Any Steam Shower integrations?

We are putting in a steam shower as a part of a remodel. I'm starting to look at options and am and wondering if anyone here has any experience w/a steam shower that provides any smart home integration. Not too concerned if the integration isn't local - that's a plus but not required. We'd like to be able to fire up the steam shower via voice or button so that it can start its warm up w/out us having to go into the bathroom and turn it on manually.

I believe @dman2306 wrote an integration for the Kohler dtv. He may have some insight.

Thanks. I found his info but AFAIK was shower only, not steam shower.

I am looking into Kohler steam options, but WAF on them will be low as the Kohler prices are higher and she doesn't place much value on the steam shower being smart. I kind of have to sneak it in w/out it increasing the cost in a big way, and Kohler steam generators appear to run about $1K more than comparable sized generators from other vendors. Too bad I married a Finance Director, rather than an IT Director. :wink:

1 Like

Ah well. AFAIK that's the only shower integration I've ever seen talked about. (Not that there are not others)

1 Like

I also am interested. I've been thinking about a fancy shower option for my new home. Interested to see what ideas are posted.

1 Like

Sneak an Amazon gift card purchase, and apply against the Steam Shower, tell her you found a bargain. Doubt you can find one on eBay. Or, you could trade for bread.

1 Like

I did find one...has a Wi-Fi connected controller. No reviews so a bit of an unknown.

Our SMART WI-FI Keypad has a nice and large 5" Touch Screen which can also be operated from your phone even outside of your house! Set up comfortable time and temperature on your phone, so when you are ready to enjoy some SPA time, your steam room will be ready for you! Play your favorite music, adjust the color of the lights to your mood! Customize your steaming experience to the fullest with the Superior SMART Steam Generator Kit!

https://www.amazon.com/Superior-SMART-Steam-Shower-Generator/dp/B08L45851L/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=wi-fi%2Bsteam%2Bshower&qid=1614532973&sr=8-1&th=1

Their non-Wi-Fi unit only has 36 reviews but overall rating is high:

https://www.amazon.com/Superior-Steam-Generator-DeLuxe-Keypads/dp/B07JFSF816/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=steam+planet&qid=1614533206&sr=8-5

I didn’t code the steam feature but it would be doable and not too difficult if I had someone who could help test. When I suggested adding steam to our shower my wife yelled saying she hates when the shower gets too steamy and doesn’t want to spend thousands to make it steamy!

3 Likes

I went with a Thermasol steam generator for my steam shower.
It was over 6 years ago so no smart features but I was focused on getting one with high reviews digging through plumbing and bath forums.
I didn't want it breaking down after spending that much money.
Kohler was my next choice.

1 Like

On this note seems it's been a minute since this was discussed. How to like it after living with it @dman2306? Everything holding up? Control panel resilient to the humidity?

Lol if I can squeeze it in I'm going to do it..
I saw someone post once that they started buying devices that @dman2306 as a rule. I'm more and more in that camp these days. You do some cool stuff...

Looking to get some of those lg things too..

Yes the Thermasol has held up fine.
Thinking about it it has been closer to 8 years.
No issues at all.
You still have to do an auto generator clean after so many hours of use.
It is an older system so it just gives a code (clean or something it's been awhile) which whenever I see it I think the unit is broken.
I google it every time.
You go into the menu and it does automatic purge cleanse. No manual cleaning.
New models might give a better display instruction.

I built the steam shower myself. Complete cement board and kerdi membrane.
2 things I would do different.
I didn't slope the ceiling in the shower. Not really a big deal but you get an odd drop of water on your head.
Also I painted the ceiling outside the shower with oil based paint to seal the ceiling from the moisture. I was up checking it a few months ago and it has held up fine.
But does get condensation on the ceiling outside the shower when you open up the steam shower. So I should have continued tiling the ceiling for 3-4 feet outside the shower.

I also put in a water softener for the house because we have very hard water and that is hard on steam generators and water heaters.

We live in a very cold dry climate so the wife loves it

1 Like

Still very happy with it. I'll admit I was nervous, Kohler makes great fixtures but I wasn't sure how well they'd be at electronics and software. Overall it works great. Like any tech, I've had a few glitches and software bugs but nothing serious. The hardware itself is well built. The panels have no issue with the humidity/moisture and in fact the touch screen I have in the shower works really well even when you're hands are wet. You have to touch the screen a little harder when soaked than say a smart phone, but it does work.

I did have one issue. After about a year I started getting a thermistor error. The thermistor is a safety device that shuts the shower off in the event the water gets hot enough that it would burn you in case there is ever a malfunction. Well the sensor was malfunctioning so even with the shower at about 105F it would just shut off. Nothing like being covered in shampoo and the shower just shuts off electronically... not like you can just go and turn it back on either, I had to reboot the device. After it happened a few times I contacted Kohler. It must be a known issue because they shipped me a replacement circuit board and thermistor, no questions asked. They said normally they'd send someone out to replace the board at no charge but I live in a fairly rural area and they couldn't get someone here for a few weeks so I opted to do it myself. The directions were clear and it was pretty easy. Since then (3-4 months ago) everything has been working fine again.

I definitely recommend the DTV+, but I will definitely admit the price is hard to swallow. Some of the pricing is ridiculous. https://www.amazon.com/KOHLER-K-99694-BL-Interface-Mounting-Bracket/dp/B00SK0FX9U/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=kohler+dtv+mounting+bracket&qid=1614741161&sr=8-1 -- seriously $105 for a metal bracket? Come on! But the products are quality and Kohler stands behind them.

2 Likes

It’s because Kohler‘s yield is so low on transistors made of porcelain.

2 Likes

I built one a few years back, my wife and I love it. I spent a fair amount of time with the design and choice of fixtures, the hardest thing to find (for a reasonable price, and by reasonable I mean less than $2000.00 lol), were the steam rated colored light fixtures. Finally found a good solution from a company in Minnesota or Wisconsin. Didn't see anything that would integrate well with hubitat, but it has been a few years so who knows.

I would definitely go with a large steam generator, it is difficult to oversize. I went with 12 kilowatts and its nice since I can run cooler shower heads while the steam is on and not lose temperature. Can't beat a steam shower when it is -40 degrees outside.

I also took the steam generator cover off just to see the internals, not that complicated at all. If my control panels ever went, and I couldn't find a replacement, I would just integrate with hubitat through the use of relays, it would be a bit of a project and I don't think it would be that hard.

1 Like

Your steam shower looks gorgeous. Really well done.

I was thinking about using SteamSpa. Would you buy them again?

Yes, I would. No problems at all. Although there are a few items to be aware of:

  1. They suggest a maximum supply water pressure of 20psi, so in the picture I posted you can see a pressure reducer in the line going to the steam generator. I also put a shock arrestor in the line since its a solenoid valve in the unit.
  2. Their steam heads are ugly. I didn't use them, I went with steam mist:
  3. The unit has a pressure relief valve (required), and also has a solenoid activated drain valve that drains the tank inside the unit after each use. Once the temperature has cooled down enough for your plumbing to handle it, the unit drains its tank to reduce sediment buildup. You need to plumb a drain for the unit.
  4. As you can also see in the picture, there are two control panels for the steamspa, one in the shower, one outside. This is very nice, as you don't need to go into the shower to turn the steamer on. But I wouldn't even know where to start if I was to try integrating this panel with HE.

On another note, I have had lots of guests use it and everyone loves the waterfall I put in. It was very hard to find, since any shower heads needs to be low flow. The waterfalls were all several thousand dollars. Found this one for way less, the quality is good (brass and chrome) and it works great:Waterfall shower head The pictures on amazon don't do it justice. When I turn my tap wide open there is way more water coming out of the fixture then what is shown in the amazon pic. Nothing like sitting in a 105 degree Fahrenheit steam shower and then standing under a 12 gallon a minute cold waterfall, lol.

I went with Grohe for all the other items in the shower. I am very happy with them as well.

As far as a sloped ceiling in a "RESIDENTIAL" steam shower, many people (myself included) believe it should be removed from the building code and the tile council should stop requiring it. It makes sense for commercial, many of them run all day (think of the steam room at the gym) and without a sloped ceiling it would be dripping a lot. I have never had my flat ceiling drip, I simply don't run it long enough for it to happen. For a test once, I set it at 110 degrees (a little hotter than I normally have a steam shower) and it took close to 2 hours for the ceiling to start to drip, even then it wasn't much.

1 Like

I agree with @danabw that is beautiful.

1 Like

Frankly, it's so much bigger and nicer than ours is going to be (space limitations) that I'm kind of upset now.

:wink:

@Stephan.J, a couple questions if you don't mind:

  • What's your total steam shower square feet? Curious how big a space you're serving w/the 12KW unit

  • What are these three items?
    2021-03-03 13_30_30-Any Steam Shower integrations_ - Support _ Devices - Hubitat

  • This is the steam head, correct?
    image

Time to expand the scope of the project, add on a Steam Shower Room.

The picture of the three items are two volume control valves and a thermostatic mixing valve, one valve controls the waterfall and the other valve controls the body sprays and overhead rain shower head.

Size of the steam shower is just under 5feet x 8 feet. With a height of a little over 7 feet. Around 280 cubic feet.

In the years before I built my shower, I was responsible for taking care of two grandparents as they neared the end of their life. I wasn't prepared for how difficult life can become in the last few months. Both my grandparents had nursing staff come to the house to help them with bathing. It was always extremely difficult since their bathrooms where not fully accessible. When I built my bathroom one of my paramount concerns was making it fully accessible so if I ever am in the same condition the nurse will have lots of room to just wheel me into the shower and we can both have our space. The shower door is a few inches wider than normal so that a wheel chair will easily fit through, the glass company took a while to source the extra heavy duty hinges required and where a little grumpy about my request. The hardest part about the construction was I made the shower curbless, very difficult considering I didn't raise my bathroom floor. Also the volume controls I mentioned above have square handles (1/4 turn), so when I am elderly I will have no problems.

The big home automation project in the bathroom was the mirror, had lots of fun with that, still having fun. Running it off a Pi, currently trying to get it to show a video of last nights hockey highlights, the first time in the morning the Jasco zwave light senses motion. LOL