🧺 Home Assistant Dryer Automation Suite


This guide showcases a complete automation suite for monitoring your dryer in Home Assistant. It includes:

  • 💡 Power-based detection when the drying cycle ends
  • 🔔 Notifications sent once per cycle (to mobile + Alexa)
  • 🕒 Timestamp recording of the "finished" event
  • ♻️ Auto-reset logic when the dryer starts again
Perfect for: Anyone using Home Assistant with a power-monitoring smart plug on a dryer.

⚙️ Requirements

You'll need the following entities:

  • sensor.dryer_power – Tracks real-time power usage (e.g. from a smart plug)
  • input_boolean.dryer_notification_sent – Flags whether the dryer message was already sent
  • input_datetime.dryer_finished_at – Stores the exact time when drying finished

🔔 Automation 1: Notify When Dryer Finishes

This automation triggers when the power usage falls below 210 W for at least 10 minutes, indicating the dryer likely finished. It sends push and Alexa notifications only once per cycle.

alias: Dryer Finished Notification
description: >
  Sends a notification when dryer power stays below 210W for 10 minutes — once per cycle.
trigger:
  - platform: numeric_state
    entity_id: sensor.dryer_power
    below: 210
    for: "00:10:00"
condition:
  - condition: state
    entity_id: input_boolean.dryer_notification_sent
    state: "off"
action:
  - service: logbook.log
    data:
      name: Dryer Automation
      message: Dryer has been below 210W for 10 minutes – likely finished.
  - service: notify.mobile_app_iphone_randy
    data:
      title: Dryer Done ✅
      message: The drying cycle has finished — please remove the laundry.
  - service: notify.alexa_media_living_room
    data:
      message: The drying cycle is finished — please remove the laundry.
  - service: notify.alexa_media_kitchen
    data:
      message: The drying cycle is finished — please remove the laundry.
  - service: notify.mobile_app_iphone_jessica
    data:
      title: Dryer Done ✅
      message: The drying cycle has finished — please remove the laundry.
  - service: input_boolean.turn_on
    target:
      entity_id: input_boolean.dryer_notification_sent
mode: single

🕒 Automation 2: Store Finish Timestamp

When the notification is triggered, this automation stores the exact date and time the dryer completed.

alias: Dryer – Store Finish Time
trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id: input_boolean.dryer_notification_sent
    to: "on"
action:
  - service: input_datetime.set_datetime
    target:
      entity_id: input_datetime.dryer_finished_at
    data:
      datetime: "{{ now().strftime('%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S') }}"
mode: single

♻️ Automation 3: Reset When Dryer Starts Again

Once the dryer draws power again (>210 W), this automation resets the notification state, allowing the next cycle to be detected normally.

alias: Dryer Restarts – Reset Notification Flag
trigger:
  - platform: numeric_state
    entity_id: sensor.dryer_power
    above: 210
action:
  - service: input_boolean.turn_off
    target:
      entity_id: input_boolean.dryer_notification_sent
mode: single

📅 Optional Cron Automation (Advanced)

If you want to schedule dry runs or diagnostics, you can optionally add time-based automations:

# Example: Run diagnostics every hour
automation:
  trigger:
    - platform: time_pattern
      minutes: "/60"
  action:
    - service: logbook.log
      data:
        name: Dryer Status
        message: Running hourly dryer automation check

🔐 Notes & Best Practices

  • Make sure your input_boolean and input_datetime helpers are properly configured in Home Assistant.
  • Use a reliable power-monitoring plug (e.g. Shelly, Gosund, TP-Link) with fast update intervals.
  • You can customize the watt threshold and time duration based on your dryer's behavior.
  • Integrate with other smart routines, like turning off the laundry room light after finishing.