Moen flo - Sense for water?

I don’t know. Support was very good, replying in the evening or weekends, so I just dealt with them. See https://help.flumetech.com/ You could write to them, or they have a chat feature on that page that was very useful for my initial research.

Some water districts are actually subsidizing most of the cost of the Flume, search for “rebate” on their FAQs, this is one example:

https://help.flumetech.com/frequently-asked-questions/jcsd-rebate-program-faq

Has anyone added a meter in and used this? For the folks on a well.

If adding I’d be curious of the best meter for my GPM range would be (smallest leak to 20-25GPM.)

I think adding a meter plus a Flume would be expensive. So if you don’t have a meter already, I’d suggest going with one of the other ones, StreamLabs if you don’t want a shutoff valve integrated, and Phyn or Flo if you do.

Flume looks like a great product but it’s only been around for a few months and there are a lot of competitors with similar devices. It’s hard to invest in any of these when the design is not proprietary in any way and there is no clear leader. What happens if they go out of business?

Eh, I don’t really consider the Flume an investment, more like a tool. It’s a one time cost of $200, and it’s already saved me more than that in just two months. It’s easy enough to install (and uninstall) myself, so no additional cost there. There’s no ongoing subscription fee. Now that I’m basically done with the initial investigations, it’s really just there for alerting about potential future problems. If they go out of business, then the only problem that will cause for me is that I’ll have to find an alternative to get those alerts again. I’m not overly concerned about the historical data. It’s not running any ML algorithms to tell me what’s using water, but it’s really easy for me to figure most things out that are using water appropriately.

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I’m interested in Flume as well. Unfortunately, my water meter is located curbside in a somewhat moist underground enclosure about 100 feet from the nearest possible bridge location. Any idea of whether the RF link would work under those conditions ?

That sounds exactly like my setup. The RF link from the meter to the gateway is really good, and the outdoor sensor looks and feels very resilient to being outside. I wouldn’t be surprised if it could be completely submerged indefinitely and continue to work just fine.

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In my case the underground enclosure was ~60 ft from the bridge. We tested the signal with the Flume engineer on the phone, and he said that the signal was fine until I put the metal cover on the meter pit. And that if I had a plastic or concrete cover, it would have worked fine. So unless you have a metal cover, I’d give it a try. It is a 15 min installation including connecting to Wifi etc., and you can return it if it doesn’t work.

You can also contact support ahead of ordering and ask about your specific situation, they were really good in responding.

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Thanks. My cover is concrete. I think I’ll give it a try.

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@kevin1 - let us know how it goes. My setup sounds very similar to yours. Thanks!

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@invoice: how much did they charge you to install the Phyn? I’ve been given an estimate of $425, which seems like a lot (to install on a crawl space).

Also, are you getting an insurance discount? I asked Amica while getting a quote, and their discount is $11 per year on the homeowners insurance, so not a lot.

I installed my Flume meter today. It only took a few minutes, and I’m all set! It will certainly give me some more peace of mind. Thanks for the recommendations.

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I currently have a Flo (on potable branch only) and and the Rachio 3 with Meter (on irrigation branch). The Flo which I’ve owned for a couple years now has saved ma a couple times already when my home automation pool filler didn’t turn off (my fault). The analytics are nice, not as great as Sense though, so I’m considering a Flume, Phyn, or Streamlabs as a secondary whole meter solution to analytics.

Any other recommendations?

Thanks

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Just curious but how is a home automation pool filler different than a regular pool filler? I’m also a pool owner and wasn’t sure if I’m missing out on some cool tech.

@afreedman. You might check out Buoy. I just got a free one from my home insurance company - scheduled for installation in 13 days. It’s supposed to be using M/L and reporting like Sense does as it learns your water features - and identify leaks.

That $18 recurring charge for Buoy is hard to justify. Are you getting $18 a month value from it?

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@senseinaz. Not paying a fee. Pilot program from USAA insurance paying from whole program. The “Required” contracted plumber hasn’t installed unit yet - but insurance paying for that too. After installation I’ll let everyone know how it’s working out.

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I’m also a USAA customer, is this something that any customer can sign up for? If you have any additional details I’d really appreciate it.

Found it and I’m signed up. For anyone interested in a free Buoy (and service) you can sign up at USAAlabs.com. This only works for USAA members with homeowners policies in CA, AZ, or GA.

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I’d love a product like this. Flume isn’t compatible with my brand water meter sadly. I had a stream labs sensor but felt the data I could get out plus inability to see really small leaks just did not work well.

The 2-300 buck price range fits, but everyone has suggested other items that would require plumbing work =/