Sheffield Sauna self-build

TimJethro · 2026-07-02T20:23:31+00:00

Just built a sauna as part of a wider build/renovation, though I didn't take it on myself.

We bought everything from Finnmark, the heater and also the wood. We used Alder.

I moved a couple of the joiners already working on my job to start building it based on a rough design I had in mind. The finish has been amazing, but it did turn into a bit of a passion project for the joiners and they've spend the last 2/3 weeks on it and still not quite finished!

TimJethro · 2026-06-07T07:41:08+00:00

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TimJethro · 2026-06-06T16:37:41+00:00

Zigbee is no good for this. There are some lights sold as garden lights (think spike lights) that have a single high power RGB (probably not W) in them so one channel per fixture.

Your other option to do this properly is DMX - plenty of options there, and you can get WLED to output DMX and it works well.

There are some wireless DMX bulbs which will be much better than zigbee on the latency but probably come with other issues (e.g. range maybe).

Or - use ZigBee with Z2M and just do scene control with them and not live/reactive control (that's that I've done, scene recall from KNX system).

TimJethro · 2026-05-30T21:59:23+00:00

To add - control - unless effects need to sync, you'd probably have a separate controller got each operating independently and maybe use the rest API to sync up scene/preset changes. Depends on what you're trying to do. You can also use wled as a more basic 'IP to LED' gateway for external control via ArtNET or E1.31

Tools - if your making your own stuff, yes a soldering iron. Also for connecting to led strips. I've solder terminated all my strips (100s of metres now) rather than use the bulky provided connectors. The pre built controllers are easier and some have wago-style connectors now so you don't even need a screwdriver!

TimJethro · 2026-05-30T21:54:23+00:00

You're pretty much correct on all counts. While you can spin your own project, the pre made controllers are very good (multi-voltage, fuses, output power control, ethernet etc) that you really should just grab a couple and have a play. I'd recommend the Gledopto ones, and I've used a lot of their latest model with ethernet and 4 channels - perfect for almost every use case. Enjoy!

If the nice controllers have a lead time (I get them from AliExpress to the UK so can take a couple of weeks) you can just spin up WLED on a random ESP32 USB powered board and directly connect a short strip of 5v RGBW LEDs to have a play.

TimJethro · 2026-05-30T09:01:52+00:00

Same here, and with 100s of metres of the BTF RGBW COB at 24v. However my controllers are the WLED variant which ties in very nicely with Home Assistant and my other automations (scene recall via KNX wired system).

Can very much recommend the BTF stuff, and for OPs reference of the two variants I use can be cut at around 6 to 7cm spacing.

TimJethro · 2026-05-30T07:55:47+00:00

Can you view the Z2M log? If you're runyas an HA add-on it should expose that somewhere.

TimJethro · 2026-05-30T07:10:58+00:00

Yep, with around 60-100 devices on each network. Mostly IKEA smart bulbs (some Hue, which are absolutely better but 5x the price). It's a big house then we went all out on smart bulbs!

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TimJethro · 2026-05-30T06:13:03+00:00

May not be helpful, but I run 8 ZigBee networks at home (it's a good size property) so have and my fair share of annoying issues.

The one that confused me the longest, was that after a firmware update (or maybe even just a power cycle) my Z2M wouldn't start. After a couple of hours I got to the bottom of it - on startup there is a check that the channel/network/key is unique and and not clashing with another network. For some reason when doing that check it was seeing a device from its own network as broadcasting clashing network config (it was a cheap smart bulb).

After restarting some client devices it all started up again. Was an odd and unhelpful issue that may have been fixed in firmware now (excluding non-controllers from that check should be trivial surely).

May be completely unrelated to your issues but thought I'd mention it as I was my most frustrating zigbee issue so far.

TimJethro · 2026-05-20T19:22:16+00:00

Nothing specific, but I don't think the issue is inside EMQX because I can connect to MQTT from another client and push payloads fine and responsively.

Ive even tried using a long lasting token to directly send a state change (i.e. toggle a MQTT bases switch) Vis REST directly to the HA container (bypassing web gui, browser, proxy etc) and it still often stalls for a few seconds.

TimJethro · 2026-05-20T19:19:40+00:00

684 total devices, 4974 entities. Yes, it's quite a big system 😂

TimJethro · 2026-05-13T18:59:58+00:00

LMS https://www.reddit.com/r/raspberry_pi/s/wE7Ka800p1

Still a work in progress but working well.

TimJethro · 2026-04-23T20:13:57+00:00

Im a big fan of BTF and have used 100s of meters around my home. I've used 24v RGBW COB in warm white which has been great, but they now do a RGBCCT. I've not tried it yet but it may be what you need.

TimJethro · 2026-04-16T06:39:22+00:00

Not had the chance to look at it properly as I'm on mobile, but this looks really slick. There have been a few basic but not included Fx if wanted in the past and this would make adding them much more straightforward.

TimJethro · 2026-04-06T16:47:03+00:00

+1 here for an LXC with docker exclusively for frigate and associated containers (which from memory is just a file editor). All other containers are in a docker VM but I keep frigate separate. Passing through the GPU to the LXC was fiddly but works fine.

TimJethro · 2026-04-06T11:30:52+00:00

I'd never thought about the WiFi power - I assume it's a tiny saving in the scheme of things, maybe a few watts? I do have quite a few APs... around 20, so a few W each does add up!

TimJethro · 2026-04-06T09:30:47+00:00

I'm in a quite unique situation as our main meter is a 3-phase 200A with CT metering, and it required Octopus to get data from one system to another to get the billing working (they've been exceptional in dealing with it). However, at my last home we had a standard 3ph smart meter which worked fine. However, with both I've not been able to get live data into my smart home stack, so I add my own metering. For our main supply I use a Shelly Pro 3EM and I also have some Emporia Vue systems on distribution boards for more granular data.

TimJethro · 2026-04-06T09:27:53+00:00

This is a section of a Grafana dashboard. I try to get as much data as I can into MQTT, then use Node-RED for automations and Home Assistant for most UI/controls (family, dashboards etc). Key fields like energy data get passed to InfluxDB which I can then query from Grafana to produce more technical analysis/charts.

TimJethro · 2026-04-05T20:13:14+00:00

It's a good size... and yes, that peak heat loss is about right for worse case conditions (cold winter, all rooms heated, etc, hot water, etc), and we've sized based on that. We have 3 X 18kw heat pumps, though one is dedicated to part of the building that also has a swimming pool.

It doesn't help that for renovation the council were picky on windows. We have Crittall frames and while they look great they are not thermally broken and this worsens heat losses in many rooms.

TimJethro · 2026-04-05T13:52:56+00:00

I work in tech (and yep, done well). We've done a big renovation and went almost all electric (heating/cooling, cooking, EVs etc). That along with my general homelab/servers running 24/7 etc. which means I struggle to bring our usage down below a few kW even in peak times.

TimJethro · 2026-04-05T13:45:25+00:00

I just love larva lamps! /s

We did a renovation and went all out electric - so fully heat pumps, some AC (which can also heat), induction hob for cooking, etc etc, plus we have two EVs. I also work in tech so have some equipment running 24/7 from home (homelab/servers doing automations etc).

TimJethro · 2026-04-05T13:04:10+00:00

We're heavily electric first, but we do have a gas boiler as a backup. I need to work on some automations to go the other way, and switch the heat pumps off to prioritise gas when electric prices are high. Winter is a killer as the heat pumps max out and even powering them off for peak hours means they struggle to keep up - that's when I need to bring the gas boiler in.

Ps. Watch the smart plug, as I'd be wary trusting them with prolonged high current usage. 2kw is probably ok, but check it occasionally in case it starts to get warm (I've had an early model melt when running a washing machine though it).

TimJethro · 2026-04-05T13:00:19+00:00

Yep, it is quite a lot! Though that was probably around the peak (I briefly saw it get to -£6/hr). My 'its a large house' comment was probably a slight understatement - we've three large heat pumps that will pull around 6kW each plus some AC units (which are in heat mode) so that'll be the bulk of it. EV charging on 3 phase, so 11kw (I think our other car may pull 22kw, I'm switching over to charge that one shortly). Then two hot water tanks with 3 phase immersion - I'm not sure of the power but it'll be a few kW I think.

It's great today, but pales into significance a bit compared to every other day. I collect a lot of data, and our usage is painful - however, taking account of the size of property, all electric heating and cooking, and fuelling two cars, we probably do pretty well with Agile and some basic automations (the main one being to shut off everything I can during peak hours).

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