Smart dishwasher

rach_k · 20 June 2023 at 9:01AM

People probably said the same about TV remotes when they were introduced - you're already in the room so just get off your lazy bottom and press the button!

Our dishwasher is not smart but the washing machine is. I wasn't sure how much I'd use it but it's really useful if you don't always follow the exact same routine for laundry. The biggest advantage for me is having the alerts on my phone - it's eliminated wasted time between loads when not realising a wash has finished or forgetting something is in there. If you always do the same load at the same time every week and aren't bothered about being time efficient, that may not be such a big deal, but it makes quite a difference for me.

It is no less 'work' to load the machine and turn it on but the extra information is great if you are able to use it.

greensalad · 20 June 2023 at 10:56AM

Simonon77 said:

I agree, it seems to be the fad to make everything 'smart' now, and charge the extra for it. Do we really need smart appliances? It is hardly a huge amount of work to set your dishwasher or washing machine going. The same with lighting. We have managed for years to control lights with our smart fingers.

It seems to be more stuff to go wrong built into them

I have several "smart" appliances but don't think any of them came with an extra charge. For companies it's useful as they can collect data on how consumers use their products.

greensalad · 20 June 2023 at 10:58AM

Simonon77 said:

secla said:

I have a neff that connects to wifi, Its almost completely pointless as all it really allows you to do is remotely start it and change programs etc. So you load it put tablet in etc. and then you start it later ........ I cant see the point

Exactly. If you have loaded it and put the tablet in, press start. Why would you want to do it by your phone later on!

Some people don't like to run dishwashers at night, so I imagine having the ability to turn it on when you want remotely is useful.

I don't use remote start on my washing machine but I love that it pings me when the wash is done and preselects the recommended drying cycle for my matching tumble dryer. Definitely helps on laundry days to not have to keep walking into the laundry room to check how long is left!

greensalad · 20 June 2023 at 11:01AM

DullGreyGuy said:

Simonon77 said:

I agree, it seems to be the fad to make everything 'smart' now, and charge the extra for it. Do we really need smart appliances? It is hardly a huge amount of work to set your dishwasher or washing machine going. The same with lighting. We have managed for years to control lights with our smart fingers.

It seems to be more stuff to go wrong built into them

I could live happily without our dishwasher or hob etc being "smart" but there are small benefits with them all. Most have been bought for other features that just happen to come with smarts.

There are items where smart has been great and lights are certainly one of them. I still control them with my fingers, not keen on this voice thing, but not having to rewire to change the lighting zones was great. Brilliant to press one button that lowers the projector, screen and turns off lights. There is real difference in feel with white and yellow light which is easy to switch.

Smart doorbell/CCTV has helped with a few security issues and disputes with couriers etc.

For thousands of years we coped with having to build a fire to cook but despite that most of us are happy with the convenience of a hob and oven these days.

I'm also an automated light house. Just the other day I ran into my Mum's house for a quick pee before I got driving and said to myself "why is it so dark in here?". Took my brain a second to remember she has to turn on her hallway and bathroom lights. Mine just turn on automatically and turn off after I've left. When I go up to my bedroom at 11pm the lights are just coming on in a nice bedroom scene (main light off but all other lights dimmed). If I walk into my living room one touch of a button and all my lamps are on, set to the perfect level of lighting I want for a relaxing evening. Plus I can adjust it all without having to get up from the sofa if I really want.

My house also gets hoovered and mopped for me (thanks to smart Roombas), multiple places in the home have screens linked to the doorbell camera (oh, it's just the Salvation Army, not worth stopping what I'm doing to go open the door then), set cooking timers with my voice, start the radio with my voice, even set my home temperature with my voice. Personally I love smart devices. They make the small things I used to do completely irrelevant.

DullGreyGuy · 20 June 2023 at 11:27AM

Simonon77 said:

I could live happily without our dishwasher or hob etc being "smart" but there are small benefits with them all. Most have been bought for other features that just happen to come with smarts.

There are items where smart has been great and lights are certainly one of them. I still control them with my fingers, not keen on this voice thing, but not having to rewire to change the lighting zones was great. Brilliant to press one button that lowers the projector, screen and turns off lights. There is real difference in feel with white and yellow light which is easy to switch.

Smart doorbell/CCTV has helped with a few security issues and disputes with couriers etc.

For thousands of years we coped with having to build a fire to cook but despite that most of us are happy with the convenience of a hob and oven these days.

I tried using the hob in my friends mega fancy new kitchen. It looks like just a smooth bit of black glass with no buttons on it. You need to know where to swipe to turn it on, then have to swipe around to set the levels. Was quite amusing for 5 minutes, but once the novelty wore off was a lot more faff than just turning one knob on a normal hob. Of course it can be controlled by a phone as well

Ours has a dimpled power button but otherwise black glass. Once on all the controls illuminate and no swiping either, just select the section you want to change and prod on the scale of 0-10. Not a massive faff to operate and 100% easier to clean given nothing gets very hot.

Certainly for us there were non-smart features that were useful like the extractor linking to the hob so can set extraction level based on power levels. You can also set timers by each zone at which point it'll either turn off or turn to the keep warm function.

Wouldnt go back to another hob with 3+ different ring sizes so you have to guestimate what a mid level setting on the medium ring will equate to on the front large ring when you move a pan forward or the mess to clear up if it overboils because you miss-estimated

Surprisingly you cannot actually do much with the smart functions but can see what each ring is set to (useful when the Mrs shouts from the kitchen that shes going out and can you keep an eye on the pan on the stove and you can easily see that she's left it set to Max so need to get up and change it now) and get alerts when a timer ends.

ashe · 20 June 2023 at 8:18PM

Just gonna throw in my two cents as an avid smart home user.

The use case is generally that it will integrate with your existing smart home devices, and provide data into those dashboards on systems like Home Assistant. For example you might have a "Kitchen" dashboard which shows you fridge/freezer temp, washing machine status, dishwasher status (these might be powder/liquid levels, off/on, daily or monthly energy usage, timers enabled etc), extractor fan power, air purifier status and so on.

Smart plugs can then be used to turn them off completely when they're not drawing any power, and cycle them on for a few minutes each morning to update metrics.

When you get used to having information on an appliance basis, it can be a bit annoying having one that doesn't talk to anything.

They're not for everyone but for those that use them, they're very good. I get alerts when fridge or freezer drops below a certain temperature, if water is detected under my washing machine, sink or dishwasher, when washing machine/dishwasher has finished and when wash powder needs topping up.

These are all small things that yes, you can do manually, but who wants to spend their life doing those things manually? I am more than happy to automate as much as possible of daily life, and to have access to as much information and metrics about our house as we can possibly have.

Our bathroom is similar - we have an extractor fan, lights, music player. In the room there is a motion sensor and a humidity sensor/temperature sensor, and underneath the sink pipes and the freestanding bath tap there is a leak sensor. Someone enters the room during daylight hours, extractor fan will come on for 10 minutes. If movement is detected in those 10 minutes, the timer is reset. If they come in the room on an offset of sunset-30 mins, then the bathroom lights also come on. If they go in the room after midnight, the fan doesn't come on and the lights come on a really low setting. If the humidity sensor detects a spike in humidity then the fan stays on until its below a defined level based on the outside levels, or if it has been running for an hour it will dip off. And as per the kitchen, we get alerts if there is water detected at the sink or the tap floor. As a result, I don't think we have used the manual light switch or fan switch in the last 12 months since setting it up. Again, minor things, but these just make life easier and when added up on a per-room basis, they save a lot of time and improve things. Previously if we had a shower or used the toilet, we'd have to remember to go turn the fan off, or set a timer on alexa. You can get fans with built in overrun timers but then they go off at 2am when you go to the toilet. And I used to hate trying not to be dazzled by the light at night or pee in the dark.

theonlywayisup · 21 June 2023 at 5:57AM

secla said:

I have a neff that connects to wifi, Its almost completely pointless as all it really allows you to do is remotely start it and change programs etc. So you load it put tablet in etc. and then you start it later ........ I cant see the point

Our Miele dishwasher died last week and we've just replaced it with another Miele. The installer set my phone up for my new dishwasher and at the same time put the two other appliances on it (I didn't even know they were smart). Needless to say I was rolling my eyes at my OH.

We went away last weekend and I was hugely thankful to my new app. The dishwasher was full but we had both forgotten to turn it on. Imagine it sitting all weekend in this heat....with the app I was able to turn it on, monitor the programme and open the door at the end of the cycle. Fortunately it has autodos so the detergent is dispensed when needed. I never thought I would ever use this sort of technology but it definitely saved us coming home to something disgusting.

I am not sure in what situation I would utilise the smartness, but just that once was all I needed.

katejo · 21 June 2023 at 4:59PM

Skintsaver said:

Hello, what are the advantages of wifi smart dishwashers?

Do they connect to your smart meter, and able to hold of the heating cycle when your exporting the most say? And purhaps alternate the heating cycle between that and the washing machine/other heavy loads?

I bought one a few months which has this feature but have ignored it so far. My previous one didn't and I can't see any advantage. I don't want to do anything to it when I am not at home (unlike my central heating system).

Skintsaver · 27 June 2023 at 8:39PM

I brought a smart one, not because I wanted it. But because I liked the look of the bosch series 4 compared to others it ticked many boxes. With the notification I wish my washing machine was smart as I often forget I set it. And I can't keep the words "end" displayed once it's complete it disappears after 5 mins. As for the dishwasher it doesn't matter if its sat full of clean item. The Only feature I may like is that I can change the favorites button, but that's probably a flaw of the dishwasher not having a dedicated pre rinse button.