Tufties for Tumble dryers
HOW MANY HOURS IS IT TIL 5AM?? TELL ME NOW!
Stressful, isn't it?
It's been a while since I've shared one of my stupid personal dev projects with you all, so thought I'd treat you!
Got a new tumble dryer last week:
Snazzy, eh!
I've done this for energy saving reasons. This is a "heat pump" tumble dryer. Which a) uses less energy all the time and b) is safer to run overnight.
(NB - full disclaimers apply...manufacturers would never recommend large appliances run overnight, etc)
By using less energy, and running overnight, I can drop costs from ~£1.50/load to £0.16. Winning.
There's one issue... the way the delay timer works is really counter-intuitive to my mind. You have to tell it in how many hours you want it to end. The eco cycle takes 3.5 hours, so I want it to end around 5am to make the most of cheap energy. So, back to the original question...how many hours is it til 5am?
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| Actual footage. |
I worried that the mental load of figuring this out would be too much for my tiny brain...and I'd just give up and stick it on to run immediately... I needed a way of de-braining this maths.
So I rummaged in my box of raspberry pi bits and found a "tufty", sat patiently waiting for a project to suit it... It's designed (why do I own these things?) as a badge to wear at conferences etc... but it's fundamentally a screen, buttons and raspberry pi pico all in one. A couple of prompts later... design and print a stand... and we have this :
The big number at the top is "how many hours is it til 5AM" - so I can just set the tumbler to that number. Underneath we have the current time... and I even added a totaliser of how much money I've saved running overnight. 
Tadaa!
All vibe coded, no idea how it works... but it does. Great hour spent, I'm sure you'll all agree.
There we go, short and sweet today. Lovely seeing you all again!