Is anybody familiar with either of these, or perhaps another product?
Not that I’d want Sense to devote resources away from their current work, but I would imagine that the experience and knowledge that Sense has developed over the years could help in the development of a water usage monitor…
There is also one called Buoy which also has a shutoff valve. I was trying to find actual reviews on how well these works, but there does not seem much out there.
Rachio has a new model coming out with water monitoring… At least for the lawn watering.
@senseinaz - and isn’t that a shame in AZ, where water is perhaps the most precious resource? You know summer is coming when the watering systems start flooding the streets again.
Hive (makers of smart home products) is working on a water meter sensor that is currently in Beta testing. Can’t share too many details, but it has the things you expect like large flow of water at unexpected times (my wife’s 40 minute showers!) and a slow trickle of water to troubleshoot a leaky faucet. No word on when it will be ready for production.
@NJHaley,
Thanks for the pointer on the new Rachio with wireless flow meter. I have a Rachio and love it, but have been unable to add a hardwired sensor for a number of reasons:
1000 feet of wire to reach the sprinkler main pipe less than 100 feet away from my Rachio - wire has to traverse the entire back perimeter of my yard.
wary sprinkler installers - most installers in my area have never installed a flow meter and they couldn’t offer any thoughts on making the right selection or calibrating.
Just hope the flow meter really has a 300’ range or (100 feet through a building).
I own a Gen 2 Rachio controller. Rachio has said their new flow meter for the G3 is in the 900MHz range. That’s similar to Z-Wave depending on what frequencies. It also may cause trouble for Australian owners with Telstra if it overlaps their ranges. Zigbee would have been 2.4Ghz.
Not necessarily. While 2.4 - 2.4835 GHz is assigned to zigbee worldwide, in North America and Australia, zigbee can also use 902-928 MHz (915 is used most commonly).
For example, ecobee room sensors communicate with the thermostat using an encrypted zigbee link layer at ~915 MHz.
Oh good, another person I can put this idea in front of. I really would like to see ecobees able to talk to each other in a mesh. I hope you’ll forgive me for getting a bit off track for a moment, @aaiyar.
A New England home here with 5 zones of forced hot water heat and two independent air conditioning zones (upstairs and downstairs) retrofitted later in the home’s life. I keep hoping some day the ecobees which only control heating zones will be able to be used as remote sensors (over Zigbee so loss of Wi-Fi isn’t an issue) to the ecobees in charge of the larger cooling zones. The app would ask you if you have any devices located in overlapping zones and setup device partnerships.
Picture this…
ecobee 1 - within and controls heating zone 1, and is within & controls cooling zone 1 (1st floor)
ecobee 2 - within and controls heating zone 2, and is within cooling zone 1
ecobee 3 - within and controls heating zone 3, and is within & controls cooling zone 2 (2nd floor)
ecobee 4 - within and controls heating zone 4, and is within cooling zone 2
ecobee 5 - within and controls heating zone 5, and is within cooling zone 2
Then with device partnerships…
E2 to talk to E1 and if E1 is in cooling mode then E2 report back temp like a remote sensor would.
E4/E5 to talk to E3, and if E3 is in cooling mode then E4/E5 report back temp like a remote sensor would.
It would cut down on how many remote sensors E1 and E3 need attached (there may still be a few, just less) during cooling season. There would already be other ecobee devices capable of measuring and reporting temperature scattered throughout the home back to the ecobee turning the cooling system on/off.
I also would like to see the ability to designate each remote sensor attached to an ecobee as used for “heating only”, “cooling only”, or “both” when the ecobee the remote sensor is registered to (E1 and E3 above) control both heating and cooling zones, but the remote sensor may be in a room that has a different ecobee controlling the heat for that room. It removes the need to remember to turn remote sensors on/off depending on if you’re in the heating or cooling season.
Sorry - I didn’t state that clearly. The person who told me that ecobee sensors use an encrypted zigbee link layer is an ecobee engineer. I’m not an engineer of any sort. I was the sort of kid that ran away from math and physics in college - to my current disappointment.
Oh good, another person I can put this idea in front of. I really would like to see ecobees able to talk to each other in a mesh. 
I hope you’ll forgive me for getting a bit off track for a moment, 
- to my current disappointment.