The Smartisant flood and leak sensor has been designed as a low-cost, wired sensor for extremely reliable detection of leaks and floods in new builds and for retro-fit into existing buildings.
This sensor is curently in stock and costs £22.00 including VAT at 20%.
This wired sensor requires no batteries and this means it truly is a "fit and forget" sensor requiring no maintenance or regular battery changes by the home owner. Combined with an Mean Time Before Failure (MTBF) in excess of 25 years, this makes it extremely reliable in operation and ideally suited to telecare, assisted living, manufacturing processes, general safety and insurance industry applications. It is also suited to installation environments where wireless coverage is unreliable or unavailable.
Being maintenance free means the sensor can be installed in inaccessible places such as under floors, in lofts, under shower trays, under water tanks, under appliances, etc. The sensor is very compact at just 48mm in diameter and 17mm tall and can therefore fit into most installation environments.
The sensor has a simple 3 wire interface with open-collector output, to enable it to be easily interfaced to a wide selection of devices. This includes simple visual and audible indicators, legacy alarm panels and both wired and wireless interface modules to a smart home. It requires a 5V to 12V dc power supply and power consumption is less than 5mA. The simple interface ensures it will not become obsolete as smart home technology continues to advance. The standard sensor is supplied with 1m long leads.
The sensor uses an alternating current (ac) sensing method to avoid galvanic corrosion of the two probes and the probes are also made of stainless-steel. The sensor is resin encapsulated to make it fully waterproof and achieve an IP67 rating. The sensor is extremely sensitive and will detect near pure water. Response time to moisture detection is extremely rapid at less than 0.1 seconds. The output will remain low whilst moisture is detected.
The sensor has a unique design with two probes and the connection wire forming the 3rd leg. This ensures the two sensing probes are always in contact with the ground and can reliably detect moisture.
This sensor does not have to be connected to a smart home. It can be used to simply drive a warning buzzer or light, connected to existing alarm panels or used to directly control sump pumps.
The sensor can be used to detect leaks in hot water tanks and pipework. It can also be installed under loft header tanks.
It is possible to buy electronic water shut off valves that can be remotely controlled by an app or other user interfaces. Ideally, the shut off valve would be automatically activated on detection of a leak or flood but this will only work well if there are enough flood/leak sensors installed and they are also installed in ALL the right locations.
