Testing Smart Automatic Water Shutoff Valves | Ask This Old House

[@TylerRing]

I have the Flo by Moen. It's a combination of the two. Learns the habits but also has sensors you can place too. Also runs daily checks for small drips and leaks.

[@LanceMcGrew]

3:05 demo of Phyn shuts off in around a minute but in my case it took 7 - 8 minutes when our irrigation system kicked in and Phyn classified as unknown. Ran 60 Gallons before shutting off. Had that been an inside pipe break we would still be mopping up. Maybe we need to activate away mode to have higher sensitivity?

[@bon2198]

I have the Moen Flo. It takes 7-10 days to learn all the houses habits and you literally tell it all the water appliances you have, everything from irrigation to a reverse osmosis system under a sink. It was the best one in my opinion of them all. And doesn’t need Wi-Fi to activate only to alert you. It does need power to work, but I have a home generator but you could easily just install an UPS for it if you’re prone to power outages.

[@jd415]

Insurance companies should offer discounts if homeowners have these.

[@davenz000]

They should also offer discounts to people who aren't crap drivers. Ain't going to happen.

[@JustOneSmallExplorer]

My insurance company gave us a complimentary smart home kit that came with two water sensors and gave us a discount for installing them.

[@store4books]

@@davenz000 Progressive's snap does exactly that.

[@store4books]

Some do, just ask.

[@sgtpepper729]

Not the most amazing discounts, but we can get around $20 off yearly for a passive water alarm and $40 for an automatic shutoff system.

[@HsingSun]

Water leaking sensor has been in the market over a decade. I installed it inside/between two bathrooms walls and it worked after the test.

[@joshuazeledon1323]

My company offers the same type of leak detection and shuts off within seconds. Look up Kinetico Leak detector

[@rodolphestpreux]

They just showed an example where it doesn't take a "second" it takes time but auto shutoff is good nonetheless

[@HeyAstor]

Problem with the second one is that most leaks happens without the full pipe rupturing and instead start off low and slowly increase, sometimes never to full flow but with time (2-3 days) the water damage is just as bad

[@leandrodominic5822]

@Clay Johnathan thank you, I signed up and it seems like they got a lot of movies there =) I appreciate it!!

[@clayjohnathan6734]

@Leandro Dominic glad I could help :)

[@buckyswider1]

Hi JJA, some (well, I know at least one, the Flo device, but probably more) do a daily "Health Check". This is done by closing the valve for a couple minutes and watching the water pressure on the house side of the valve. If the pressure decreases slightly, it's indicative of a small leak somewhere- and it gives you the chance to investigate and remediate. It usually does this overnight. And yes, it does sense and immediate large pressure drop during the health check- so, if during the check you turn on a faucet or flush a toilet, the health check aborts and the valve opens. And, not sure if you can do this, but if you can delete comments on your comments, delete that silly spam fake "conversation" that these two clowns are having to try to promote their streaming service.

[@HeyAstor]

@@buckyswider1 Very interesting. Thanks for the 411. I’m thinking of getting one for my vacation spot. PS. I reported the spam clown to YT because unfortunately I am unable to delete the comment. If you do too they might take care of it faster. Thank you and take care.

[@XzTS-Roostro]

The water main shutoff at my mom's house is located in one of the closets in one of the bedrooms. The reason why it's not located in the garage, is because we originally planned on placing the garage on the same side of the house, until we cleaned floorplans

[@GD15555]

2:06 that’s how he became a plumber

[@dougm1985]

my hot water tank sprung a leak. my son heard the air rushing in , and woke me at 2am. lost about 20 gals on to the floor. sucked . but, could have been worse.

[@ChickenPermissionOG]

how does it know the difference between washing dishes and a water leak.

[@Rushmore222]

It might be useful to have a wireless valve at the main that you could just shut off with a key fob or your phone any time you leave the house or go to bed, similar to locking the front door.

[@ricklithgow8501]

Why on earth would you rely on anything cloud based? Anything like this should be kept 100% local in function. Using something like a Dome unit from DOMEHA or Bulldog is what should be used. First off they're instantaneous. You don't have 30 seconds to a minute worth of water dropping on your floor. Secondly and more important if something happens, you don't have an internet failure to worry about. This includes if the company goes out of business and takes their servers with them you're out of luck. Do not rely on wifi either. Your water sensors should be connecting to the shutoff via zigbee or z-wave. You should also test once a month.

[@RedRyz3n]

Dude, both shutoffs do not need WIFI to function. They only need WiFi to send alerts. The WiFi is simply a nice feature but again isn't needed for the thing to work. Whats more important is making sure you have a backup battery for the thing in case the power goes out cause then you'll be screwed.

[@shoretrade9516]

According to the demo internet is required to operate it

[@RafaelPernia]

​@@shoretrade9516even if wifi required, wifi is local. There's no cloud.

[@predatorishi]

Ok boomer, it’s 2024. Let ur years pass in peace

[@ricklithgow8501]

@@predatorishi Wow, so not only do you necro a 3 year old thread, you believe the cloud is the best way to do something like this.... Now that's hilarious... :)

[@mastershake156]

I turn off my main when I leave the house for more than a day. Sure it's not the best but better than nothing.

[@spikefivefivefive]

I turn my main off too and relieve the pressure from the lowest point in the basement sink by opening the tap. No flow No pressure No problem

[@mastershake156]

@@spikefivefivefive leave a little pressure. It's easier to find a leak.

[@andymccloskey8039]

That's what I do. Better safe than sorry

[@GD15555]

Just get flo by Moen smart valve

[@JM-yx1lm]

This is the best option right here. You can wire this to a switch inside the house www.ebay.com/itm/U-S-Solid-3-4-110V-Brass-Electric-Solenoid-Valve-AC-Normally-Closed-Air-Water/281924728613?epid=1101510301&_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item41a405f725:g:wWoAAOSwqABbKgnk

[@charlesalexanderable]

Second one sees an anomoly: you are trying to put a fire out with your garden hose. Shuts the water off?

[@carloshgrant]

Yeah I don't see how it would work. I have a hose in front yard and I water my plants with it. I put my finger in the water coming out to control the spray level. This thing for sure would not know that that was and probably would shut off the water to the whole house...

[@rafaelarias9759]

Hello? Fire extinguisher...

[@johndelgado4821]

@@rafaelarias9759 fire extinguisher, really? Maybe in the early stages of a fire starting or if you have one handy in the kitchen, but if a fire gets out of control you're looking for a consistent source of water.

[@danwat1234]

Intelligent flow sensor, may shut off water when you refill the hot tub, start watering the lawn start of the season

[@bgregg55]

And that demonstration is under ideal conditions. When u really need it, will it work or not?

[@Yoursoul101]

What if you have a lawn that needs watering while away?

[@MrJramirex]

Then you need your sprinklers be plumbed before the device.

[@Reignz]

Amazing video, thanks TOH.

[@Elon_Trump]

This should be code in all modern building.

[@mattbartolovich8228]

Like in a lot of older homes

[@curtisbme]

an automatic shutoff but not these, these are both terrible compared to a number of other products that use sensors and can shut off the water almost instantly.

[@bbrad628]

My biggest concern is when I go on vacation/away from home for significant time. Before I leave, I manually turn off incoming water with ball-valve. I don’t trust reliability of electronics. If wifi goes down or there’s an extended power outage, one of these devices won’t do any good.

[@oldtwinsna8347]

That works until one realizes they need water on for landscaping.

[@RedRyz3n]

You can have both. Have a manual cut off before the electronical one. They also have a battery back up in case of a power outage.

[@cloudvlog809]

How many sensor do we need to install Because leak every where has water pipe This not make sense

[@ebuckholt]

What about slow drips?

[@xxdmdeschamps72]

Would’ve been nice to see how they work behind the counter there

[@mrbigcat9]

What will happen if you lose AC power?

[@anuradharanasinghe1901]

I think a combination of that is the best

[@djb6496]

"It Thtill flowin' Durr" Give it a few seconds bro, lol

[@TheJimbob1603]

My water is shut off whenever the house alarm-system is armed in 'away mode'. Works for me!

[@mlevass1]

Can you enlighten me on how this works?

[@NJBeachbum12]

Unless you have an irrigation system.

[@vog51]

What if I'm filling a small pool outside? What if I want to take a bath? That seamed like such a short time to shut off after just basically a wide open faucet.

[@sheldonpopesp]

its only short because he set it to 'away' mode.

[@Bocaj77]

So what where the names of the manufacturers of the two they tested? I'm interested in the 2nd one

[@orcrist484]

That second one is called the Phyn Plus - now in a second generation. It can also detect frozen pipes.

[@jeffpearsall32]

Just turn your water main, or pump off when gone...

[@jeffpearsall32]

@Semper Fi , depends how inconvenient... AT LEAST, on my washing machine, I turn off the valves when it's not being used. One lever, pulled down, turns off the water to the hot and cold valves and keeps the pressure off the hoses.

[@001looker]

That would turn off my irrigation system.

[@jacobr1912]

Ok but what happens when you turn on your garden hose?

[@plasmac9]

You get annoyed.

[@Pengy39]

These devices can detect how fast water flow rate changes. When turning on a garden hose you generally ramp up flow vs a burst pipe that goes to max flow instantly

[@jacobr1912]

Pengy good point. I can see it working like that

[@TylerRing]

@@jacobr1912 You can also put it in sleep mode if you know you're going to have abnormally high usage.

[@iamthepeterman54]

This old house pulls through again. Water line busted on my fridge today.......

[@samuelt2072]

As a former water dept worker the cheapest insurance against a water leak is to have your water shut off at the curb... especially if you're going to be gone for any length of time. Even if it costs a hundred bucks that's considerably cheaper than any water damage.

[@ryanoneglia4817]

Doesn't work well in the cold weather if you have radiant heat that might need makeup water

[@orcrist484]

A hundred bucks to turn off your water at the meter? Here where I live you just lift the lid and crank the valve. I do it all the time.

[@samuelt5131]

@@orcrist484 where I live, the actual cost is twenty dollars "per turn." Or: twenty dollars off/twenty dollars on. As I said, cheap insurance (although you'd be surprised how many people, with the money, don't pay it).

[@oldtwinsna8347]

Good luck with that if you have plants requiring irrigation.

[@kendog52361]

I think a "best of both worlds" set up would be, the whole-home shut-off, obviously, but also making the individual appliance shut-off "smart" as well, and enabling tying them into the water sensors/shut-off. That is, basically in most every water appliance, you have the local shut-off, on the water line, and taking that and making it smart and able to "talk" with the home water sensor system.

[@terry7893]

You sort of just described the Flow by Moen, but it shuts your water off if there's a leak anywhere in your house. No sensors needed.

[@h-townfishing1382]

could you just turn off your main water supply when leaving for a trip? would that do any harm?

[@practicallandlording2787]

If you have a boiler it MUST have a water feed. You could burn your house down and surprise no insurance check.

[@oldtwinsna8347]

Good luck doing that if you have landscaping that requires water.

[@ptech88]

It will be fine. Dont listen to anyone that says the boiler needs constant pressure. That is not true.

[@alexkaufer2113]

What happens when the electricity or internet is out?

[@Elon_Trump]

a lot of modern houses have a solar backup and emergency generators. Yeah if you don't you are out of luck

[@Watercop]

That's a great question. A WaterCop sensor based system automatically closes the main when there is a loss of power. WaterCop automatic shut-off valves close in 2.5 seconds.

[@ramaporiver803]

So what if I have guests after 3 years of no guests and we take 3 showers at once.... boom nO water

[@easybreath9196]

Maybe, it’s seems probable if you have 3 bathrooms and the showers taken overlap. But if there a pause of water flow between the showers I imagine the system would not shut off the water flow

[@TylerRing]

Set it to sleep mode if you know you'll have higher than normal usage

[@001looker]

Big leak=insurance claim=nice payout for remodel.

[@watuzi]

Man, they're like $700, that's freaking expensive

[@dokmanian]

they are very expensive but its a piece of mind and still less then my deductible

[@VincentVazzo]

$600 on sale right now: amzn.to/2XbL3Pa. ($550 on costco.com if you have a membership). Still much cheaper than having water damage.

[@TravisNewton1]

$700 < thousands of dollars of water damage, mold prevention, and mold cleanup. Short term loss, long term gain.

[@TheCarGuy4Life]

Would be cool if home insurance companies would either offer these at a huge discount or give us a discount on our premiums if we buy one. It would save them a lot of money if I pipe did burst.

[@DanBurgaud]

Plot Twist: by 4:05, Richard signals the product rep to turn off the water line...

[@joebagodonutssummertime8267]

Did not happen, unless it has been edited since.

[@edgarh.5727]

Nice

[@harveypost7799]

I thought Roger retired, sum resodding . I fertilized with Scott's ( Rogaine ) and bang it's starts raining.

[@jeesjees2]

Wow, Uponor Phyn mentioned! Make Finland Great again and torilla tavataan! :D

[@jeesjees2]

well not mentioned, but shown anyway :D

[@alanmoore2197]

To me battery operated is a bit of a problem for continual monitoring... hardwired or mains powered while more difficult to install is just far more reliable. The second version here is quite worthless IMO. The only benefit is ease of installation - in terms of protection it sucks (best case) and its obvious it will be a giant PITA shutting of your water when you don't want it to. I have a predominantly hardwired WaterCop Pro system with a few mains powered RF sensors for locations impossible to wire to (e.g. sink Island). I have 18 water sensors - basically every place water is dispensed in the house & garage. It was a major investment ($$/planning/time) - but having had it for >8 years its has shut the water off quickly due to leaks about once a year - mostly these have been washer overflow, sink overflow & Fridge/RO leaks. This is a totally stand alone system (no internet, hub, cloud or WiFi dependence) but it is adapted to my alarm system for remote alerts and water on/off control. Obviously I installed this after a major and very costly leak - usually you need a major motivation to spend this much (>$1K) - but its already saved lots of money.

[@JC-zc2xx]

It’s a old duplicate show

[@markhall3323]

Tommy is hiding behind that screen turning the water supply on and off

[@davidmeyer4384]

Come on ,how cynical can one be?

[@markhall3323]

@@davidmeyer4384 i know, right

[@barcode01000]

The hacker Community doesn’t need this... This is a terrible idea.. I think these are really easy to control / hack into because it’s on your internet as well the Company that could/ track you from the sensors. It’s on your internet... Just think about that.

[@barcode01000]

Mircea Go to this site, this is in real time, and real websites and real people being hacked. It’s not a joke.. www.exploit-db.com/

[@barcode01000]

I don't aspect you to understand, it's fine. Good Day

[@Ryan-dj5ku]

Even if you have one, you will still get minor water damage that has to be fixed. That plus the price of the valve makes it as much or more than a deductible. How do we know these will always shut off when required? Do they have some sort of coverage or warranty if they don't work as intended? Even if they say they cover damage, I'm sure the manufacturer will only cover damage if installed by a plumber and within a certain time period. Plus what is the likelihood that the manufacturer will cover the damage? Usually negligible. Until these are much, much cheaper, I doubt they will catch on. The price plus the uncertainty of them always working made me not buy one. That is unfortunate, since I was extremely interested, but for the price of my deductible I will take my chances. Remember it's not extremely likely to have this happen. Everybody knows somebody that it had happened to, but it's a fairly low percentage.

[@store4books]

It's highly likely that you'll have a leak when you're asleep or away or at work I know several people that this is happened to and they weren't on vacation. The minor damage that a couple gallons will cause is nothing compared to gallons and gallons running all over the house. Both homes I know had to completely redo other rooms because of all the water damage. The few gallons that leak out until shut off will dry and not cause any mold problems. It's a pretty simple drywall and floor repair, & may not even need it because it'll dry on its own.

[@NJBeachbum12]

Do you even know the costs to recover from a major leak?? They may the valve cost look like a very minor expense. Not to mention all of the hassle of dealing with insurance and contractors, as well as dirty tear out and replacement. Damaged furniture will set you back thousands. Think of all the things that touch the floor that will get damaged and wick up water. You’re penny wise and pound foolish.

[@MYCHANNELWITHMYSTUFF]

SOooooo, all of the reviews for these devices are horrible. Most say the device does not do what it claims and if you have an issue the customer support is as bad as it can possibly be. I just want a simple DUMB remote water main shutoff switch. I don't need fancy smart technology. If I had a simple remote shutoff switch by my back door I could just flip it off when I leave the house and flip it back on when I get home.

[@TylerRing]

I've had one with no issues for 3 years

[@NJBeachbum12]

@@TylerRingwhich model did you go with?

[@PaulHenreid]

Too cool for school - artificial intelligence learns water flow - wow - it is like a robotic butler!

[@samriddhatuladhar3913]

SKYNET : scald them people.