Bathroom tech - how the average bathroom has become 'smart'

bathroom tech black bathroom with plants

(Image credit: Future PLC / Lizzie Orme)

published 29 October 2023

When we talk about bathroom tech, you may wonder why your bathroom needs any tech at all. We’ve been hearing so much lately about making our bathrooms more of a sanctuary, a welcome place to escape at the end of a busy day. And tech hardly feels like it belongs in a bathroom.

But in reality, tech can work quietly in the background making your bathroom a more relaxed space. Here, we explore the new innovations in bathroom tech and smart home, and how introducing them to your washspace can transform your daily bathing experience.

Relaxed lighting

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Having the right lighting in your home is proven to have a positive effect on both your wellbeing and mood. In a bathroom, lighting is all the more important - you need to be able to switch quickly from bright task lighting to soft mood lighting, depending on what you’re doing.

Smart lighting is the perfect solution to this dilemma, with Philips Hue offering a number of suitably IP-rated bathroom lights that can be adjusted as and when you need them, allowing you to programme settings to either energise you in the morning or relax in the evenings, as well as brightening or dimming on cue.

Voice-controlled gadgetry

Dark painted bathroom with bathtub and patterned flooring

If ever there was a type of tech that could improve your bathing experience, it’s the ability to control a variety of devices without lifting a finger (or dashing out of the shower and soaking the floor).

Smart lighting can obviously be controlled via an app on your phone, but you can also link it up to be controlled by your voice, too. The same goes for a variety of bluetooth speakers with IP ratings that allow you to bring them into the shower.

Special mention goes to the ingenious Aqualisa Q Smart range from Aqualisa which features smart connected showers that work with Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant. You can ask for them to turn on at specific temperatures, which is convenient for most, but also a great safety function for the very young or elderly.

Multi-tasking mirrors

Your humble bathroom mirror can even be given a futuristic update. My Smart Mirror is part-mirror, part screen, allowing you to stream your favourite TV shows as you relax in the bath, or catch the headlines or weather forecast as you bathe first thing in the morning.

It features a demister (so you can always see clearly) and it’s voice controlled, too (via Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant) with the added option of connecting it to any other smart devices you may have in your bathroom.

Invisible water-savers

Tech also plays a part behind the scenes, with water and energy-saving functionality integrated into the design of a whole host of taps and showers. They aerate the water that flows through them, which reduces the flow by up to 50% without compromising on the water pressure.

According to the Energy Saving Trust, switching to an aerating showerhead and tap could save you up to £70 and £30 a year on your energy bills respectively.

Ginevra Benedetti has been the Deputy Editor of Ideal Home magazine since 2021. With a career in magazines spanning nearly twenty years, she has worked for the majority of the UK’s interiors magazines, both as staff and as a freelancer. She first joined the Ideal Home team in 2011, initially as the Deputy Decorating Editor and has never left! She currently oversees the publication of the brand’s magazine each month, from planning through to publication, editing, writing or commissioning the majority of the content.