Bathroom remodel -- digital (smart) shower valve?

[someguy]

Has anyone done one of the digital shower valves in their bathroom? I think there are slight variations, but the gist is that a digital control panel to control temp and whatnot is separated from and only electronically connected to the actual mixing valve.

I'm curious about benefits and issues and what your reasons for doing it were.

 

[marko]

No power, no shower. (?) (need to change batteries mid-rinse?)

While extremely cool, sounds like more potential for trouble than it's worth.

 

[isisdave]

If you're across the world and your security camera reveals a burglar in the shower, can you turn it to "freezing" by WiFi?

 

[someguy]

If you're across the world and your security camera reveals a burglar in the shower, can you turn it to "freezing" by WiFi?

Ha! With this group, I thought it'd be more along the lines of if your wife/teenager is going to bankrupt you by using more than three minutes of hot water, can you remotely turn the shower cold?

 

[OldShooter]

A career in tech has taught me that it is the guys who were out front who have the arrows in their chests. With things like this, I want to see broad market exposure and successful results over a few years. Changing out a mixing valve is a PITA.

And, btw, what problem are they supposed to solve? My mechanically-mixed shower valves work fine.

 

[someguy]

And, btw, what problem are they supposed to solve? My mechanically-mixed shower valves work fine.

My understanding is two areas:

1) Not technically a problem but a luxury. The controller has user presets and each user can turn on the shower to his/her exact preferred temp. Also, you can use an app to start the water going.

2) Allows more flexibility in placement of mixer valve and separation of valve and controls. This can be important if you have a stall on outside wall(s) and are doing all glass interior shower walls. Apparently with this set up, it's safe to have head(s) on outside walls even in areas that freeze because you can put the valve elsewhere (eg, under the floor).

 

[Texas Proud]

The only thing I can say to OP is that when the cost was quoted to me I went with a regular faucet...


The new faucets are designed to not have hot or cold blast you if someone turns on the water somewhere else... works great in ours.. so I regulate the temp with the faucet...


BTW, ours had an adjustment where they could set a stop at a particular spot and if you wanted hotter water you had to push in something to let the faucet go past that point... we have it set at the temp we both like so all we do is leave it there... BTW, our faucet has a separate temp handle from the amount of water.. so two handles on the faucet....

 

[freedomatlast]

Sounds as ridiculous as a refrigerator with WiFi. My goal is to simplify my life, not complicate it.

 

[old medic]

Sounds as ridiculous as a refrigerator with WiFi. My goal is to simplify my life, not complicate it.

How much simpler can it get? You walk into the bathroom, say shower, 102 degrees, and the showers up to temp by the time your undressed...

But seriously... I'll stick with the simple manually operated stuff thats worked forever.

 

[mpeirce]

We have a Moen smart shower and like it a lot.

It’s connected to HomeKit, but our main use case that we each have one of the button’s assigned to the temperature we prefer for the shower. DW presses the 1 button and press the 2 button. It takes a couple of seconds to lock into the requested temperature which is displayed on the readout.

Yes, we like different temps and with this, we don’t have to futz with the temperature dial like we used to.

And just in case there is a power outage (happens, but rarely - an especially rarely when we’re showering in the morning) the control unit is plugged into a large UPS that also runs the electronics for our gas tankless water heater.

 

[albireo13]

Has anyone done one of the digital shower valves in their bathroom? I think there are slight variations, but the gist is that a digital control panel to control temp and whatnot is separated from and only electronically connected to the actual mixing valve.

I'm curious about benefits and issues and what your reasons for doing it were.

A solution in search of a problem!

 

[skyking1]

Modern shower mixing valves compensate for flushing the toilet or turning on other water. I have one in each bath, and the only way to scald or freeze somebody in the shower is the old fashioned way, with a glass of water over the door or curtain
They stay at the temperature you set until you run out of the hot.
As stated above I see very limited benefits.

 

[someguy]

What was your main reason for doing it? Any tips or regrets? Where did you place the digital control?

We have a Moen smart shower and like it a lot.

 

[mpeirce]

What was your main reason for doing it? Any tips or regrets? Where did you place the digital control?

We picked the Moen for its Apple HomeKit support. Turns out that’s not really very important since we don’t turn it on before going into the bathroom.

What we really like is that there are presets and DW and I both can simply press a button to turn on the shower and it automatically comes out at our preferred temperature. It also controls the routine of water to the wand.

It’s reliable and easy to use. Below is our setup - you can see the control on the left:

 

[someguy]

Thanks!

We picked the Moen for its Apple HomeKit support. Turns out that’s not really very important since we don’t turn it on before going into the bathroom.

What we really like is that there are presets and DW and I both can simply press a button to turn on the shower and it automatically comes out at our preferred temperature. It also controls the routine of water to the wand.

It’s reliable and easy to use. Below is our setup - you can see the control on the left:

 

[OldShooter]

Modern shower mixing valves compensate for flushing the toilet or turning on other water. I have one in each bath, and the only way to scald or freeze somebody in the shower is the old fashioned way, with a glass of water over the door or curtain
They stay at the temperature you set until you run out of the hot.
As stated above I see very limited benefits.

Our 25YO Delta mechanical valves work just fine to control temperature when the water pressure balance changes. No need for electronics to achieve this.

... Below is our setup - you can see the control on the left:

You have to leave the shower to adjust the control?

 

[mpeirce]

You have to leave the shower to adjust the control?

Not really.

There’s no door on the shower and floor has no “curb”. So the end of the shower is just defined by the transition from one tile style to another. We can stand on the shower tiles and adjust the temp up or down or route water to/from the wand.

 

[Gumby]

I don't even like mixing valves in showers, so we don't have them. We have a hot tap and a cold tap and you can manually adjust them to get the temperature and flow you like. Fewer things to break and easier to fix.

 

[MC Rider]

I have a 1 handle valve that controls the shower.
The last owner put a red marker line on it, so I can see right where to line it up for my temp. Low tech but works fine.

 

[JP.mpls]

I like a specific Moen kitchen faucet.
I've installed several in friends and families homes.

I put one in my townhome, and I didn't notice it had an electric sensor to turn it on/off without touching the faucet.

Ugh. I hate it. Always turns on while wiping down the counter. Battery needs replacement, or it won't work manually even.
I can't bypass or eliminate this feature from what I've read.

Don't do it. Just more to go wrong in my opinion.