I had a nasty water leak in my kitchen about two years ago. My cute little point-of-use kitchen water heater sprung a leak, and it did some major water damage to the room directly below. You can find that story here: My kitchen disaster.
To help ensure this would never happen again, I installed a pan for my next water heater below the sink, along with a water sensor. If the water sensor gets wet, it sends a signal to a control valve at my water main, which then shuts off all of the water to my house. This system is made by Guardian.
Today, I’m delighted to say it just paid for itself. I came home about a week ago to find no water flow at any of my plumbing fixtures and an annoying beeping coming from under the kitchen sink. Sure enough, I had a second water heater leak after just a little over two years. But this time, the water leaked into a disaster pan, got my water sensor wet, and my Guardian system turned off all the water to my house.
Disaster averted!
This system was extremely easy to install, and the cost of the system was far less than my insurance deductible. If you don’t already have a system like this in your own home, please look into it. You can find these on Amazon.
Tony Lovasco
October 3, 2023, 1:05 pm
I’m curious: why not have the shutoff only cut the water flow to the kitchen (or just the point of use heater / fixture) rather than the entire house? Or do you have multiple sensors throughout the house that all report to the single central shut-off valve?
Reuben Saltzman
October 3, 2023, 2:42 pm
Hi Tony,
I have multiple sensors reporting to a single central shut-off valve.
Mark
October 4, 2023, 8:29 am
The main shutoff will have to be a ball valve. Many older homes still have gate valves.
Reuben Saltzman
October 4, 2023, 4:40 pm
Yes, that’s correct.
David
October 4, 2023, 1:42 pm
That’s looks like a great solution for city water users. Do you have any advice for well water? Seems like it might be advisable to cut power instead of or in addition to the water cut-off. Any thoughts?
Thanks.
Reuben Saltzman
October 4, 2023, 4:42 pm
Hi David,
This system would still work with a well system. Cutting out the power to a well pump would work, eventually, but you’d still have a fair amount of pressure in the tank, which means you’d still have a lot of water flooding out before the water flow was cut off.