Apple Home Automation: Control Bathroom Fan Based on Humidity

A bathroom fan is quickly integrated into Apple Home via an in-wall module. With the appropriate humidity sensor, it can be automatically controlled. This ensures the fan is not unnecessarily operational and yet turns on automatically when humidity exceeds a predefined threshold.

Turn On Fan

• Events
  Humidity rises above 60%
• Conditions
  –
• Actions
  Turn On Fan

Firstly, we want to turn on the fan when the humidity exceeds 60%. To do this, we create a new automation in Controller for HomeKit using the plus sign in the top-right corner.

Events

• Events
  Humidity rises above 60%
• Conditions
  –
• Actions
  Turn On Fan

As the trigger, we select “Accessory”, then choose the accessory with the humidity sensor, and finally, select the current relative humidity.

In the next step, we activate the option “Value is greater or equal to” under “Start Automation” and set the value to “61%”. After saving the trigger, we name the automation “Bathroom Turn On Fan”.

Conditions

• Events
  Humidity rises above 60%
• Conditions
  –
• Actions
  Turn On Fan

There are no conditions in this automation.

Actions

• Events
  Humidity rises above 60%
• Conditions
  –
• Actions
  Turn On Fan

If the humidity rises above 60%, the fan should be turned on. Accordingly, we tap on “Then run this scene”. If you already have a scene that turns on the fan, you can simply use it here. Alternatively, we create a new scene using the plus sign in the top-right corner and name it “Turn on Fan – Bathroom.”

We then add the “Power State” switched on as an action.

The scene can now be saved and selected from the list. Afterwards, the only remaining step is to activate and save the automation.

Turn Off Fan

• Events
  Humidity drops below 60%
• Conditions
  –
• Actions
  Turn Off Fan

With the first automation, the fan is already automatically turned on when the humidity exceeds 60%. To ensure that the fan is also automatically turned off, we need to create a second automation.

Events

• Events
  Humidity drops below 60%
• Conditions
  –
• Actions
  Turn Off Fan

As the trigger, we again select “Accessory,” choose the accessory with the humidity sensor, and then select the current relative humidity.

Next, we choose “Value is less than or equal to” under “Start Automation” and set the value to 59%. After saving the trigger, we name the automation “Bathroom Turn Off Fan”.

Conditions

• Events
  Humidity drops below 60%
• Conditions
  –
• Actions
  Turn Off Fan

No conditions are required for this automation.

Actions

• Events
  Humidity drops below 60%
• Conditions
  –
• Actions
  Turn Off Fan

Under “Then execute this scene,” we create a new scene via the plus icon in the top right corner and name it “Turn Off Fan – Bathroom”.

As the action, we set the “Power State” to off.

Now, all that’s left is to save the scene, select it from the list, and then activate and save the automation.

Tip: If you have integrated the bathroom fan into Apple Home, you can also place a switch next to the toilet to quickly turn on the fan. We explained how to control an accessory with a switch in this automation.