

Nest for showers - coltr

This might already exist, but when will we have Nest for showers? Or water temp in general? Turn knob to perfect degree. Save settings, remember your preferences. Potentially conserve water and energy. I&#x27;d like this.
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gregschlom
Honestly, after using one of those fancy showers that had exactly the features
you describe, it was a huge pain in the ass:

1\. I'm extremely short-sighted, and of course I don't wear glasses when I
shower, so reading the LCD display to make adjustments was a pain in the ass.

2\. There was an option to save settings for guests (which I was) but I never
bothered taking the time to use it, so every time I wanted to shower I had to
set everything correctly again. Took me like 3 minutes before I could shower.
The UI was quite poor, so arguably this could be improved but still...

3\. The temperature would reset to the default value if I turned the shower
off and didn't turn it back on soon enough. Back to step 2, with the added fun
of being covered in shampoo and trying to avoid the cold water drenching me
since of course I turned the shower on before realizing it had lost my
temperature settings.

Again, the UI for this system was quite poor but still. No matter how good the
UI is, the cognitive load compared to traditional system is just too heavy for
no good reason.

Just give me a knob for temperature, and a knob for jet strength, like all
modern showers. That's all I need.

~~~
oftenwrong
A shower with traditional knobs, and a sensor of some kind. The first time you
use it, you set the temperature/pressure with the knobs. After that: You step
in, the shower detects you, and automatically uses your previous
temperature/pressure. The sensor could use facial recognition, or a footprint
scanner, or a fingerprint scanner, etc.

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noir_lord
I was considering how you would design something like this (in the shower the
other day)

I trained as an industrial electrician when I was younger so I have some
tangentially related experience (though a lot of my apprenticeship was done in
a flour mill which is is a very hazardous environment (fuel/air explosions are
no joke)).

The conclusion I came to is that while some of the stuff is fairly trivial
(constant temperature control for example requires some finesse when you have
variable water pressure/flow rates but is solvable) other stuff is actually
quite difficult.

How do you handle control inputs?

While waterproof touch screens exist they are ferociously expensive and look
more at home in abattoir than a typical shower. So the control would have to
be either very simple or controllable from a phone which imposes it's own
problems (you would have to run the program before getting in the shower
unless you want to take a shower with your £500 iPhone).

In addition there are liabilities (if your software goes rogue and melts the
skin of someone that is probably not a good thing).

Safety Standards for showers are rigorous.

Standard for showers are already pretty rigorous (unsurprisingly as they
combine electricity in close proximity to water and just for fun throw in
scald and slip hazards) so getting a device certified may be expensive.

Integration

The shower would have to be manufactured with the "nest" style controller in
it already, modifying an existing shower isn't go to fly as internally there
are few standards (except across manufacturers) and anything that impairs the
seal is going to get you sued.

None of this stuff is unsolvable if there is a market demand for the product
but to be honest I'm not convinced there actually is.

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raldi
The solution already exists:

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermostatic_mixing_valve](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermostatic_mixing_valve)

~~~
savvyraccoon
I have one from Delta - [http://www.amazon.com/T17T051-SS-Dryden-Tempassure-
Series-St...](http://www.amazon.com/T17T051-SS-Dryden-Tempassure-Series-
Stainless/dp/B001KBGQSS/?tag=seleniumfaq-20). It works like a charm.

~~~
stronglikedan
Agreed, and as a mechanical solution, it is likely better than an electronic
solution in a damp environment such as a shower.

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tzs
Speaking of saving energy in the shower, I've seen an interesting gizmo for
that [1].

It addresses the problem of wasted hot water when people get involved in other
things while they are waiting for the shower to warm up. They turn on the hot
water, and then go shave or brush their teeth or start the coffee maker or
check email, or whatever, and can waste a lot of hot water between the time
the shower has warmed up and the time they return to take their shower.

This gizmo senses when the water has warmed up, and then restricts the flow
down to a trickle, until you pull the switch to restore the flow. The change
from full flow to trickle acts as a signal to tell you the shower is ready,
and the trickle wastes much less how water than the full flow does.

[1] [http://www.amazon.com/Evolve-Showerheads-SS-1002CP-SB-
Water-...](http://www.amazon.com/Evolve-Showerheads-SS-1002CP-SB-Water-Saving-
Shower-Head/dp/B0017YXIKC)

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bradyd
Kohler has a product like that.

[http://www.us.kohler.com/us/DTV-Custom-Showering-
Experience/...](http://www.us.kohler.com/us/DTV-Custom-Showering-
Experience/content/CNT2400429.htm)

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blakerson
I had this in my last apartment in Tokyo.

In Japan, water is commonly heated by gas-powered flash heaters. In that
apartment, the heater was controlled digitally and there were up/down buttons
that would change the temperature by 1 degree Celsius.

It would remember the most recent setting between uses, so all I had to do was
remember my favorite number, ensure it was set to that number upon start, and
hop in.

It was simpler in function than a Nest and much less pretty, but it was
functional and got me the water temperature I wanted.

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fjcaetano
There's no need for electric showers. The heat regulator could be attached to
the "cold" and "hot" handles and a thermometer at the output of the shower.

When the temperature differs from the setup it automatically adjust the "hot"
or "cold" temperature to regulate it.

The problem with this is that the whole system would be "reactionary", meaning
that temperature regulations would only happen AFTER temperature alterations.

~~~
sokoloff
That's true of HVAC thermostats as well, and works OK in that application.

~~~
njharman
Yes but hvacs aren't spraying scalding or (worse) cold water on your half-
awake self.

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guipinto
I've been working on building an arduino-powered solution for this but for
sinks, using 2 servos to control the hot/cold faucets and a waterproof temp
sensor measuring/controlling the output. Initial challenge was easy, but I'm
now having issues with the fact that the pipes cool/warm over time as they get
used, and that doesn't seem to be playing well with the basic logic I have in
place to keep the temp. balanced.

~~~
noir_lord
Have a look at Model Predictive Control :).

It's one of the simpler methods beyond straight forward feedback systems.

[https://controls.engin.umich.edu/wiki/index.php/MPC](https://controls.engin.umich.edu/wiki/index.php/MPC)

~~~
guipinto
Very cool. Thanks a lot for sharing, this is a perfect solution for what I'm
encountering.

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iamthepieman
This doesn't describe the control technology very well, which it seems your
question focuses on. However, given the closed loop design it would likely
maintain better water pressure and temperature even with standard purely
mechanical controls.

[http://orbital-systems.com/products/](http://orbital-systems.com/products/)

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itripn
Most European/Asian showers have already solved this, without anything that
runs on electricity or needs firmware. Purely mechanical.

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yeabuddy
People really like to overcomplicate their lives

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savvyraccoon
It is already exist and called - Thermostatic valve with volume control. I
recently installed this one [http://www.amazon.com/T17T051-SS-Dryden-
Tempassure-Series-St...](http://www.amazon.com/T17T051-SS-Dryden-Tempassure-
Series-Stainless/dp/B001KBGQSS/?tag=seleniumfaq-20)

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david-peterson
[http://www.hansgrohe-usa.com/18920.htm](http://www.hansgrohe-
usa.com/18920.htm)

Not sure what "rain brain" is, but their non-electric thermostatic valves do a
lot of what you want (we have them in our house).

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bitboxer
The shower in my parents house has this. Since 1984. Mechanically. And working
perfect.

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mattblalock
Sounds awesome!

