this post was submitted on 02 Apr 2026
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What's the best way to detect when I'm taking a shower? (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by batshit@lemmy.world to c/homeassistant@lemmy.world
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I would like to turn on mood lighting automatically when I'm taking a shower, what's the best way to detect that?

  • I've considered humidity sensors, but that will take a while to kick in and not immediately when the shower starts.
  • I've also considered a water leak sensor but those are not meant to be trigger every day for a long time like 10-15 minutes. That would kill the battery, right?
  • Smart valves can kind of work, but it feels like overkill because I don't care about the valve functionality.

I would prefer the solution to be battery powered (don't want to be messing with too many cables around a shower), but I can't seem to find one.

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[–] nhoizey@mamot.fr 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

@batshit I use a derivative of a humidity sensor, it works well enough and is really simple to set up.

[–] batshit@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Would it detect as soon as I start the shower or will it have a minute lag? Like I said, I want the automation to kick in as soon as I start.

[–] YourAvgDuckHead@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 2 days ago

I'm also using a humidity sensor in my custom bathroom setup. It really detects the start of a shower quite fast. 10s to 30s I'd say, depending on the humidity before starting the shower.

But also I have a very small window-less bathroom, so you mileage may vary.

[–] nhoizey@mamot.fr 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

@batshit I don’t have any automation based on that, just a card in my dashboard, so I didn’t check how long it takes. But it’s not instantaneous, for sure.