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.


I experimented with a humidity sensor in the shower and was surprised how quickly it spiked. It’s how I woud do it. Other option would be a leak sensor in the basin but getting it to turn off at the right time would be very hard. You have a lot more control over this with a humidity sensor.
I’m using zwave for everything like this and wouldn’t be at all concerned about battery for either scenario. Both would last years, much like my door and window sensors do.