How We Built a SMART Sauna

A smart Finnish sauna? Yes, that's possible too.

When people hear smart home, most imagine intelligent lighting, heating, blinds or a security system. Very few imagine that a Finnish sauna can work the same way. That was exactly the challenge we set out to solve.

Does a smart sauna even exist?

If you have ever looked into sauna automation, you have probably run into the same problem we did. Manufacturers offer their own mobile apps for control, but native support for platforms like Apple HomeKit, Google Home or Amazon Alexa practically does not exist. For us, that was not an obstacle — it was an opportunity. Our goal was for the sauna not to be just another device with its own app, but a fully-fledged part of the whole smart home.

We bet on the quality of Harvia

The foundation of the whole build is the Finnish brand Harvia, one of the world leaders in saunas and sauna technology. The key element of the integration was the Harvia Xenio Combi CX110C WiFi control unit, which connects to the home Wi-Fi network. The manufacturer of course offers its own app for controlling the sauna. It works reliably, but our philosophy is simple — we want to control the whole home from one place. In our case, that place is the Apple Home app (HomeKit).

The whole solution runs on HomeBridge

The brain of the integration is a Raspberry Pi running HomeBridge. HomeBridge makes it possible to connect devices that do not officially support HomeKit to the Apple smart home. Its great advantage is a huge community of developers creating plugins for many manufacturers. In our case we used the HomeBridge Harvia plugin by developer @jos3phburns. All it took was signing in with the same Harvia account as in the official app, and the sauna was ready to be added to HomeKit.

The sauna as a full member of HomeKit

After connecting successfully, we added the following to the Home app:

• heating
• lighting
• steam mode
• ventilation fan

A smart sauna on a whole different level

But the project definitely did not end there. We wanted to create a space that is not just intelligent, but reacts to the user completely automatically. So we added smart audio as well. Music playback is handled by a Belkin SoundForm Connect with AirPlay support. We play music straight from Apple Music or any Apple device.

A smart shower? Of course.

The wellness zone also includes a smart shower. We automated the valve with an Aqara Valve Controller T1 and placed a Fibaro Button next to the shower. Simple, reliable and practical automations:

• a single press starts the water
• a double press stops it

Automations that make the difference

When the sauna is switched on, the lights glow blue. As the temperature rises, the colour gradually shifts to orange, signalling the sauna is ready. It is exactly these details that make a smart home exceptional. The most interesting automations:

• ambient music starts automatically at 90 °C
• music stops when the temperature drops below 85 °C
• heating runs only when the door is closed
• outdoor light colour indicates when the sauna is ready

A smart home is not just about lights

This project shows that a smart home does not have to end with lighting or heating. Even devices without official Apple HomeKit support can be safely integrated into one ecosystem with the right design. The result is a solution that works naturally, reliably and comfortably. That is how our smart Finnish combi sauna built on Harvia technology came to life. And honestly? We feel this is just the beginning. With a well-designed smart home, there are practically no limits to imagination.