Experiance with Floodstopper - whole house water leak detection

There have been some questions about these devices - I just installed one. We have been worried about water damage in the house we just moved into. I considered both the "floodstopper"

"watercop" I settled on the "foodstopper" since it had both wired and wireless controls (didn't want or need to depend on wireless in all locations - it seemed stupid to put a wireless sensor 15 feet from the valve). The watercop also doesn't allow any number of sensors per transmitter. But, the floodstopper is more expensive (both seem overpriced) and seemed a bit more professional. The entire system was over $600! I ordered from without a problem and the unit operates as advertised, very simple to operate. I used 10 sensors from the controller and 2 wireless transmitters for those hard to reach places. I had a plumber install the valve ($85) and did the rest myself. It did take longer than I expected to install, runtime wires nicely, mount everything, etc. Since the sensors are cheap and can be daisy chained I put them all-over, sinks, toilets, and of course the laundry and hot water. One note - you have to mount the valve horizontally, this worked for me (by remotely mounting the control box) but it could be an issue for some. Issues I have with the system; It doesn't have an audible alarm, I didn't read the model description carefully and missed this. So, you could have a leak, it could shut off your water and you would not even know all night. Since there is latent pressure in the lines water still runs for a while after the shutoff. Also, there is no way to bypass it, E.G. you are going to mop the floor or want the water on even if there is a puddle someplace. I emailed them about this and they just said it is as it is. This is a VERY simple device - one transistor and some relays. It should have every bell and whistle for$600+! So - I do have working leak detection, my wife has one less thing to worry about - it was a lot of work and there are some issues. I frankly don't know if I would do it again, I may use the watercop (it does have an alarm and, of course, has no wires), or, I may just have something make noise if there were a leak.

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Posted 5 years ago by Jax in General Home Automation

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