H2Wise+ Smart home water monitor and automatic shutoff valve

I purchased this unit to monitor my water usage and also detect leaks. It's still in the learning process. But it's doing great automatically picking up what it thinks is using water. It's not hard to install with the right tools. I contacted 3 licensed plumbers. None of them wanted to touch it, since they had never heard of it. So I thought I would contact a handyman. Still no luck. But I wanted this unit. My next option was to install it myself. I'm pretty handy around the house. But I'm no expert. I went by my local home improvement store for the parts. The instructions stated I needed a 3/4" meter coupling. So I got that. I have pvc pipes. So I also purchased a female adapter. I also wanted to put a shutoff valve before the unit. So I installed that first. I reused parts of the pipes I cut off for this. It was not hard to install at all. Just make sure you have 2 sets of pliers and plumber's tape. This is handy when installing the adapter to the coupling. Install the app, and watch it learn. The only thing I would change in the app is the ability to name the different unit. All sinks are "sink". All toilets are "toilet". So I wouldn't know if it's the kitchen sink or master bath toilet. But other than that, I'm loving it so far.

This sounds great, but it simply doesn't work. Installation was relatively easy. But once we had it set up, it was constantly sending "unusual activity alerts," several a day, and there was never unusual activity. We would get alerts every time someone took a shower or washed the dishes.We thought it just needed time to learn our water usage patterns, but after two months, nothing had changed -- except that the return window closed. So now we are stuck it.Two other issues: It significantly decreases the water pressure on the faucet where it's installed, and the app is terrible -- it regularly reloads while using it, it's slow, and sometimes it just doesn't respond.Waste of money.

So I bought this water monitor system because I believe when detecting/controlling water leaks, it prudent to separate the sensing unit from the main valve control unit. Kohler, Phyn, Moen, all offer expensive integrated sensor and main valve shutoff units which have to (generally) be professionally plumbed in to your main water supply. If such units fail, or it’s sensor goes wrong, or incorrectly thinks that there is a leak, that could either leave you without water, or have to expensively remove the unit asap, or need expensively replacement of the whole unit even if only the valve closing or the monitor is at fault. The integrated units also leave you at the mercy of a single proprietary manufacturer deciding to shutdown support for the unit at a later date. Plumbing has a longer lifecycle than internet services.So this sensor only unit, which is made by Phyn, and just branded by Kohler, addresses only the sensing of flow monitoring and leaks and is a virtually noninvasive connection to your water system. If it fails, or (when) they stop supporting it, nothing else in your water system is affected. The sensors measures pressure waves in the system and should be very robust, better than the turbine system used by Moen.To remotely control the actual main water valve if there is a leak reported – and you control the link as to whether it is a real leak or false alarm, and the actual shutting off of the water – I use one of the motorized quarter turn valve handle, smart shutoff valves on my main water shutoff, of which many are offered and can be Wi-Fi / remote web controlled. I use the one from Custos but there are several options. The key thing is that these motorized valve controls do not involve any plumbing nor cutting into your plumbing system, and can be easily removed or overridden if they are faulty or stop being supported.I ended up returning this Kohler unit and getting the exact same thing Phyn unit, because Kohler support was simply nonexistent and they just directed you to Phyn and Phyn said you bought it from Kohler - we can’t help you. So for a few extra dollars the Phyn unit gets you full support.I connected the sensors to a couple of dedicated hot/cold branch lines in my basement, rather than under a sink, and that works fine. Obviously, this was a bit more involved than just screwing them into the hose lines under a sink somewhere, but I did want to note that this arrangement does work. Either the standard under sink approach or a dedicated line seems to be fine.Note, as with all IoT devices, this unit must connect to a 2.4 GHz wi-Fi. The average, modern router or mesh system will not reveal explicitly reveal the 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi but hide it behind the 5 GHz Wi-Fi. This is a perennial problem for IoT and it’s the same for this device. The easiest solution is to just buy a very cheap Wi-Fi 2.4G router dedicated to IoT connect WAN side of that to your regular router and link the water monitoring unit to this IoT router.This unit uploads quite a lot of data everyday from 200 to 500 MB so be warned. The good thing is, there are no ongoing monthly charges, the app is free.So far I think it has done a good job of trying to figure out the pattern of pressure waves and match them to both flow and devices. The interface app is reasonably intuitive and the plumbing test does seem pretty accurate so far I would say this is a very effective device.The app does say it will print off a letter for your insurance company to get a discount for water monitoring.

I had great expectations but unfortunately due to software problem was not able to use it in Mexico. Great customer service by manufacturer they took care of me.

No plumbing supply house in my city had the proper couplings, as my very good plumber found out. Kohler ought to supply these specialized fittings, Mueller Meter Coupling, 3/4", Lead Free - GIDDS-289400. Note that they add about 5 inches to the length of the unit.WiFi setup was not, shall we say, up to modern standards. Got it to work, but took longer than it should.

Set up was easy and this device provides peace of mind when traveling away from home. Seasonal home so important to be able to control water if there is an issue.

Terrible app. Logs me out every single day, then takes forever to load after logging back in. DOESN’T give any push notification warnings prior to auto shut off of the entire water system, so I have no opportunity to identify the water in use and confirm it isn’t a leak. It juat shuts off the water. Then I have to log back in, wait forever for it to load, and then turn the water back on. The system STILL HASN’T learned my water use after a year and manual identification of water events. What do I like about this product? NOTHING.

Having the ability to monitor and shut off water to your home remotely is valuable. It also entitles you to a discount on your home insurance ( check your policy to be certain). Easy to install if you have pex or pvc pipes. I used a plumber. Kohler does not include fittings and this is an extra expense as the fittings are brass.