I am on a private well, so i do not have a water meter and cannot use the Flume products .
I am looking for a 1" diameter (or larger) water flow sensor that I can connect to a Fibaro Smart Implant or similar to bring my water flow data into HE for some monitoring and automations.
I have a similar sensor on my Rheem water softener. Its a magnetic/propeller type sensor, but i want to put a sensor at the output of the well pump. Ideally it would be brass, not plastic like the one on my softener.
These work with irrigation systems with a 2 wire output. Curious if you could read the output with an Arduino or something other than an irrigation controller.
After seeing @dsh1705 earlier post (elsewhere) about the sale at Flume I dusted off my long standing interest to find exactly what @jessie.slimer is asking for in the post above.
I had once thought the EveryDrop unit you linked was the solution...it was what I had in mind when I threw my hat into the thread asking @mike.maxwell to find a way to handle pulse counts in HE.
Well, in the interim I read some bad reviews about the EveryDrop units. There was also the bit about leaks but I'm not so sure those weren't user error (ie. inadequate freeze protection). And then there was the requirement of orientation of the meter complicated by the confined space I had to work in. I think that was: 'must be horizontal' and 'must have x" of straight pipe lead in'.
But I really like this style of meter otherwise and it is accurate enough for exactly what the OP stated...
Unfortunately EveryDrop had no interest in configuring electronics on it that would handle the pulse counts and speak Zigbee ....but this could be addressed in other ways as outlined in other threads dealing with pulse counting.
EDIT: ^--whoops,THAT story has changed. Maybe they'd gotten one too many emails on this! I hadn't gone to your link before posting, now I'll go back and read what their unit can do!
Maybe EveryDrop have evolved their product since I last looked. (EDIT: Obviously they HAVE !) Maybe there are competitive units now. I would rather not put in BOTH an expensive traditional meter AND a Flume.
Edit: I'm not seeing this as far enough into our universe even though it's "universal" Not sure what (in our universe) to put downstream of this to interpret what it's capturing.
I've been meaning to test if I can use a magnetic reed switch with my (utility provided) badger meter. If i have time this weekend I'll see if it works and post back here.
I think the main limitation on the everdrop meters is their ability to detect low flow rates. I seem to recall they didn't go that low.
There is also the concern that these are intended for irrigation systems and are not NSF certified. The risk is probably non-existent, but it would technically violate plumbing code.
That's right...low flow (which I didn't mind but someone using these for leak detection would) AND the NSF Cert which EveryDrop says they just don't want to spend the money to go through even though they know they are using components that would pass.
You know you can just put on a water meter and hook up the flume to that? It just reads the magnetic field of the meter sensor, the sensor itself doesn't need to be hooked up.
That's our point. He can get a meter and install it. The only thing that will use it is flume.
He will use it as a flow meter for flume.
I would send the flume team an email and ask them for a recommendation. I know they have a list of meters they support. There got to be something affordable in that list.
I have one of these in a rental property. It is a radar type sensor (ultrasonic?), straps on over an existing water main pipe, works with 3/4" or 1". Wifi monitored with an account/app.
I'm not familiar with the Flume sensor, may be similar although someone stated it had to be attached to a meter.
The only issue with the StreamLabs sensor is someone would have to build code to link to the StreamLabs account and bring it into Hubitat, but given all the other similar type applications out there, I wouldn't think that would be a show-stopper. Also works with Google/Alexa, may be a path through there somewhere, although I haven't used mine with Alexa.
It's difficult to speak to the accuracy, I haven't compared it. I mainly used it to sense if my water was running and I had a leak somewhere. With everything closed, occasionally it would detect and report very small flow rates, but no real issues.
Installing a cheap, simple water meter then adding a Flume may be the only reliable way. I see some stand alone water sensors on Amazon and elsewhere, but i really want to go with something robust and known reliable, since my water inlet (where this will go) is in a difficult to access part of the crawlspace. I would not want to go down there all the time to fiddle with it/resets, etc, and do not want it to leak in a way it's not detectable.
Damn...just when I thought I had seen pretty much everything on eBay. Love that old meters are hopefully getting re-used, and not going into a landfill.
That looks like a solid option, since Flume would work w/it and the meter is warranteed. Just need a little pipe work...Flume already has @tomw's integration so that part is taken care of w/this type of option.
NoGo on this option. With the register removed I could "see" the magnet closing the reed switch, but no way to make it work with the register installed.
I think I would also consider something like this...
It would be up to you how you would handle the pulse output, but it would keep everything local.
Not sure what (in our universe) to put downstream of this to interpret what it's capturing.
