The rubber "gasket" is not just for thinner pipes. It should ALWAYS be used since steel and copper should not touch. They react and cause the copper pipes to corrode and possibly cause pinhole leaks.
What happens if your house loses power, the temp drops causing a pipe to burst and water contacts the sensor, will the sensor communicate with the main unit?
Thanks Brian for another great video. I have a Tuya Zigbee valve controller. Due to limited mounting space on my pipes and the weak mounting hardware that Tuya provided, it took some time to successfully jury rig this valve on my pipes. I wish the Aqara Valve Controller T1 system was available when I started my addition about a year ago since their better fabricated and sturdy mounting options would have made my installation much easier. Thanks for reminding us that there are possible insurance rate benefits by automating our homes.
Good video, Brian. I like Aqara stuff because it works and the price can't e beat. I really like the fact it works without a network/Internet connection. Folks need to know this is an "emergency" device and designed to help you save thousands of dollars in damage when you have a lbad eak under a sink, behind your washing machine, behind the refrigerator, behind toilets, etc. I like using Alexa routines with my setup to "announce" you have a leak and where the leak is and also change 3-4 lamps to red. I wish it worked like YoLink's in that theirs works device-to-device w/o needing a hub. One of their hub also has built-in LTE cell service so you can get notified of the problem to your phone even if your Internet is down. It's only $6.99/month. I would not hesitate to recommend the Aqara based on my own experience with their products.
@@AutomateYourLife My mistake about the SIM card. I changed my comment. I'm subscribing, have never had to use it. It's not just for leak detectors, but for their other sensors, boo.
Nice Video Brian. I agree it has been priced well for something we all hope we never need. I am wondering though as I think with a new valve on my garden water feed it could be used to switch on water for the garden via an automation.
Absolutely it could Gary! You gotta have the right handle and piping type, but then it could be a great solution for that. Just watch the cold temperatures and watch the sealing ok?
Brian this very helpful video!👍This seems like a game changer for preventing water damage in the home. I love how easy it looks to install and use. This is definitely a must-have for peace of mind. Great recommendation! Keep your great contents coming!
Hi Brian Thank you for the video. I wonder, how do you negotiate insurance discounts? Do you just call them and tell that you automated this? Do they verify somehow?
Being Zigbee and the Zigbee mesh, I would think that you should do the setup from the mechanical room as it will look for the closest Zigbee device and use that to get to the Hub. I originally set up the Aqara on/off module for my outside lights on the other side of the house near the hub and it worked fine by the hub but not at the far end of the house. I shut down Home Assistant for an hour, it rebooted and it connected all the devices and the outside lights worked fine, as it linked to one of the bedroom Zigbee devices. I will have to make a vacation mode so that the water is turned off while we travel as we turn off the water while gone.
Hey Donald! Yeah it should be fine but with a device like this I just want people to be sure that it's going to work when they need it! Good knowledge you've given here so thank you!
For me there are just not enough features with this device, it does not measure water flow so the only way you know that you have a leak is if you use their water sensors. The problem is that if you don't know where you might get a leak where do you place the sensors. However the price point is good and it is simple in operation. I could see it being handy if your access to your water valve is awkward or you have a need to be able to remotely turn off your water supply like is a holiday home/let.
Man I wish I had the option to use actuators like these.. I am stuck still trying to find a solution to work with a butterfly handle type that we have here in Australia. (cant swap them out since unit and one is built into the brick wall.)
How tall is this valve from the pips to the top off the valve ? Do anyone got an idea ? i got limited space where my valves are. Since they are inside a special cabinet.
Hey Fionn, check at 1:19 for the dimensions of both with and without attachments. It's tough to say exactly where your top of pipe will sit as that will depend on piping and how you fit this on exactly. What you could do is take the diameter of your piping off the height with the attachments and that would get you really close. Maybe another 10-20 mm after that could be removed.
Hey Brian, this only works with ball style Shutoffs, right? If you have stop valves rather than ball valves, this won't work I believe. Stop valves. Have a circular knob at the top that looks like the valve you use to turn your water on at the garden hose connection. Ball valves have a single handle on the top that turns 90° to either open or close the Valve which controls the water through the pipe.
Yeahhhh. It's not actually related to the type of valve per se, but the type of handle. This can't go more than 90 degrees (or at least not yet...I don't know if they built more in). So you can't use it with a standard water tap like that, but that doesn't actually mean you couldn't modify the way that tap works. Valve types like ball, globe, gate, etc. do have different curves for how they turn on/off things so it'd be an interesting thing to try out with something like this.
@AutomateYourLife The next time I have a plumber come out to the house, I'm going to pay the extra and have him replace my current main shut off, with a ball style like you have. If this a car stuff goes on sale Black Friday I might pick one up just for future. I suspect we'll see price hikes on this stuff when tariffs go into effect when the new administration takes over, unfortunately
@@AutomateYourLife yes I know. My main water shut off valve isn't a ball valve like you. It's got a circular handle that you have to twist to open and close, just like the valve on your garden hose.
I bought the valve hoping to connect to Hubitat but it isn’t supported yet. So I bought the M3 hub and I can’t get it to connect to that either. I see it trying to pair but I get a message, “you do not have permission to perform the operation (Network-755). Anyone familiar with this? I put in a ticket to Aqara via e-mail last night but no response as of yet. I tried installing and uninstalling the hub as well as resetting the valve multiple times with the same results every time.
Yeahhhh, you gotta wait for our reviews on stuff like this. Hubitat didn't let me connect it and I showed that. As for the M3, it sounds like maybe you're not on the owner account? Check in with Aqara like you have, but something's off about the app there. Can you get other things installed?
@ thanks so much for your reply. It’s frustrating that for more than a decade we had all these proprietary products and then the technology improved for integrations but we still have companies walking off their gardens. With my valve and the M3 hub it turns out the hub had yet another firmware that I had to install. Once I did this the valve was able to pair. Aqara has yet to answer my request. This valve is pretty powerful but I think their attachment clamps are not completely thought out. No matter how hard I torque down the bolts and hardware the unit moves some which makes for potential failure or incomplete valve closure opening. I’m going to leave it on but they need to improve the mechanism to attach the valve to the pipe. Thanks again!
I haven't finished watching the video yet, so maybe this was explained, but if you integrate this into home assistant via matter, do you get battery level notification in home assistant? If so, you can create a home assistant automation to alert you when your batteries are low
Saddly my main is a Tap, not a valve ! And is rescessed very deep with a very small hand size access, no way to remove the tap and instll this, unless I move the main on the other side of the wall, thus in the garage, which is probably not ok :(
That’s a tough one! I'd definitely look at adding a secondary valve and calling that the new main if you want to do something automated. You're the second person to say you have a tap valve...I didn't know that was a thing still!
@@tikass9901 yeah I get it. Some people want the ease of this and others will want a more permanent install. I'm thinking a rechargeable battery solution does it with this one though :)
Your videos are getting quite long considering you talk only about 1 product. I appreciate you're going into details but I believe there is a balance to be struck.
Yep they are long! I am tired of reviews giving people half the information they need. The truth that most people are unaware of...is that most reviews on UA-cam and on other sources are a direct regurgitation of marketing material from companies. They provide information and the reviewer hits those points. So I decided to give you everything I could. Positives, negatives, how it works, and how you can use it. Accuracy is king and I'm using things like segments, titles, and timecodes here on YT to give you a chance to pick what you want to watch. It's not perfect, but this is the way I can do that now, and yes...the videos are long. If it costs me your views and some others, I'll live with it. But I'm not going to be a marketing machine like many others are. **end diatribe
I'm a big fan of these longer, more comprehensive reviews. A lot of the value of the solutions aren't in individual devices, but rather multiple devices working together to solve a problem. In this case we've got the shut off valve, and a leak detector both working at the local level to save a flooded basement when a leak is detected
The rubber "gasket" is not just for thinner pipes. It should ALWAYS be used since steel and copper should not touch. They react and cause the copper pipes to corrode and possibly cause pinhole leaks.
Thanks for this comment. I didn't think about that at all. I'll pin this.
What happens if your house loses power, the temp drops causing a pipe to burst and water contacts the sensor, will the sensor communicate with the main unit?
Thanks Brian for another great video. I have a Tuya Zigbee valve controller. Due to limited mounting space on my pipes and the weak mounting hardware that Tuya provided, it took some time to successfully jury rig this valve on my pipes. I wish the Aqara Valve Controller T1 system was available when I started my addition about a year ago since their better fabricated and sturdy mounting options would have made my installation much easier. Thanks for reminding us that there are possible insurance rate benefits by automating our homes.
Thank you! Hope your Tuya one keeps on working for ya!
Good video, Brian. I like Aqara stuff because it works and the price can't e beat. I really like the fact it works without a network/Internet connection. Folks need to know this is an "emergency" device and designed to help you save thousands of dollars in damage when you have a lbad eak under a sink, behind your washing machine, behind the refrigerator, behind toilets, etc. I like using Alexa routines with my setup to "announce" you have a leak and where the leak is and also change 3-4 lamps to red. I wish it worked like YoLink's in that theirs works device-to-device w/o needing a hub. One of their hub also has built-in LTE cell service so you can get notified of the problem to your phone even if your Internet is down. It's only $6.99/month. I would not hesitate to recommend the Aqara based on my own experience with their products.
@@HughD yeahhhhh! I wanna look at the new sim card option there with YoLink
@@AutomateYourLife My mistake about the SIM card. I changed my comment. I'm subscribing, have never had to use it. It's not just for leak detectors, but for their other sensors, boo.
Nice Video Brian. I agree it has been priced well for something we all hope we never need. I am wondering though as I think with a new valve on my garden water feed it could be used to switch on water for the garden via an automation.
Absolutely it could Gary! You gotta have the right handle and piping type, but then it could be a great solution for that. Just watch the cold temperatures and watch the sealing ok?
Brian this very helpful video!👍This seems like a game changer for preventing water damage in the home. I love how easy it looks to install and use. This is definitely a must-have for peace of mind. Great recommendation! Keep your great contents coming!
Thank you so much!
@@AutomateYourLife You're welcome! I'm looking forward for more invaluable contents from you! 👌
Hi Brian
Thank you for the video. I wonder, how do you negotiate insurance discounts? Do you just call them and tell that you automated this? Do they verify somehow?
Being Zigbee and the Zigbee mesh, I would think that you should do the setup from the mechanical room as it will look for the closest Zigbee device and use that to get to the Hub. I originally set up the Aqara on/off module for my outside lights on the other side of the house near the hub and it worked fine by the hub but not at the far end of the house. I shut down Home Assistant for an hour, it rebooted and it connected all the devices and the outside lights worked fine, as it linked to one of the bedroom Zigbee devices. I will have to make a vacation mode so that the water is turned off while we travel as we turn off the water while gone.
Hey Donald! Yeah it should be fine but with a device like this I just want people to be sure that it's going to work when they need it! Good knowledge you've given here so thank you!
For me there are just not enough features with this device, it does not measure water flow so the only way you know that you have a leak is if you use their water sensors. The problem is that if you don't know where you might get a leak where do you place the sensors. However the price point is good and it is simple in operation. I could see it being handy if your access to your water valve is awkward or you have a need to be able to remotely turn off your water supply like is a holiday home/let.
@@MAMDAVEM to each their own!
Mine is installed and working with Apple Home. 👍🏻
Nice! Enjoy!
Man I wish I had the option to use actuators like these.. I am stuck still trying to find a solution to work with a butterfly handle type that we have here in Australia. (cant swap them out since unit and one is built into the brick wall.)
I was just saying to someone...add another downstream :) Then you'll be able to automate it!
How tall is this valve from the pips to the top off the valve ? Do anyone got an idea ? i got limited space where my valves are. Since they are inside a special cabinet.
Hey Fionn, check at 1:19 for the dimensions of both with and without attachments. It's tough to say exactly where your top of pipe will sit as that will depend on piping and how you fit this on exactly. What you could do is take the diameter of your piping off the height with the attachments and that would get you really close. Maybe another 10-20 mm after that could be removed.
Does it only work with Aqara water sensors , or will the matter bridge allow use of other zigbee sensors?
Matter Bridge AND Zigbee 3.0 gives you tons of pairing options. Watch the automation section and you'll see a lot of options there :)
Hey Brian, this only works with ball style Shutoffs, right? If you have stop valves rather than ball valves, this won't work I believe. Stop valves. Have a circular knob at the top that looks like the valve you use to turn your water on at the garden hose connection. Ball valves have a single handle on the top that turns 90° to either open or close the Valve which controls the water through the pipe.
Yeahhhh. It's not actually related to the type of valve per se, but the type of handle. This can't go more than 90 degrees (or at least not yet...I don't know if they built more in).
So you can't use it with a standard water tap like that, but that doesn't actually mean you couldn't modify the way that tap works.
Valve types like ball, globe, gate, etc. do have different curves for how they turn on/off things so it'd be an interesting thing to try out with something like this.
@AutomateYourLife The next time I have a plumber come out to the house, I'm going to pay the extra and have him replace my current main shut off, with a ball style like you have. If this a car stuff goes on sale Black Friday I might pick one up just for future. I suspect we'll see price hikes on this stuff when tariffs go into effect when the new administration takes over, unfortunately
@cdarrigo that was my main water valve! I think you're thinking it's a different spot! 🤣
@@AutomateYourLife yes I know. My main water shut off valve isn't a ball valve like you. It's got a circular handle that you have to twist to open and close, just like the valve on your garden hose.
@cdarrigo yaaaa...change that out! New valve downstream
Can this mount on top of pex pipes and operate safely without damaging the pex?
@@0xVeniVidiVici watch the failed installation. There's a timecode in the description for ya!
@@AutomateYourLife thanks! Man, looks like no automated water shutoff valve will work for my situation.
@0xVeniVidiVici maybe try bracing above the pex with another pipe?
Ooooh does this geolocation trigger work for all Aqara devices? 31:18
I do believe! Or at least most of them. I imagine they could have a couple restricted.
@@AutomateYourLife Thinking specifically about geofenced unlocking of smart door locks as they did say it was coming at some point
Yeahhhh, I don't know....
works on only m3 hub? does it work on other hubs?
Ofc, it's Zigbee
Late in the video I show every hub I connected it to! But it works with all Aqara hubs to start with :)
I bought the valve hoping to connect to Hubitat but it isn’t supported yet. So I bought the M3 hub and I can’t get it to connect to that either. I see it trying to pair but I get a message, “you do not have permission to perform the operation (Network-755). Anyone familiar with this? I put in a ticket to Aqara via e-mail last night but no response as of yet. I tried installing and uninstalling the hub as well as resetting the valve multiple times with the same results every time.
Yeahhhh, you gotta wait for our reviews on stuff like this. Hubitat didn't let me connect it and I showed that.
As for the M3, it sounds like maybe you're not on the owner account? Check in with Aqara like you have, but something's off about the app there. Can you get other things installed?
@ thanks so much for your reply. It’s frustrating that for more than a decade we had all these proprietary products and then the technology improved for integrations but we still have companies walking off their gardens.
With my valve and the M3 hub it turns out the hub had yet another firmware that I had to install. Once I did this the valve was able to pair. Aqara has yet to answer my request. This valve is pretty powerful but I think their attachment clamps are not completely thought out. No matter how hard I torque down the bolts and hardware the unit moves some which makes for potential failure or incomplete valve closure opening. I’m going to leave it on but they need to improve the mechanism to attach the valve to the pipe.
Thanks again!
have drive edge for Smartthings?
I didn't find one! But I was very early in testing. I had this months ago
I haven't finished watching the video yet, so maybe this was explained, but if you integrate this into home assistant via matter, do you get battery level notification in home assistant? If so, you can create a home assistant automation to alert you when your batteries are low
@@cdarrigo the battery wasn't working right for me through ha and the matter integration!
Saddly my main is a Tap, not a valve ! And is rescessed very deep with a very small hand size access, no way to remove the tap and instll this, unless I move the main on the other side of the wall, thus in the garage, which is probably not ok :(
That’s a tough one! I'd definitely look at adding a secondary valve and calling that the new main if you want to do something automated. You're the second person to say you have a tap valve...I didn't know that was a thing still!
@AutomateYourLife well my house was built in 1995. I guess it has changed, for the better, taps are stupid especially for a main !
hope to see a product from Sonov Company similar to it at a cheaper price
Cheaper than this??
@ Yes, in general, Sonoff products are cheaper
oh Sonoff!
Im still unclear. If I just want to integrate with Google Home do I need the hub or not? Not sure why I am so confused by all of this. HAHA!!
Sorry for that. Yes, you will need a zigbee 3.0 Hub and it is recommended that you use Aqaras
This is kind of install and forget it kind of automation. so using battery is not a good one. that’s my opinion.
@@tikass9901 yeah I get it. Some people want the ease of this and others will want a more permanent install. I'm thinking a rechargeable battery solution does it with this one though :)
I wish worked better on Android, i couldn't even setup my Hub without my old ipad.
I use android! Not sure what's going on for ya!
@AutomateYourLife I don't know
Your videos are getting quite long considering you talk only about 1 product. I appreciate you're going into details but I believe there is a balance to be struck.
Yep they are long!
I am tired of reviews giving people half the information they need. The truth that most people are unaware of...is that most reviews on UA-cam and on other sources are a direct regurgitation of marketing material from companies. They provide information and the reviewer hits those points.
So I decided to give you everything I could. Positives, negatives, how it works, and how you can use it. Accuracy is king and I'm using things like segments, titles, and timecodes here on YT to give you a chance to pick what you want to watch. It's not perfect, but this is the way I can do that now, and yes...the videos are long.
If it costs me your views and some others, I'll live with it. But I'm not going to be a marketing machine like many others are. **end diatribe
I'm a big fan of these longer, more comprehensive reviews. A lot of the value of the solutions aren't in individual devices, but rather multiple devices working together to solve a problem. In this case we've got the shut off valve, and a leak detector both working at the local level to save a flooded basement when a leak is detected