Why I got a smart water leak detector — and you should, too
Why I got a smart water leak detector — and you should, too
DIY Smart Habitation
This story is part of an ongoing DIY smart home series. Exist sure to cheque out the latest installments to follow the renovation process from start to stop.
I of the more traumatic memories from my childhood is when my family and I returned from vacation, weary from a red eye flight, to a cleaved water pipe and flooded basement. Long after the shop vac pumped the murky liquid out and the garbage truck picked up our ruined belongings from the curb, the olfactory property of mildew lingered.
It wasn't until my parents sold the home and we moved that I stopped catching whiffs of that miserable odour. Merely our new digs had its own issues with moisture — a below-ground level with such humidity yous'd think we'd moved to the Gulf instead of 90 miles east of New York City.
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1 of the best dehumidifiers provided an immediate fix for the finished basement, which is where in that location are multiple bedrooms, a bathroom, a gym and pocket-size den. Merely in order to savor these rooms with breathable air, the dehumidifier needs to be monitored and controlled to accommodate the irresolute air of our home near the beach throughout the seasons.
When I mapped out how to create the ultimate DIY smart home, I asked myself how the day-to-day maintenance and existence in the space could exist streamlined and simplified. We had too many divide light fixtures spread also far autonomously, for example. That's why we took the time to install smart switches instead of smart lights, and outfitted a one-cease smart control panel past our front door.
And so rather than run down to the basement every fourth dimension we wanted to know whether to adjust the dehumidifier, or hold our breath until nosotros hear someone ecstatically shout "no flood!" from the depths of that staircase when nosotros render from a week away, we decided to fix one of the all-time h2o leak detectors.
If you lot've been following forth with my smart home serial the last six months, y'all might've read near my fancy, Alexa-controlled faucet from Moen'due south line of smart plumbing products. The company besides makes water management devices under a brand called Flo by Moen.
There are two routes we could've taken with Flo by Moen: First, a $499 smart water shutoff device that can terminate water if it detects a major leak, besides equally monitor your overall water usage. Or, a serial of $49 smart h2o detectors that tin't control my abode's pipes only can warn me of a possible leak and read the indoor humidity levels.
But which made more sense? The power to turn off our h2o remotely sounded great to my dad, who manually shuts the water every time he knows the house will be empty for a few days. However, information technology would breach the DIY nature of our smart dwelling house, as it would require a plumber to install it on our home'south water line. We could set the faucet ourselves, but messing with the main water line falls exterior the comfort zone of our handyman skills. And, since I'grand trying to salve thousands, the toll of the shutoff device plus the installation help won't come cheap.
Committed to sticking to DIY, nosotros opted for the Flo by Moen Smart Water Detectors. These little leak detection pucks tin be placed anywhere in the dwelling house, but are designed for locations where detected water could exist problematic, like a laundry room or hush-hush basement.
We placed two of these $49 devices on opposite sides of our basement. They can be mounted on the wall or left on the flooring, but you just want them close enough to the ground then the remote sensing disc tin option upward the early signs of a flood.
Each Smart H2o Detector recognizes leaks and volition emit an 85-decibel warning when it senses water contact. In the Flo by Moen app, I set up notifications for when water, backlog moisture, high humidity or abnormal temperatures are detected. The pucks are also compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant, so I can enquire if the readings are normal at any given fourth dimension.
While water leak detectors aren't the most attractive or flashy smart home devices, they've instilled a peace of mind nosotros haven't had about water disasters since the flood in our quondam domicile all these years ago. They've besides made monitoring the basement's humidity non a hassle, just as information technology should exist.
Be sure to check out my guides to the best smart home devices (and best cheap smart habitation devices ) for more than gadget recommendations. Email me at kate.kozuch@futurenet.com or exit a comment below with anything y'all'd similar to encounter me cover in the continued space — I might merely address it in a future installment.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/news/why-i-got-a-smart-water-leak-detector-and-you-should-too
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