Hopefully getting the “kit” next week (hope, hope hope). One of the first or second projects that I want to tackle will be some sort of valve to help with “BUI”, Barbecuing Under the Influence. I don’t know how many times I’ve gone out to the preheat the BBQ to find that I left it on during the previous use and now the is tank empty. Or even worse, since I have hooked the BBQ directly to the natural gas utility I find that it has been running all night ($$$). I know, the root cause is not the gas but the vodka distillery and I should fix it at the source. Hehe. But, there has been a few times I have left it on without consuming an adult beverage. Anyway…
I’d like to find a natural gas / propane valve with flow meter and hook it my SmartThings world. Does anyone know of any gas valves that can be operated via “Z”? Some smart things I’d like it to do:
Shut off after a set amount of open time
Shut off at a set clock time
Adjust valve to high, medium or low
Set desired action (do nothing or off) at loss of power
Measure flow and calculate usage or remaining source
The same logic/equipment could be used to control fire bowls and outdoor fireplaces. Let me know if anyone has any ideas and or pointers.
YES! I’m ordering and installing this on the main water line coming into the house so I never have to climb into the crawlspace again to turn off the water supply.
I am in for 10 units? anyone want to do a group buy? (I hope this isn’t against the forum rules, if so. Sorry. Erase it)
tgauchat
(ActionTiles.com co-founder Terry @ActionTiles; GitHub: @cosmicpuppy)
6
How common are the use cases?
I certainly don’t shut off the water or gas at home frequently… and my valves are pretty accessible (even the one behind the range, I probably could get to in ~5 minutes…).
Though we are thinking of putting in an outside gas fire pit / bowl … Still, dunno.
Water is easy, just go to Home Depot (or amazon if you’re as lazy as I am) and order irrigation valves for lawn watering. 12vdc. Gas is another issue - But google is your friend"Intrinsically safe servo valve / explosion proof servo valve"
Not a valve, and also Quirky so it functionality could be questionable but this could be valuable in this set up. Home Depot is selling them so at least it could be easily returned.
I was planning on using the shut off valve for house water line.
However, this seems like a cool product. Looks like you can’t have it delivered and only pick up at the store.
Seems like it uses WiFi since you can access it from your phone anywhere but doesn’t require a Wink hub. However, how do they do that and not burn through batteries?
Here’s how to justify the price: Last summer, I came home from vacation to find that the small line to our ice maker had sprung a leak. The water meter reading revealed it’d only leaked around 45 gallons, so it couldn’t have leaked for long. But it cost us months, two contractors, thousands of dollars in deductable/lost time, and immense frustration. Not to mention our insurance company fired us, because we’d had a frozen pipe burst in the past.
One more thing: ST and this valve would have recently stopped another flood from a cracked sink supply line…but I’d procrastinated on getting it installed by the plumber authorized to work on the main valves (who is he, the super plumber?). The next week I got it installed. So, long story short: $400 plus installation is NOT expensive. Knowing what I know now, I’d do it twice. And let me be clear: I do not make a lot of money, so $500 is a LOT of money for me. I haven’t, for instance, strewn my home with switches and Hue lights and Sonos speakers and the other things that I want.
I know from my own experience this won’t convince you. But do it. You won’t miss the money after its gone, and you’ll sleep better.
I ordered one after all. But as you say, you didn’t have to convince me. I ordered it two days ago and should get it by Tuesday at the latest.
I checked into getting parts and building my own but in the end felt that Fortrezz addressed all the issues.
Then today, I thought of another case where this valve would make sense. I have an outside spigot which has frozen and burst in the past. It isn’t an issue if I remember to shut off the line before it freezes. Then I thought of using a FortrezZ valve programmed by SmartThings to shut off when outside temperature is below freezing.
So I go to Amazon and low and behold, the price jumped from $375 to $495. This is what happened after I bought the Aeon Labs DSB54 Aeotec Z-Wave Recessed Door Sensor for $19.00 and the next day they were going for over $100.00.
