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Comment by kbar13 | Hacker News Reader

i'm jealous that their washing machine has an API. I just used a 15A rated smart switch that has an espressif chip under the hood and flashed it so it tells me when the washing machine stops pulling current - that means it's done!

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Your solution seems way more palatable to me. I refuse to use these third-party centralized services or hook up my appliances to the internet. Right now I just set an alarm on my phones for when I estimate it will be done, and snooze it a couple times to be safe (and lazy).

Personally I just use siri on my watch to set a timer.

I stick my head in the laundry room door and look/listen if the machine is still running.

lol I can tell it's running from all corners of the house and the loud ass buzzer when it ends is a great clue that it's stopped.

The laziest tech equivalence I can think of would be buying a baby monitor and mounting it in the laundry room.

I never know how long my washer of dryer is going to take. An event-based alert system seems way more reliable and convenient to me.

I just overshoot it a bit so I'm always there when it's done, an extra 20 minutes won't hurt.

This is a much better idea, if you ask me. It also automatically adjusts for variable length runs of the washer or dryer. Very clever.

This is absolutely the way to do it for washers and non-electric dryers.

I configured my automation to notify me when both the washer and dryer are idle.

I just installed the smart things app.

What brand of switch are you using

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