So I am thinking about putting a Fortrezz WWA-02AA in my shower, and creating a SmartApp to do the following:
1.) Turn on Hue shower light when moisture is sensed, setting its hue to blue.
2.) Changing the hue of the Hue lamp to another color when it warms up to x degrees.
3.) Shutting the Hue lamp down after x minutes.
4.) Ignoring all sensor input for x minutes/hours (giving enough time for moisture to evaporate and prevent additional triggers).
I suppose my first question is will the moisture under the contacts indeed evaporate in a reasonable amount of time, or would water be trapped between the sensor contacts and the tile floor of the shower for too long, making this not workable at all?
I tend to think there will be too much moisture between the contacts. It is rather sensitive, but effective.
Be aware the unit is not water proof. I use it in my water softener brine tank to trigger an alarm when the salt level is too low. It has triggered two alarms so far but each time it quickly filled with water. Surprisingly, it still survives.
I’ve used it other places but luckily hasn’t been tested in real life yet (no leaks or floods).
The Fibaro moisture sensor may be a better solution when it comes out. It claims to be water proof and configurable:
Thanks. I figured I could stretch a condom or something over it, leaving just the contacts on the bottom. But if you think it will take too long to dry out, perhaps it is worth waiting for the one you suggest.
I definitely think the key is to have contacts on a wire probe. That allows for instant wet and dry results. I use one to help notify me that a pump is working properly by having the water level go down to a certain level. The wire contacts allow you to mount it at a particular height to measure an actual level.
I personally think that with the two exposed contacts, it recognizes a dry condition much faster. It also allows you to mount the box more out of the way and not necessarily in the direct line of the water spray.
Heh heh… Ok, but think I might wait for Fibaro to get to the US. It looks pretty cool, and since it’s waterproof and floats, I can use it in the jacuzzi too.
So this brings me to my next question. How do I accomplish #4 above? Set up a state variable and stuff a value in it to check for in the moisture event handler, and then use runIn to reset it after the “drying out” period? Is there a more elegant way to handle this?
I have the Lowes branded version of the everspring. It is crazy sensitive! Probably would have the same evaporative problem.
Instead of going the water sensor route. I would put in an Aeon Multi and detect for humidity and motion together. When motion stops for X minutes and humidity is still high, then do yada yada. You could even keep the hue bulbs a sky blue or green while its still humid in the room. You could add exhaust fan control to the bathroom via this method too.
@docwisdom That’s a good suggestion. But I am a little concerned about the IP42 rating. Shower has six heads and water comes from pretty much everywhere (top and 3 sides}.
I take it you have one or more of these. How water resistant are they, and how’s the battery life when configured to report humidity every time it changes?
First I was envious of your hue bulbs, now I am envious of your shower!!
I do have one but it is in my gun safe. I would recommend you just put it in the bathroom near the shower, not directly in it. It would surely sense the shower humidity unless your shower is fully enclosed glass…
No, it is tile. But does have a high vent on glass door due to the car wash action. I will try mounting either into the little cubbie hole designed for soap and shampoo bottles, or in one corner of the ceiling.
I really want the temperature to change the color of the light.
For the temperature monitoring if you have access to the shower piping you could use a strap-on temperature sensor outputting a 0-10v signal. Such as [Temp Sensor] and wire it to the input of a MIMOlite. If you could find a device capable of reading a 10k thermistor the install would be much easier and cheaper. No separate power for the Temp Sensor and regular thermistor sensors are much easier to find. 1
For those that may be interested, my first pass at this was over engineered at best. The shower has a thermostatic valve, so always heats to same temp. I simply timed how long it takes to reach the set temp (about 55 seconds).
I then put an outdoor motion sensor on the door near the top of the hinge, facing inward. It knows as soon as I open the door, and turns on the Hue to blue, then immediately sets it to orange with a 55 second transitiontime, and after 2 minutes of no motion, turns it off.
This does exactly what I needed, with the only exception being one person showering right after the other, in which case the delay changing the color is moot. But since we always try to shower together, this hardly ever happens. (c;