r/homeautomation • u/le_fromage_puant • 8d ago

QUESTION YoLink fridge sensor automation help

I have my YoLink sensor set to send an app message in the temp goes outside the 35-45f degree range in my fridge. But I ONLY want to get notifications if the temp stays above/below those set points for an hour or more (in case of malfunction), not someone rummaging in the fridge looking.

I don’t see any option in the automations setup to create an ‘IF temp stays above for 60 minutes THEN notify’.

I have the YoLink hub, my other smart devices run off of SmartThings.

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u/scifitechguy 8d ago

Excellent point! I put a pot of boiling water in the fridge to cool and was surprised to get an alert that the temp had risen to 60 degrees in about 30 minutes. The only way I could find to silence the persistent alerts was to increase the alert interval in the YoLink app. I think a better solution is to reassign alerts to Home Assistant where you have finer control of the those conditions.

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u/Tasty_Impress3016 7d ago

>  a better solution is to reassign alerts

A better solution is NOT put boiling water in your fridge. I don't care if you are alerted you are still warming everything in the refrigerator way past a safe temperature. This is more r/cooking but let stuff cool before putting it in the fridge. Put the pot in ice water in the sink, or even just on the counter and watch the temp. Don't refrigerate until it's down out of the safety zone. You are fine and more importantly, those day old chinese leftovers in the fridge will thank you.

My wife hates this, but if it is cool out I just put things on my back deck. It will cool faster there with airflow and and infinite heat sink than it will in the fridge.

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u/scifitechguy 7d ago

Duh. Lesson already learned Mr. Obvious.

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u/Tasty_Impress3016 7d ago

It can't be terribly obvious or you would not have done it in the first place.

Update: Do not place your hand directly in fire.

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u/madskvistkristensen 8d ago

SmartThings routines only fire when the temp changes, so there's no real "stays above for an hour" option there either. The usual workaround is a virtual switch, since switches do get a duration.

If you link the YoLink sensor into SmartThings:

  1. Routine: if fridge temp is above 45 (or below 35), turn the virtual switch on
  2. Routine: if fridge temp is back between 35 and 45, turn the virtual switch off
  3. Routine: if the virtual switch stays on for 60 minutes, send the notification

So a quick spike from someone rummaging flips it on, then the temp drops back and it flips off before the hour is up. Only a real hour out of range gets through.

I'd also add an alert if the sensor stops reporting, so a dead battery doesn't look like all good.

For the rummaging part, a cheap door sensor on the fridge with a few minute delay catches a door left open way faster than waiting on the temp. I wrote that one up here: https://homeautomationcookbook.com/automation/appliances/fridge-door-alert.html