Energy management systems and control of washing machine, dryer, and property

Really? That would be too much effort for me. I put the devices on when I want/need to, not when the weather forecast predicts sunshine. However, that does not mean that I don’t like saving money on energy and would try to run the devices whenever power comes from the roof.

Thinking error (by the way, the classic). Nothing will stop you from washing your laundry whenever you want, with or without EMS.

Then this control system makes no sense. What use is it to me then? Saving electricity for a few loads of laundry that happen to run when there's enough sun? The dryer would already be out for me because it runs in the evening after a few loads are done.

Then this control doesn't make any sense.

You are making the usual mistake of thinking all people are the same and also that energy management is the only function. In fact, the whole thing is always a concept of many small things that come together to form a big whole, and in the usual scenario, turning on white goods at cheap times in terms of consumption is only a side effect, not the main task of the system. A central locking system is also pointless, you can open everything by hand anyway, since practically everything is reachable by hand and you need the key anyway. Ventilation is also stupid, you can just open the window, etc. And yet, people drive to the gas station that is 1 cent cheaper, even if they only refuel 20-30 liters.

We have a Sunny Home Manager that already communicates with the heat pump and channels surplus electricity into hot water generation.

We could also buy special socket adapters to automate the washing machine/dryer so that they only operate when the devices don’t "forget" their programs after a power loss. Unfortunately, that is often the case with older devices. I couldn’t find out for my machine without further ado.

However, the purchase price of this socket pre-switching device (forgot what it’s called) was simply too expensive for me. If I pay 80€ for it, I can calculate how many photovoltaic-powered laundry cycles the device would have to provide for me just to cover the purchase cost.

Apart from that, I don’t like the principle of the device constantly turning on and off when it’s cloudy (?). I can imagine it would be better for the laundry if the program runs regularly without many interruptions.

We are now doing it really bluntly manually; it works not badly. It also depends on home office, as we are at home anyway when the sun is shining.

It is indeed cumbersome if you always have to remember in the morning to fill the washing machine so that it runs at noon when maximum power comes from the photovoltaic system. Decisions are also annoying like: Is it more important to me to save electricity, or that my children have clean and dry clothes at a certain time :) Or: the dishwasher always starts when I want to take a nap in the living room at noon, etc. Making more decisions is definitely more stressful.

I can still understand the dishwasher issue; however, automatic management is rather counterproductive if you don't also program blackout periods for the nap. Otherwise, I don't see the increase in comfort. In both cases, you have to load the laundry in the morning and take it out in the evening. In one, the machine starts automatically; in the other, according to the timer. In terms of comfort, it's the same. Energy management might be somewhat more efficient, but until you have recouped the necessary initial investments, you probably have to wash for decades for a large family.

Software updates, manufacturer/communication interfaces, hidden menus, etc. This is also possible with white goods, projectors, A/V receivers, and so on.

Do you have a few keywords I can search for?

You are making the usual mistake and thinking all people are the same

Nope. But everyone has the problem of loading and unloading the washing machine, which must be done manually. Sure, if someone enjoys something like that and sees it as a system made up of many individual parts that don't necessarily have to pay off (you first have to recover the acquisition costs), that might be desirable.

A ventilation system is stupid too, you can just open the window, etc.

True, that's why we don't have one.