I think this is the lowest price I've seen in this. I have had this for about 6 months. My first unit was defective and they replaced it after troubleshooting a bit. Since the replacement it has worked well. It will detect if I have a dripping faucet, I would estimate it detects anything more than one drip per second. Less than that and it may not detect the leak. I plan to add a dome shutoff valve so I can turn off the water main if I'm not home. I looked at the moen all in one solution but the cost of a plumber for install would add significantly to the overall cost.
I purchased this on Prime Day as well and have not had as much luck. I get false positives quite often and after working with their support team it seems as though they are related to pressure fluctuations on my line that appear as usage.
"I'm really sorry but it appears these small usage amounts are coming from pressure fluctuations.
When the triangle on your meter fluctuates back and forth, it implies that there are pressure fluctuations in the system. And when this happens, water flows back and forth across your water meter. We can filter some of that out. However, when the fluctuations get big enough, we have a hard time distinguishing between real water use and these disturbances. "
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I bought one of these on prime day. It works well. Setup was a little tricky if your router dynamically handles 2.4/5 GHz connections without exposing which one you're on. Otherwise no issues. It will definitely detect a dripping toilet. You can set up various usage alerts like short duration high flow that might indicate a catastrophic leak or a long duration low flow that might indicate a drip.
I haven't paired this with a automatic shut off yet but plan to in the future. I'm a little hesitant with the Dome because my valve is fairly stiff, and the in line systems are significantly more expensive and require plumbing work.
Yah I keep an old wifi near by to setup stuff now. I wish every phone had Nfc and developers used nfc to configure devices.
How far from the house/wifi router are your water meters? If the unit straps to the meter in a hole 50' or so from the house, I'm concerned it will be difficult to get a good wifi signal out to the meter.
Hi Scott, as long as your meter pit lid isn't a thick metal material you will have no problems connecting.
How far from the house/wifi router are your water meters? If the unit straps to the meter in a hole 50' or so from the house, I'm concerned it will be difficult to get a good wifi signal out to the meter.
Hey Scott,
The Flume system has a WiFi bridge that communicates over RF to the water sensor, which straps to the meter. WiFi does not need to reach your water meter. Our system can communicate with underground meters up to 1000' away. It is tricky to send data further than that, but 50' will be no problem.
I am also interested to know this answer if anyone has any input
The Flume system is waterproof at depths up to 3 feet. It will survive indefinitely at this depth, but the signal may be affected until the meter pit drains out.
Thanks!
Flume Support
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from TxJDog
:
I am also interested to know this answer if anyone has any input
So the sensor itself runs on (4) AA batteries? How long will the sensor go between battery changes?
The Flume sensor operates on 4 lithium AA batteries. It is designed to last 18 months before needing batteries replaced. The app will notify you when batteries are low and provide you with a link for a replacement set.
I m interested in this product. My flow value in my toilet did not shut properly that caused $600. Anyone can provide user experience for this?
If you haven't already and if it's not too late, you should try reaching out to your water company to see if they have an accidental usage policy. I had a similar issue, a pinhole leak in a hot water line under the house that I didn't notice for a little over a month, and I had a similar bill. I worked with them and they cut it in half which still hurt, but sucked much less. While it won't matter in your case, it's worth noting that power companies also might have similar policies.
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from WhosUrBuddiee
:
How long was it running that you didnt notice? The average price of water in the United States is about $1.50 for 1,000 gallons. So you would have to have your toilet run and waste 400,000 gallons to get hit with a $600 bill.
I can't speak for the other person, but at least in my area (Cali), rates are not that cheap and they're tiered (so as you use more, you pay more per unit, and that increases dramatically). My water district bills monthly so with my leak, I didn't know a little over a month.
The Flume sensor operates on 4 lithium AA batteries. It is designed to last 18 months before needing batteries replaced. The app will notify you when batteries are low and provide you with a link for a replacement set.
Thanks!
Flume Support
What's the cost of batteries ?
Can we use rechargeable AA batteries ?
Yes it is.... $600 seems very unreasonable for a small leak considering I only pay about $400 per year for water for a household of 4. Unless your leak is 20X larger than my entire water usage.... It seems that would have to be a pretty big freaking water leak to amount to $600 in water useage.
I get a water bill every 3 months that is usually around $95, ie around $30 per month.
For a family of 4, with 3 full baths, and running lawn sprinklers daily all summer and washing 2 cars weekly..... I don't see how anybody would not notice if they had a leak that caused their usage to go up times 20X in a month.
Not buying that a leaky toilet would result in $600 water bill.
It wasn't a leak. the value did not close and the water just keep going down to the bowl. Just like you turn on your faucet and forgot to turn it off and the water nonstop went down to the sink for over two weeks.
Issue with this is that it serves no purpose if your toilet is clogged and overflows. If this had integration with smart things or wink via zigbee or zwave
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"I'm really sorry but it appears these small usage amounts are coming from pressure fluctuations.
When the triangle on your meter fluctuates back and forth, it implies that there are pressure fluctuations in the system. And when this happens, water flows back and forth across your water meter. We can filter some of that out. However, when the fluctuations get big enough, we have a hard time distinguishing between real water use and these disturbances. "
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I haven't paired this with a automatic shut off yet but plan to in the future. I'm a little hesitant with the Dome because my valve is fairly stiff, and the in line systems are significantly more expensive and require plumbing work.
Yah I keep an old wifi near by to setup stuff now. I wish every phone had Nfc and developers used nfc to configure devices.
The Flume system has a WiFi bridge that communicates over RF to the water sensor, which straps to the meter. WiFi does not need to reach your water meter. Our system can communicate with underground meters up to 1000' away. It is tricky to send data further than that, but 50' will be no problem.
Thanks!
Flume Support
Thanks!
Flume Support
Thanks!
Flume Support
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Thanks!
Flume Support
Can we use rechargeable AA batteries ?
EBMUD will provide a rebate for up to 50% of the value of the monitor, to a maximum of $200
I get a water bill every 3 months that is usually around $95, ie around $30 per month.
For a family of 4, with 3 full baths, and running lawn sprinklers daily all summer and washing 2 cars weekly..... I don't see how anybody would not notice if they had a leak that caused their usage to go up times 20X in a month.
Not buying that a leaky toilet would result in $600 water bill.
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