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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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[–] paraphrand@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

This is a fun question.

I have to assume the absolute ideal would be some sort of water flow detection right in line with the shower head. Likely hard wired. But like I said, that’s an ideal.

I think the other suggestions in the thread are reasonable. The microphone one seems most appealing to me since that could theoretically just occupy an outlet anywhere in the room.

[–] testaccount372920@piefed.zip 4 points 2 days ago (2 children)

A waterflow sensor makes the most sense to me too, but it doesn't have to be inside the pipes. A microphone glued to a pipe should be able to detect the vibrations due to waterflow and hardly anything else.

Perhaps combine with a motion sensor to see if the lights should be on at all. Then the microphone only switches between modes.

[–] EarMaster@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

You could also use the drain pipe if the actual water pipe is harder to reach. It would even work against false positives (I can clearly hear the washing machine letting in water through my water pipes)…

[–] paraphrand@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

Oh, good point. Water flow can be loud when you are right up on the pipe. You could also keep it from picking up other noise with insulation. And the detection might not have to be that fancy then. Just amplitude.