I was thinking of a project to monitor usage from my washer / dryer unit. The data I was thinking of gathering was state for each (on/off) and maybe a temperature probe (perhaps both for the dryer exhaust and external). Combined with time, one could log how long a cycle ran, alert when done, ect.
Now for the challenges. I rent, so the washer / dryer are not mine (so, no permanent modifications). There are no lights on it to make it easy. I keep referring to it as the washer / dryer because it's all in one machine (a stackable unit) so monitoring power might not be the best option, since it's all running on the same plug (a 220v at that).
My thoughts were to place a microphone on the side of the unit, one at the top where the dryer is and one at the bottom for the washer; have IObridge monitor analog values from the microphone to detect if each or both are running.
Has anyone here attempted anything like this before? Thoughts? Circuit ideas? I'm still researching how this could be done, but if I don't
have to reinvent the wheel, I won't!
