Ending Shower Wars with Smart Tech: The kids love long showers. And who can blame them? The hot water, the steam, the solitude. But while they’re enjoying their spa-like experience, someone else might be outside… waiting. Tapping their foot. Sighing loudly. What’s a smart home enthusiast to do?
Here’s the solution: a visual alert system right inside the shower, controllable from the outside. Let’s break it down.
The Setup
Inside the bathroom: A programmable LED strip mounted near the shower.
Outside the bathroom: A push button that changes the light’s color inside.
Bonus feature: A door sensor to detect when the bathroom is (finally) free.
How It Works When someone’s waiting and feeling polite, they press the button once. The LED strip glows green inside the shower, subtly signaling: “Hey, take your time, but don’t forget I’m here.”
As patience wanes, another press turns the light yellow: “Okay, maybe start wrapping it up.”
A third press? The light turns red. No words needed. It’s shower-code for: “Seriously, time’s up.”
Finally, when the door sensor detects that the bathroom door opens, a speaker announces: “The bathroom is now vacant.” A small victory for smart tech and shared living spaces. And the kids? they love it.
Technical details: here is the automation file. It handles the logic above, as well as shadow clicks that happen to appear on MQTT right after the real click (it ignores them). Also, it sends the command to the LED strip twice – otherwise the hardware sometimes ignores it.
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