Questions re: Wyze water/leak detectors

Due to a recent minor washing machine water leak issue I’m interested in the leak sensors.

  1. What have been your experiences with the Wyze leak sensors? Good? Bad? Recommend another brand?

  2. Is the required hub available separately to use the sensors without a subscription?

Any input would be appreciated!

@tjs1959 - I bought 3 of the leak sensors due to a furnace drip tray issue. I put 1 in that area… 1 under the main water intake by my water softener… and 1 under my kitchen sink.

I have automations setup to blink lights and sound sirens, in addition to the alerts the actual sensors give you. I tested them thoroughly to understand what triggered or didn’t trigger them. And basically… ANY water triggers them if the contacts touch water.

Couple that with Wyze Automations (my favorite thing of the Wyze Ecosystem) to ensure proper notification when water is detected and that makes them a 5 out of 5 for me.

To be fair, I haven’t had a “real-world” test where they had to detect a true leak. Others may have horror stories but failures in the device can also be attributed to user error. I definitely put them in a “little” water and a “lot” of water several times and I never saw them not work so I trust them. I obviously wanted to see what it took to trigger them so I tried to trick them and see if they were finicky. I didn’t find that in my testing.

I want to buy 3 more to put under the remainder of my sinks just because $30 for sensors is cheaper than rotted wood under a sink.

2 Likes

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. You are using the sensors with the hub, correct?

Yes

And the HMS subscription? If yes, what does the service provide and is it worth it to you? I’d rather not have to subscribe to a service if I can avoid it.

No subscription required to use the leak detectors. I’m unsure if you can buy the hub without subscribing though. Not sure if you were asking that.

I haven’t seen any way to get the hub without buying the ‘starter bundle’ for $99 and includes a year’s subscription to the HMS.

What if there is a leak and no one is home to take care of it? Wyze needs a water shutoff valve to mitigate further damage.

I had that exact thing happen several years ago. A plastic line on the water softener cracked and dumped about a quart of water on the basement floor before the shutoff valve closed. Without the valve, the water would have continued leaking.

@tjs1959 - I believe that to be the case. I did the starter bundle but never actually used the Home Security part of it. I just wanted the newer sensors and hub. Which is worth it because you can re-pair old sensors to it and the new sensors work very reliably. You do NOT need a subscription to continue to use the sensors once that 1st year ends.

@TomG - I think at this point; it’s the consensus that Wyze needs to concentrate on cameras. No more home gadgets. From what I can see by quickly browsing, these valves are relatively expensive. I’m not sure I would be ready to trust that to Wyze.

This is what I use. Less than $25.00 shipped to my door.

If you don’t like AE, Amazon has the same thing for a few dollars more

Of course you will need leak sensors and the Hubitat hub, Once you get the hub, a whole ecosystem opens up.

One more question; other than your automation to trigger a siren (a Wyze camera siren?), is there any audible alert generated from the sensors or hub?

I will test later and let you know. I don’t think the sensors have a chime but they might. I can’t remember if the hub makes a noise.

Blinking lights help too with this.

I will post an update unless someone beats me to it.

1 Like

Leak sensors have no speaker and make no sound.

Hub generates an audible alert when leak is detected and also sends app notification to phone. The hub’s alert tone may not be loud enough for multi-floor homes. My hub is centrally located on the middle of 3 floors. I can’t hear the hub’s leak alert on upper and lower levels. I’m running Honeywell sirens plugged into Wyze Plugs triggered by the Hub to compensate. It’s saved my butt twice now.

If user has Wyze Home Monitoring subscription and Leak Sensor is assigned to Noonlight active monitoring, Noonlight will also text/call user’s registered phone number. Some insurance companies provide an insurance discount for this feature.

3 Likes

@Earl.Automation you can disregard checking for audible alerts as @Seapup answered that question. I appreciate all of your detailed responses! I’ve tried finding answers to most of those questions on the Wyze website, but have generally found it somewhat lacking.

2 Likes