I have an electrically heated towel rail in our bathroom that I can control with Home Assistant (via a Tado Radiator Thermostat).
My aim is to switch on the towel rail every time someone uses our electric shower.
My thought is to fit a clip-on power meter to the 240v cable feed to the shower then create an automation that says “if the power draw is more than x amps turn on the towel rail”.
I’m having problems finding a clip-on power monitor that Home Assistant can read the power draw.
Has anyone (preferably in the U.K.) come across any such device, or does anyone know of a better way to achieve this?
Why not just put in a humidity sensor and have it run when a threshold humidity level is met and turn off after x time from when it was turned on?
You can then use the same sensor for a dehumidifier and an exhaust fan that you have in the bathroom via a relay or smart wall switch.
i.e I have my dehumidifier turn on via a zigbee smart plug since it has last power state to always on if its between 30-60% for 1min and the exhaust fan is turned on if its at or 70% for 1min and run it for 30min.
You can also prob tie in an occupancy automation to say if the door is closed and motion is detected and humidity is above a certain threshold only then turn on the towel rail and turn if off then the occupancy helper is in the off state.
This though is what I have setup using one of the wasp in a box occupancy blueprints to have my led strip turn on and stay on as long as motion is detected in the bathroom and the door is closed since it was last opened.
Many ways to sense shower use…
If you like current measurement option, another vote for Shelly EM.
You can also follow the energy consumption of different shower users…