An empty rinse-aid dispenser does not stop the dishwasher, it just quietly leaves your glasses streaky and your plates
wet. Your LG dishwasher already knows when the dispenser is low: it reports it as the Rinse refill needed sensor.
What it does not do on its own is tell you. This recipe closes that gap. The moment the dishwasher flags the rinse aid
as low, a push notification lands on your phone so you can top it up before the next wash.
How it works
During install, Selora AI generates a Home Assistant automation from the dishwasher’s rinse-refill sensor. From then on it runs entirely in Home Assistant. When the sensor turns on, meaning the rinse aid is low, it sends a push notification. It keeps no counts of its own: the dishwasher decides when the dispenser is low, and the recipe just relays that to your phone.
After you refill
Top up the rinse aid dispenser and the dishwasher clears the flag on its own, so the sensor turns back off and the next reminder fires only when it runs low again. There is nothing to reset in Home Assistant.
Files Selora AI's pipeline reads to install this recipe. The manifest declares roles, inputs, and integrations; the package files are Jinja-templated YAML applied to Home Assistant.
# Dishwasher Rinse Aid Low — notify when the LG dishwasher reports its
# rinse aid dispenser needs refilling.
#
# The LG ThinQ integration exposes a dedicated "Rinse refill needed"
# binary_sensor (ThinQProperty.RINSE_REFILL) that turns on when the rinse
# aid runs low. The recipe resolves that one entity (scoped to lg_thinq and
# matched by name so it isn't confused with the door / machine-clean flags)
# and sends a push notification the moment it goes on. It doesn't create or
# track anything; the dishwasher decides when rinse aid is low.
slug: dishwasher-rinse-aid-low
version: 1.0.0
title: "LG Dishwasher: Rinse Aid Low"
tagline: Get a push notification the moment your LG dishwasher reports its rinse aid is low, so you refill it before the next wash.
description: >-
The dishwasher already reports when its rinse aid dispenser needs
refilling; this recipe turns that into a Home Assistant push notification
so you are told the moment it runs low, instead of finding out from
spotty glasses. Built around the LG ThinQ integration.
author: Selora AI
released: "2026-07-09"
min_integration_version: "0.12.0"
tags: [kitchen, dishwasher, lg-thinq, maintenance]
roles:
# "Rinse refill needed" binary_sensor. Scoped to lg_thinq and matched on
# name so the wizard offers just this flag, not the dishwasher's door or
# machine-clean binary_sensors. Single-select, required: it's the trigger.
- id: rinse_refill
title: Rinse refill needed sensor
kind: binary_sensor
integration: lg_thinq
match: "refill"
min_count: 1
max_count: 1
selection: required
description: >-
The dishwasher's "Rinse refill needed" sensor from the LG ThinQ
integration. It turns on when the rinse aid dispenser is low.
package_files:
- package/automations/rinse_aid_low.yaml.j2
{# Dishwasher Rinse Aid Low — notify when the "Rinse refill needed"
binary_sensor turns on. LG sets it on when the rinse aid dispenser is
low, so a single state trigger to "on" is all it takes.
``not_from`` drops the unavailable/unknown -> on transition the integration
emits when it reconnects with the dispenser already low, so a cloud
reconnect or HA restart never resends a stale refill alert.
mode: single — one refill event at a time; the sensor won't refire until
it clears and trips again. Templates stay on single quoted lines so
trim_blocks can't swallow following YAML. #}
automation:
- id: selora_recipe_{{ slug | replace('-', '_') }}_rinse_aid_low
alias: "LG Dishwasher Rinse Aid Low — refill needed"
description: >-
When the dishwasher reports its rinse aid dispenser is low, send a
push notification to refill it.
mode: single
trigger:
- platform: state
entity_id: {{ roles.rinse_refill[0] }}
not_from:
- "unknown"
- "unavailable"
to: "on"
action:
- service: notify.notify
data:
title: "Dishwasher rinse aid low"
message: "The dishwasher's rinse aid dispenser is low. Refill it before the next wash for spot-free dishes."
Author-maintained release notes. Each release of the recipe lists what changed.
Changelog
v1.0.0 - 2026-07-09
Initial release.
- Turns the LG dishwasher’s own “Rinse refill needed” sensor into a Home Assistant push notification, sent the moment the rinse aid runs low.
- The recipe adds the alerting; the dishwasher decides when the dispenser is low and clears the flag itself once refilled.
- Built around the LG ThinQ integration.