Water Valve

I installed the expensive FortrezZ water valve a while ago and realized I didn’t put in a rule to turn off the water when water sensors are triggered. I couldn’t find it built into the dashboard interface and recall others with this issue.

Has anyone done this yet who wants to share what they have?

http://www.amazon.com/FortrezZ-WV01LFUS075-Wireless-Z-Wave-Water/dp/B006KU10ZI

But then I started thinking of one of those unforeseen consequences…

I have an electric water heater. If you leave the hot water tank empty, you can burn out the heating coils (I’ve done it before). Thus you also need to have SmartThings shut off the water heater.

But more importantly what if the water sensor is tripped by water attempting to put out a fire. In this case you do NOT want to shut off the water.

I chose the FortrezZ model because it handled other issues such as power outage, safety (you could cut off a finger with a valve mechanism) and convenience. What seems like a simple home automation solution turns out to be much more complicated.

Has anyone thought of a comprehensive smart water valve app? What other issues do we have to consider?

I was planning on this to be one of my next purchases. But you raise some good points.

Regarding the water heater. I’ve personally drained mine several times - it takes forever. So unless you are using this in a vacation property I probably wouldn’t worry about that because you should be able to respond to a leak before it drains. Also, it would have to be a leak in the hot water heater itself or in the hot water line that would cause the tank to empty. A leak in any cold line would still leave your tank full. You could also just not include any moisture sensors relating to the water heater in the valve app. Just get a notification for those and not shut off the water.

Did you install the valve yourself or have it professionally done?

Seems to me that if you were using this on a Water Heater you’d also want to figure some way to turn it off completely after you shut off the water. I honestly I haven’t even looked that closely at my water heater to know if there is a simple way to shut it down remotely. It’s gas powered, but I don’t know if simply cutting power to it would work.

I had it added professionally during kitchen remodeling, but seemed pretty easy.

I have one of these I plan on installing for the water heater:

http://www.amazon.com/Intermatic-CA3750-Multi-Volt-120-277VAC-Contactor/dp/B000YUCES2

It will be nice when home automation matures to the point where it guides us through all these potential issues.

A pertinent post about a smart water heater from another thread: