Testing and Usage
Testing
Most washing machines have a drain + spin cycle, which doesn't actually wash anything, but is a useful test to see if the vibration sensor detects it. Mine takes 10 minutes with spin, and only detects 3/4 of the way.
Press the Up Button on the FunHouse to signify the loading of the machine and start of a cycle.
The display should update with a new Start Time, and show no cycle detected yet by the vibration switch.
Begin the washing machine cycle.
Wait for the washing machine cycle to finish, then press the Down Button on the FunHouse and the end time will be updated.
Take a quick photo, to record the detected cycle time compared to the manual start and end times.
If the end time is more than 30 minutes after the spin cycle was detected then modify the delay time of the "Washing Almost Ready" action (mentioned at the top of previous page).
Usage
If you don't "end" the cycle, by pressing the Down button, then soon you'll be receiving an Email reminding you to hang out the washing.
They'll keep being sent until you finally do the good deed, or pull the emergency rip cord by changing the washer-notify feed to a value that isn't almost-washed or washed.
SMS Text Messages?
If you prefer using SMS messages (and are USA / Canada based with an IO+ subscription) then you can easily swap the Email block for an SMS block instead.
Just make sure you have set up your number and verified it in the Accounts->Services->IO SMS settings:
https://accounts.adafruit.com/settings/phone
Prefer Discord / Slack notifications?
You could do that too!
Go and checkout the plant watering notification guide that details how to setup Slack + Discord:
Page last edited December 03, 2025
Text editor powered by tinymce.
