Auto-water shutoff

[Brent.ff]

Well, after waking up to an inch of water in my kitchen, and flooding through to the basement (what a great way to start the week, pipe blew up under the sink), it made me think..is there a 'smart' system, that will detect irregular water use and shut the system down. For example, a gallon per minute (or whatever) at 2 am, is probably unlikely to be a normal use, so would flag it, or shut down the system

Something like this:
http://www.treehugger.com/gadgets/water-hero-wireless-leak-detection-system.html

Anyone have one of those or similar?

[speedog]

Curious, what material was the pipe that burst made out of - plastic or metal?

[ercchry]

That's brilliant... we had a hot water tank pop in a vacant property... didn't catch it for a day or two... thankfully it wasn't a finished basement, but it's amazing how much water can flow through 1/2" copper, we had a $1000 water bill that month

[Waldi]

Plumbing Company I dealt in the past provide such system for about $850.00 installed. It detects leaks, shuts off water and send text. Make good sense for water pipe breaks etc.

[Brent.ff]

Originally posted by speedog
Curious, what material was the pipe that burst made out of - plastic or metal?

fucking culligan water system from the previous owners... When i have a plumber come in to remove the stupid thing i'll ask about a detector thing

[dr_jared88]

What I did at my place is a little different then what you are asking for. What I have is a Z-wave flood sensor right near my floor drain in the basement that is right near most of my plumbing, water heater, water softener and washing machine. I also have a z-wave shutoff on the ball valve on the water line coming into my house.

I then have a rule set up on my automation hub to shut off the water to my house if the flood sensor is tripped.

It doesn't protect me if my leak is in a bathroom or a kitchen but it protects me from more common problems such as a water heater leak. You could also put flood senors in the bathrooms if you wanted to protect yourself a little more.

[The_Penguin]

I don't have an auto-shutoff, but I have a leak sensor on the floor by my water heaters/softener.
And 2 more in seldom used bathrooms near the toilet feed line.
If any of them alert my automation controller, it sends an email and text so I can deal with it, or have someone closer check it asap.

[spike98]

The moisture sensor is the most common and cost effective way to fix your problem. All you need is some sort of home automation brain (smarthings ect) and how ever many sensors you want. You can get immediate notification of any water where it should be.

If you want to get real fancy you can have these sensors trigger a shut off valve for the water main inlet. But typically the notification is enough. Mine is hooked into our Vivint system and notifies me through the app.

[Brent.ff]

I dont have my phone in the bedroom (bad for sleep) so a text wouldn't have caught it..

[spike98]

Originally posted by Brent.ff
I dont have my phone in the bedroom (bad for sleep) so a text wouldn't have caught it.. With smart things or other HA brains you can do pretty much anything.

Moister Triggered - Close Valve - Sound Alarm - Activate Alarm Light - Email wife/kid/dog/hair dresser ect.

You'd look at $200-$300 if you want simple or double or triple that if you want a more serious setup.

[Kloubek]

It actually got cold enough already to burst? Doesn't take much, apparently....

[Darell_n]

There are braided stainless hoses available for sink connections that have a valve that snaps shut if the volume exceeds normal. I used them after my hot water line blew off on my kitchen sink. (was standing next to it, caused by having a house with an inlet pressure regulator and no expansion tank)

[Brent.ff]

Just a bit of a bump. House is 90% fixed up, so looking at least getting a water alarm for the basement and near my sinks/toilets.

Probably going to get the wifi one for near our basement drain, as i figure any water ends up there eventually, with audible alarms around the sinks. Any thoughts, recommendations for products?

[Waldi]

Originally posted by Waldi
Plumbing Company I dealt in the past provide such system for about $850.00 installed. It detects leaks, shuts off water and send text. Make good sense for water pipe breaks etc.

This is good option, I am still thinking about. I did install moisture sensors in every bathroom (also in utility room as well) after small incident. So far worked very well, as it has pretty lout sound and even just a drop of water (moist hand) will trigger it. It is a dummy system and having auto shut off system is much more practical. Was quoted pretty much the same amount for such system as you described above. I think, I will check with insurance company if this will provide extra discount in insurance rates.

[Waldi]

Originally posted by Brent.ff
Just a bit of a bump. House is 90% fixed up, so looking at least getting a water alarm for the basement and near my sinks/toilets.

Probably going to get the wifi one for near our basement drain, as i figure any water ends up there eventually, with audible alarms around the sinks. Any thoughts, recommendations for products?

I already mentioned in another post, the cheapest solution is simple sensor as you will hear it and you be able to respond. No point of fancy WIFI sensor if you are away from home and you get text, as you will be screw anyway (10 min of water flow ... is a lot of damage). So either go low tech or invest money into smart detection, shut off valve system. My low tech sensor were about $13.00 on amazon
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0058ELACA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Brent.ff]

Originally posted by Waldi


This is good option, I am still thinking about. I did install moisture sensors in every bathroom (also in utility room as well) after small incident. So far worked very well, as it has pretty lout sound and even just a drop of water (moist hand) will trigger it. It is a dummy system and having auto shut off system is much more practical. Was quoted pretty much the same amount for such system as you described above. I think, I will check with insurance company if this will provide extra discount in insurance rates.

Who's the plumber on this?

[revelations]

I can see the WIFI remote shut off units one day helping with home insurance costs.

Ill have a dumb audible moisture alarm in the basement and a wifi unit for shutoff.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Several companies make smart detectors that sound an alarm and send an alert when they detect water. It's a good idea to have one of these under the sink, in the hot water take/furnace room, etc.

These ones seemed to get the best reviews when I was looking into them and was the Wirecutter's pick:

https://www.amazon.ca/D-LINK-Wi-Fi-Water-Sensor-DCH-S160/dp/B00PVDUYPM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480617546&sr=8-1&keywords=dlink+dch+s160

You can also get what you describe but they are a lot more expensive.