Smart Washing Machines

There was an article in the Sydney Morning Herald yesterday about a Smart Washing Machine, and how this was a rather dumb idea. Well, to a certain extent it is, but more because the washing machine in question became so expensive, because they used it to sell a premium feature. But an internet controlled washing machine does in fact make sense. And can save energy.

Ideally, you would like clothes to be washed when the energy was cheapest – both for hot water and electricity. This means at night, but the problem is that if you leave wet clothes in the washing machine for any length of time they become wrinkled. So, the ideal is to have the Washing Machine operate overnight, so that the clothes are washed when you wake up in the morning.

It would be great to use a timer to do this, but most timers will not work, as washing machines require button presses to get them to work. So, an integrated timer can work wonders. Being able to monitor and control the washing machine from a Tablet is a brilliant concept, one that I wanted to try out a few years back, but did not quite get around to.

These days, I have a timer on my phone that I use for reminding me when the laundry is done, as I would often get caught up in work and forget. So for me, a Smart Washing Machine is a great idea. If only it was not so expensive