So a small success story, i ordered a DOME water shutoff valve from the smartest house recently. well its on its way in the mai, but i already deployed leak sensors with notifications to my cell. Well my water heater blew up and started spewing water everywhere. i got downstairs in seconds to turn off the water. Saved so much money from potential water damage. I now need to install the shut off valve. just have to figure out how to fit it on my piping.
just wanted to share this technology can rock and can be worth it.
I'm about to do the same.. I put a shut-off valve on my water heater's intake when I changed it out recently because I knew I wanted to put a z-wave valve controller on it.. Since the hot water lines seem to be the most problematic, I thought it would be nice to be able to shut it off independently of the whole house water.
OHMAGOSH! The previous owner did something right! I already have one of those on my water heater! Didn't even put it together until I saw your photo. In the past we've found outlets full of expandafoam (highly flammable) and outlets wired with lamp cords. Again.. just not good. So, to find that he actually did one thing right is reassuring. I just might get myself one of those domes now.
With all the money I've spent on home automation over the past few years, some the best peace of mind for me are the items I have installed in the event of a major water leak incident! I saw the aftermath of what happened to a neighbor's house last year after a toilet water line broke and they weren't at home for 8 hours.
Having an automatic shutoff valve installed in tandem with a bunch of water leak sensors scattered around the house (toilets, sinks, fridge, laundry room, etc.) is one of the best implementations of home automation.
For those who are thinking of purchasing one of these shutoff valves, I know the Dome units are popular, but I researched all the available options and ended up purchasing the EcoNet Bulldog Valve Robot. It seems like it's a little more heavy duty. It's very well constructed, easy to install, Z-Wave Plus, and works great.
I recently had a toilet where the bowl fill tube came off the valve, so when you flushed the toilet, water sprayed out over the lid. Of course that happened after you left the bathroom. A water sensor alerted me and the water cop shut off the water before the water seeped through the floor into the ceiling below. I have sensors in every bathroom, under my dishwasher, refrigerator, kitchen sink. I just added one to the garage where the water heater and water softener are located. Best money spent for the sensors and water cop.
Our water shut-off is at the street. When living in AZ and while out of town, a broken 2nd floor toilet valve dumped 25000 gallons into our rental house before neighbors noticed water flowing out front door and garage.
Friend of mine had a pipe spring a leak in a hot water heating loop in the basement, pretty far from the leak sensor he had recently installed near his water heater (courtesy of his insurance company-- I think it was a USAA promotion). Interesting that the sensor alerted him via app on his phone to 'High Humidity Level'; I believe it was a Honeywell sensor but not sure. Fortunate since the leak detector never triggered.
Not sure how well that would work in general; I know humidity sensors can be very sensitive and react quickly. But it seems there would be a lot of nuisance alerts. Opening the dishwasher after a cycle is enough to get a rapid response on a T/H readout I have on the kitchen wall, which is across the room.
I just had my first leak detected event. It was under the washing machine - an unbalanced large load got a very small amount of soapy water to drip out through the air vent. The amount of water leaked was about 8" in diameter, and the leak detector was right in the right place to catch it.
Overall it wouldn't have caused any damage (tile floor) but makes me feel good that I've got 10 of them running with Hubitat Safety Monitor!
I have a question I can't seem to find an answer for. How are people handling adding an automatic shutoff valve to PVC piping? The lines coming in at my place are all PVC. I know I have to change my shutoff valve as it's currently a gate valve.
I am turning off the valve by hand whenever we leave the house but would really like to automate that and tie it to the leak sensors I already have installed.
Here's my setup on the main water line. Saved me last week. Wife complaining there was no water, looked at my dashboard, leak under kitchen sink averted by the sensor and water valve. I put in the isolation and bypass valves to facilitate valve replacement if need be.
I've used sharkbites when I raplaced the washer valves and a leak we had last year. They are great. Did you swap out the section of PVC that has the valve with copper?
Don’t forget an audible reminder there is a leak. I turn my phone to do not disturb at night. Several years ago a line at the water softener broke and allowed about 2 gallons of water to gain their freedom before the Dome valve closed. This happened around 11:00 pm. I didn’t notice anything amiss until I went to use the water in the morning By then the 2 gallons had gone under a door into a finished room and sat there for 6 hours.
I added an Aeotec siren to the mesh. Had a chance to check it last month when a faucet under the kitchen sink leaked. Mess was cleaned up quickly.
When living in AZ and while out of town, a broken 2nd floor toilet valve dumped 25000 gallons into our rental house before neighbors noticed water flowing out front door and garage.
