On Wed, 16 Dec 2009 13:26:06 -0500, Tony wrote:

Jules wrote:
On Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:05:05 +0100, Nils Holland wrote:
Oh, well, I guess they "think" they have a solution to that problem:
Not only the power grid is supposed to "go smart", but also the
appliances connected to it. So, prepare your washing machine,
dishwasher or whatever, and have it start up automatically,
grid-controlled, when rates are the low - probably even automatically
when rates have fallen below a threshold you have set yourself.

I remember my parents used to have their old "electro-mechanical" washer
on a timer so it'd come on at night when the rates were lower. Then they
replaced it a few years ago with an expensive new all-electronic one -
which would just sit there dumbly when the power came on...

I ran into that with a window A/C unit. During the summer I now leave
the window unit on high, but put a timer in series with the temperature
sensor.

Maybe you can put a timer in series with the washer lid safety switch?

Ahh, theirs was a front-loader (otherwise that would be a very neat idea!)

There's probably still all sorts of safety switches in there that could
be tapped into, but it wouldn't surprise me for a front-loader if the
controller's not designed to flag an error condition and just halt if the
system detects a door open condition when the machine's "running" (after
all at that point it probably thinks the room's flooded :-)

cheers

Jules