomenon you're describing for the last decade, having a washer that reliably gets the job done in 45 minutes or less is pure bliss. Yeah, it uses more water, but we're on a we…

Using more water is a feature IMO. I want clean clothes. I don't care insane people decided to live ten million a city without enough water to use, there is more than enough where I live. Why should I be uselessly frugal with abundant resources and suffer as a result.

Re: Displaying My Washing Machine's Remaining Time with Curl, Jq, and Pizauth

#42

Post by shmoogy »

sgerenser wrote: post #23
bartkappenburg wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly, that's also my setup. Works as a charm! The power meter is a zwave switch which sits between the socket and the washing machine.

Same here. I’m sitting here reading stuff about reporting time remaining and wondering why that matters? Isn’t the concern just when its done? I got one of these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08LN3C7WK . Connected it to my HomeBridge server (all local), set up a push notification using when the energy drops below 5 watts (which happens about 1-2 minutes after the cycle ends).

I setup a power monitor that resets a 5 min timer every time the power usage goes over X. It would still be nice to have an idea of how much time is left - I've considered setting up a pi-camera to OCR the display.

Re: Displaying My Washing Machine's Remaining Time with Curl, Jq, and Pizauth

#43

Post by FredPret »

eimrine wrote: post #21
FredPret wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But I want a bit to be flipped somewhere, so I can check at my leisure. If I miss the FM transmission I have to go down the hall to check again (Over the past ten years I've missed the last 100% of all FM transmissions passing through my local area)

If washing is not ready (currency is high) do nothing except of maybe accumulating energy. Else send an endless beep on any frequency you like before you manage to take your laundry and disactivate your FM beeper. It still can be implemented using a few transistors. Bonus points if implementation of this will be done in such a way that other folks can have a good use of the device.

That's smart. You could probably cram that into a official-looking nondescript plastic box with a backup battery that slots over the wire. Now you'd just need to keep the transmission power low

Re: Displaying My Washing Machine's Remaining Time with Curl, Jq, and Pizauth

#44

Post by rileymat2 »

nonethewiser wrote: post #34
belugacat wrote: post #6

Great hack, but I’m sure any engineer worth their salt winces at the thought of a machine in their home roundtripping through far away 3rd party servers (I guess they’re the manufacturer’s, but if it’s hardware I own in my house those servers are 3rd party to me) just to notify them of a numerical value when they’re sitting literally 10 meters away (I live in the countryside and experience internet interruptions not…

I’d pay more for NO firmware in my washing machine. This is beyond my desire to just keep things simple. What is the point of washing machine you can control remotely? You have to put clothes in at the start and take them out at the end. It offers no convenience.

I disagree. I would like a machine that I could start when I want, I don't like when I start a load before leaving the day then having it sit in the damp until I get home to put it in the dryer. I would prefer to be able to start it an hour before I was going home so it would be ready for transfer to the dryer then.

I also would like phone notifications, it is sort of in a corner of the basement so I don't hear the alarms.

Re: Displaying My Washing Machine's Remaining Time with Curl, Jq, and Pizauth

#45

Post by londons_explore »

hoseja wrote: post #41
mauvehaus wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We bought a house, and the laundry machines did not convey with it. Feeling a bit tighter than usual, we bought a pair of older ones for $75 a piece from a local outfit that sells reused/unused building supplies. Having endured precisely the phenomenon you're describing for the last decade, having a washer that reliably gets the job done in 45 minutes or less is pure bliss. Yeah, it uses more water, but we're on a we…

Using more water is a feature IMO. I want clean clothes. I don't care insane people decided to live ten million a city without enough water to use, there is more than enough where I live. Why should I be uselessly frugal with abundant resources and suffer as a result.

More water uses more energy to heat too. And the energy cost of heating water is much higher than even that of desalinating water.

A modern machine makes clothes just a little wet for the warm wash cycle. That detaches all the dirt and gets oils emulsified. Then later it rinses with lots of cold water. That gets you the best of both worlds - you still get really clean clothes, but only had to heat a small amount of water to do so.

Re: Displaying My Washing Machine's Remaining Time with Curl, Jq, and Pizauth

#46

Post by londons_explore »

jemmyw wrote: post #8
londons_explore wrote: post #5

It is notable that washing machines lie about remaining time. Specifically, there are parts of the wash cycle that are indeterminate. How long will it take to get all the clothes wet with water - well that will depend on the water pressure and how many clothes are inside. How long will it take for the water to heat - Well that will depend on how hot it was when it came in and the grid AC voltage variation. How long w…

It's a real PITA because the dryer time is fairly consistent. Leave stuff sitting wet in the washing machine too long and it picks up a musty smell, so ideally the dryer is done before the washing machine. But the washing machine is so bad at estimating it's remaining time, and it is dependent on the load.

This suggests you are doing multiple loads back to back... Which in turn suggests you are either seperating whites and coloured clothes (no longer necessary with modern clothing, detergents and low temp wash cycles), or you are underfilling your machine (modern machines can wash about 20 lbs of clothes - 100 tshirts - in one go without wash quality degrading).

Re: Displaying My Washing Machine's Remaining Time with Curl, Jq, and Pizauth

#47

Post by avianlyric »

hoseja wrote: post #41
mauvehaus wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We bought a house, and the laundry machines did not convey with it. Feeling a bit tighter than usual, we bought a pair of older ones for $75 a piece from a local outfit that sells reused/unused building supplies. Having endured precisely the phenomenon you're describing for the last decade, having a washer that reliably gets the job done in 45 minutes or less is pure bliss. Yeah, it uses more water, but we're on a we…

Using more water is a feature IMO. I want clean clothes. I don't care insane people decided to live ten million a city without enough water to use, there is more than enough where I live. Why should I be uselessly frugal with abundant resources and suffer as a result.

More water is only a feature if you’re using stone age detergents. Modern detergents don’t benefit from more water, but they do benefit from better agitation.

Modern detergents use enzymes to break down dirt and material to bonds dirt to your clothes (like oils and fats), they need good agitation to physically separate the loosened material, where surfactants in the detergent can then bond to dirt and keep it suspended in the water. They’re so good, at keeping dirt in the water, that you just need enough water to saturate the clothes, and form a small amount of cleaning liquor. A drain and rinse cycle then completely removes the dirt from your clothes.

Adding more water makes the agitation far less efficient, because rather than being able to pick up and drop your clothes on to other clothes, or the hard surface of the wash drum, your clothes hit water first which cushions the impact. Resulting is less effective removal of dirt.

Finally modern detergents work best with plenty of time. The enzymes doing the heavy lifting don’t get consumed in the process, so the longer they’re in contact with your clothes, the more dirt they can break down. (Also worth mentioning enzymatic cleaners don’t damage most fabrics at all, because they’re carefully designed to only target dirt)

Re: Displaying My Washing Machine's Remaining Time with Curl, Jq, and Pizauth

#48

Post by j45 »

nonethewiser wrote: post #34
belugacat wrote: post #6

Great hack, but I’m sure any engineer worth their salt winces at the thought of a machine in their home roundtripping through far away 3rd party servers (I guess they’re the manufacturer’s, but if it’s hardware I own in my house those servers are 3rd party to me) just to notify them of a numerical value when they’re sitting literally 10 meters away (I live in the countryside and experience internet interruptions not…

I’d pay more for NO firmware in my washing machine. This is beyond my desire to just keep things simple. What is the point of washing machine you can control remotely? You have to put clothes in at the start and take them out at the end. It offers no convenience.

It’s less about desire and imagining there may be perfectly reasonable scenarios that exist without one needing to be aware of them or them having to be universally applicable.

I found little utility for appliances with remote access until the number of humans to keep fed and clothed grew beyond myself and a partner.

How?

Every little tweak can add up to a staggering amount of time around monotony in a lifetime.

A basic example: https://efficiencyiseverything.com/water-per-second/

Re: Displaying My Washing Machine's Remaining Time with Curl, Jq, and Pizauth

#49

Post by _Wintermute »

rileymat2 wrote: post #44
nonethewiser wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’d pay more for NO firmware in my washing machine. This is beyond my desire to just keep things simple. What is the point of washing machine you can control remotely? You have to put clothes in at the start and take them out at the end. It offers no convenience.

I disagree. I would like a machine that I could start when I want, I don't like when I start a load before leaving the day then having it sit in the damp until I get home to put it in the dryer. I would prefer to be able to start it an hour before I was going home so it would be ready for transfer to the dryer then. I also would like phone notifications, it is sort of in a corner of the basement so I don't hear the a…

Every basic washing machine I've owned has had an option to delay the start for an adjustable amount of time.

Re: Displaying My Washing Machine's Remaining Time with Curl, Jq, and Pizauth

#50

Post by nonethewiser »

rileymat2 wrote: post #44
nonethewiser wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’d pay more for NO firmware in my washing machine. This is beyond my desire to just keep things simple. What is the point of washing machine you can control remotely? You have to put clothes in at the start and take them out at the end. It offers no convenience.

I disagree. I would like a machine that I could start when I want, I don't like when I start a load before leaving the day then having it sit in the damp until I get home to put it in the dryer. I would prefer to be able to start it an hour before I was going home so it would be ready for transfer to the dryer then. I also would like phone notifications, it is sort of in a corner of the basement so I don't hear the a…

I guess there is some utility then. I find that to be very narrow and outside my personal preferences but recognize that you find it useful.

In theory you don’t need a computer/internet to start it later, but that would require you knowing when you want to start it upfront. Meaning there is still a unique capability for the smart washer.

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