Smart Home Devices I Use to Protect Against Leaks and Electrical Fires
According to the Insurance Information Institute, the two most common causes of insurance claims are fire and water damage. While it’s difficult (if not impossible) to predict or protect against natural disasters, there are smart new tools that can help protect against man-made disasters such as water leaks and electrical fires. I use two of these devices, and while they actively protect me from some common threats, they also help me rethink how I use the resources in my home. As these devices become more popular, they become easier to install and also become less expensive.
I will never forget waking up to the sound of dripping water, which turned out to be the water heater. I was lucky – I heard it early and knew how to turn off the water – but this is rare. Most people have heaters located in their basements. Pipes that break in the winter due to freezing, corrosion, or poor workmanship can cause serious water damage if left unchecked, but until you see water on the floor, you won’t know it’s happening. There are smart sensors on the floor that can alert you when they sense water, but all they do is sound an alarm.
How smart water valves work
The smart water valve monitors your water consumption, learns your water drinking habits, and then constantly detects anything that is out of range. When it detects a water leak, it will first alert you and then turn off the water to stop the leak. This is perhaps the most active smart home technology I’ve ever used.
Nine months ago I had Moen Flo installed. While some may attempt to do it themselves, it usually requires professional installation by your plumber, who will install the unit on the water line. The device requires access to electricity and Wi-Fi and immediately starts working. Over the course of a week, Flo studied my water drinking habits: washing dishes, showering, washing clothes. From there, he estimated my weekly water consumption. Flo offers a $5 per month subscription that gets you $5,000 of coverage and more advanced help diagnosing problems, but it’s optional and I’ve found the device works great without it.
Flo started doing nightly leak checks to make sure I didn’t have any major plumbing issues. (I had a very small leak, which Flo thought was normal). Throughout the day, the device looked for behavior outside of my normal activities. In the app that accompanies Flo, I could see every water event in my home and categorize it since Flo was still learning. He understood my washing machine and shower, but when washing dishes by hand, he sometimes thought I was filling the pool. After a few weeks, he accepted my corrections, and in the spring I began drip irrigation of my garden. This event was so outside of my normal routine of running water for about 20 minutes that Flo jumped into action. I first received text alerts and notifications, and when I didn’t respond (it was 5am), the phone calls started. This woke me up and I was able to tell Flo that everything was okay. If I hadn’t done this, he would have turned off the water. In fact, at any time you can simply turn off the water from the application.
Monitoring devices influence behavior
I get a weekly estimate of my water consumption, and while I haven’t actively tried to use less water, this report has started to gamify the process for me. I was able to see how much less water I use in the winter when I don’t water the garden. I was able to see how much small events like running a hose impacted my overall usage and it changed my behavior.
For a while, the Flo was the only device of its kind, but Aqara just released the T1 water valve controller , which has many of the same features as the Moen Flo for a significantly lower price, but still promises DIY installation. Since the Flo cost $400 to install on top of the cost of the Flo itself, that’s a huge savings. The T1 does this by attaching to the shutoff valve itself instead of cutting into the water supply. This device is fairly new and I haven’t tested it, but the Aqara promises almost the same benefits from a monitoring standpoint as the Moen, albeit without the same fancy interface. Aqara has another advantage over Moen: you can add T1 to automation, which means you can tell your smart home system to open or close a valve only under certain conditions, perhaps while you’re away from home.
What I love about these devices is that they don’t just alert me to a problem – they actually do something about it. Although I have had to retrain my Moen from time to time to understand new developments, overall I feel safer having it at home.
How Electrical Monitoring Works
A month ago I installed Ting , a monitoring device I’ve written about before that monitors your electrical system for potential fires. Installation is certainly easier than installing a water valve: you simply plug the Ting into an open outlet and connect it to Wi-Fi. Over the course of a week, Ting monitors your consumption and then creates an idea of what your electricity looks like.
Ting looks for signals generated by electrical arcs that lead to electrical fires. It’s unlikely that you, as a human, would recognize these signals, but Ting uses technology to look for these minor indicators.
Because arcs can be caused by a variety of problems, including damaged wiring, loose connections, faulty panels, poor maintenance and overloaded circuits, they can occur anywhere. Moreover, they can develop over time, not just after maintenance or new installation.
Luckily, even in my incredibly old home, I haven’t had any problems yet, but if I had, Ting would notify me and their fire safety team would help me figure out what to do next.
Subscriptions offer additional coverage while amortizing the cost.
Unlike Flo, which offers a subscription that you don’t need to use to operate the device, Ting requires a $49 annual subscription (the first year of subscription is included in the purchase price). Like Flo’s subscription, Ting offers some form of cash coverage. In this case, a $1,000 credit will be provided toward the repair of the electrical problem identified by Ting and a lifetime replacement of the unit.
Ting also monitors your home for power quality issues, which I expected to be alerted to since my home is old, but didn’t. When I go into the app I get a nice interface without any real data and in that sense it is very different from my Flo. However, I know it works and have to trust that it will catch problems if they arise. I take comfort in the fact that the insurance industry also trusts Ting. Companies like State Farm give away Ting to their subscribers and also offer a discount when they install the device.
When I was 20, my parents had a house fire and I still remember that phone call. Although everyone was able to get out, the house was gone, and the event affected every aspect of my parents’ lives for the next few years, even though they had excellent insurance. If there is anything, absolutely anything, that I can do to protect my home, I would do it. These devices are a small way to do that.