Thank you. Got a high water bill last month. I want to see exactly what my usage is and be alerted to any abnormal usage. Didn't know this little gem existed.
You're welcome. And I know, it is really cool. We saw this at CES when we were in the B-hyve XR controller booth and they had the XR paired to Flume. We've now reviewed both the B-hyve XR and the Flume 2. Plus next year the Flume will have an AI to tell you what fixtures are using water amount of water. Can't wait to see how that works.
Hi Beau, you are welcome. It's been very reliable. If you saw our B-Hyve XR irrigation controller review you would also see how the Flume and XR talk to bring you accurate gallons used when a zone runs. We are also about to do a review on Flume 2, so stay tuned.
What is the range of the signal? We are considering this for a commercial building...I checked that it is compatible with our meter. Our building meter is quite far from a wifi signal. Thanks for the video.
Hi Steve, I think it will depend what is between the bridge and the flume sensor device attached to the meter. Plus, they don't use Wi-Fi between the bridge and the flume sensor device. The bridge connects to your network via WiFi. Our sensors are about 20-25 ft away and there is one wall (stucco) and the in ground box between them. That said we didn't do a range test. I can say their support is excellent, at least via chat. I would go to their support site and ask them as they obviously have lots more experience. I just asked their support and here is their response: "The flume device is made up of two units the sensor and the bridge. The bridge sits indoors and connects to WiFi while the sensor sits on the meter! Flume has been installed on meters that are over 1000 feet away from the home. We use a 915 MHz RF signal to send data from the Water Sensor to the Bridge. This signal can travel long distances using very low power." So sounds like you may be good to go depending on that distance.
Thanks for the question. It likely depends on your water meter. We’d suggest you contact Flume support first before you buy. They are great and very helpful.
Basically the same way the water company does it. There is a rotating magnetic disk inside your water meter and the Flume "listens" to it and calculates the flow. It is very accurate based on our observations.
Great video. I used it to guide me through the set-up. Thanks! But, I have found one issue: I can't seem to get it to calibrate correctly. I filled a one gallon bottle and the app read 1.72 gals. I've calibrated the unit several times. Do you have any tips for calibration?
Thank you Marko. So turns out they can from Flume edit the waveforms on how they measure. Evidently this can happen if the signals from the meter to the Flume are low. We ended up doing that on our house meter's flume. Go to their website (flumewater.com) and type in the help chat (lower right corner), they respond quickly (real person) and explain your issue. Let me know if they are able to help. BTW, did you know you can see your Flume data at this website. Just log in to your account.
Great review - this sold me and mine arrives tomorrow. I do have a question - since the bridge is 2.4ghz only, does it have any problems finding that band if you’re using a dual band router? YoLink water sensors for under the sinks for example, their hub has a heck of a time finding the 2.4 band on its own; I had to set it up via Ethernet. But iHome plugs find the 2.4 band immediately without issue. Just wondering if I’ll need to use an old router to set up a 2.4ghz access point for the bridge to hop onto. Thanks in advance!
Hi Alan, we use an Orbi Mesh dual band router and it works just fine. Keep in mind it's only the bridge that connects to Wi-Fi, so you should be fine. Let us know how it goes.
@@Appmyhome Everything hooked up in less than 10 minutes total. The bridge connected directly to the 2.4ghz band from my mesh router without issue. I love being able to quantify my water usage now! Thanks for your response!
working great. seems to be spot on though haven’t done a thorough analysis. we use it to see if there is a leak or stuck valve. and for that it works well. it also let us figure out we were using too much water so we could adjust our irrigation system.
How sensitive is this? My water meter will report as low as a .01 gpm flow. Will the flume pick up and report that low of volume? I’ve found .01 gpm can be a damaging leak undetected and really hoping this flume could detect that. Thanks
Hi Jerrod, in checking the alerts they only allow 0.1 increments. The app can show 0.01 increments of usage. This said, we have an alert that lets us know if the gpm is above zero. So as long as they can detect any flow it should trigger. Just don't know how we could test if a flow of .01 would be deemed above zero. The way we use this alert is when we leave home for an extended time we set the alert on so that any water use will trigger. When the alert is off and we are home, we have an alert that triggers if the water is running continuously for 2 hours. This alert is designed per Flume for low flow leaks.
@@Appmyhome After I asked this, I did contact them and they stated the Flume should be able to pick up on ".01 or .02" water flow with my meter. It sounds like .01 wouldn't signal an alert if you're saying the alert minimum is 0.1, but if the app can register a .01, that would still help me pick up on small leaks on the app by analyzing after the fact. Test wise..my Badger meter will register a .01 if I crack a faucet so that it drips about every 2 seconds.... about as small of a flow as I can come up with out of a faucet. I will hook up the Flume when it arrives and see if it will mirror that .01 with that type of drip out of a faucet.
@@Appmyhome have mine installed. I’ve cracked a drip on a faucet and measured it at 1 ounce per minute. By my calculations that’s .0078 gpm. Sure enough, the Flume reports a flow of .01 gpm. On the dashboard it shows water flowing at 0.0 but if you go to detailed by the minute it will show the .01 flow there. Pretty impressed
@@jRODl4705 Sounds like you should be fine. We set out drip test to report if anything about 0 happens. The .01 increment would only be needed if you wanted to trigger above zero. Looking forward to hearing your results.
Just took delivery and am disappointed to learn that iOS 14 is somehow blocking the WiFi setup. Support indicates hope to have app fixed to remedy this issue by end of last week of September. Not a long wait.
That is really weird though iOS 14 does have the message that comes up saying you need to allow the app to access your network. While we can't speak to the install, we are having no operational issues with iOS 14 and the Flume app on our installed system. Hopefully they'll get that issue fixed quick.
@@AppmyhomeI have the Flume 2. It lasted barely 2 years before becoming damaged due to rain. Their batteries are proprietary, so you're stuck having to shell out $20 for a replacement. The seal DOES NOT SEAL OUT WATER and will get ruined in a big rain storm. I paid $29 for the Flume 2 when it came out. They want $249 for it now. Flume offered me one for $129, but I honestly see the same problems happening in the future because it simply won't seal out water or moisture. It's a good concept, but they are clearly in the business of selling you a new unit in a couple of years knowing that's about how long they last. Oh, they supposedly have a lifetime warranty... yeah, no warranty accepted, they force you to buy a new unit for about the cost of having a plumber fix a leak. They just want your money every few years.
I don't know if they are sealed enough if immersed in water. So far, fingers crossed, ours haven't had an issue. Flume changed their pricing a while back used to be you had to subscribe for a lot of features, but then changed to bundling in the features to the price, ie no more subscriptions.
irrigation uses recycled water, and that is treated. plus recycled water is much cheaper than regular water. that said, you cannot drink it, but it is approved for plants.
The batteries are supposed to last around two years. The current model even lets to add an extra battery back. The app will let you know when they run low. Then just remove the unit from the meter and swap them out.
You're welcome. You should be able to. Just open the app and watch the real time view, that's in the dashboard when the app launches. Make sure no other water is running in the house and see if it shows any water flow. Be sure to give it 10 minutes as there does appear to be a slight delay. The other thing to do is set an alert if water is running for over a certain amount of time, like 2 hours, that may catch a leak even if folks are turning on taps now and then. They also have great chat support where I would expect even more ideas. Let us know how it turns out.
Hi, This smart water system is for garden and backyard sprinklers? Or generally for entire home water meter purpose? Because we have 2 water meters one is home utility water company meter and second water meter is only for water garden sprinklers, so which one do I need to attach this smart water system device?
It works at the meter. Like you we have two meters, so we put this on the sprinkler meter to see how much water we use per cycle plus can detect if a valve is leaking. We might get a second flume for the house water meter.
Hi Denny, the device requires a compatible water meter. It sits on the meter and "listens" to the spinning magnet inside the water meter to register usage.
Where were you before I ordered it? ;-) Stupid me just assumed I'd be good as a water meter looks like a water meter. And now I'm sad as I found out my meter was too old and was incompatible. Now I'm going to be depressed all week as I don't get to play with my new toy.
Bummer! There are some other cool water monitoring stuff we’ve seen that might work for you. Check out our channel for the Flo by Moen, Hero labs, Phyn, Buoy and Streamlabs, all videos of products we’ve seen demoed at shows. There are a lot of interesting solutions out there!
@@Appmyhome Yeah, I liked it for the idea of being able to see any slow leaks or similar issues. Thanks for sending the other suggestions. I'm familiar with those but none of them are an option for various reasons. Streamlabs would have been option B but the pipe I can put it in on is 1 1/4" and it only supports up to 1". Woe is me. ;)
Thank you. Got a high water bill last month. I want to see exactly what my usage is and be alerted to any abnormal usage. Didn't know this little gem existed.
You're welcome. And I know, it is really cool. We saw this at CES when we were in the B-hyve XR controller booth and they had the XR paired to Flume. We've now reviewed both the B-hyve XR and the Flume 2. Plus next year the Flume will have an AI to tell you what fixtures are using water amount of water. Can't wait to see how that works.
Excellent video. I enjoyed the sound of your voice.
thank you
Great video! Quick and concise but still with plenty of detail. Keep it up!
Thank you
Thanks for a great unboxing review. Looking forward to hearing a bit about reliability if you do those. Thanks again!!
Hi Beau, you are welcome. It's been very reliable. If you saw our B-Hyve XR irrigation controller review you would also see how the Flume and XR talk to bring you accurate gallons used when a zone runs. We are also about to do a review on Flume 2, so stay tuned.
Hi Beau, well 9 months have passed (time flies), so far the feature has worked reliably.
My Man! Thanks a million. Excellent video.
thank you, really appreciate it.
Thank you for this great video.
You are welcome. Glad you liked it.
Did you end up getting one? Did you see our second review on their newer Flume 2?
What is the range of the signal? We are considering this for a commercial building...I checked that it is compatible with our meter. Our building meter is quite far from a wifi signal. Thanks for the video.
Hi Steve, I think it will depend what is between the bridge and the flume sensor device attached to the meter. Plus, they don't use Wi-Fi between the bridge and the flume sensor device. The bridge connects to your network via WiFi. Our sensors are about 20-25 ft away and there is one wall (stucco) and the in ground box between them. That said we didn't do a range test. I can say their support is excellent, at least via chat. I would go to their support site and ask them as they obviously have lots more experience.
I just asked their support and here is their response: "The flume device is made up of two units the sensor and the bridge. The bridge sits indoors and connects to WiFi while the sensor sits on the meter! Flume has been installed on meters that are over 1000 feet away from the home. We use a 915 MHz RF signal to send data from the Water Sensor to the Bridge. This signal can travel long distances using very low power."
So sounds like you may be good to go depending on that distance.
Appreciate you doing this video. Do you think I would be safe to use for commercial setting as well?
Thanks for the question. It likely depends on your water meter. We’d suggest you contact Flume support first before you buy. They are great and very helpful.
How does this sensor read the water usage just by strapping it to the meter?
Basically the same way the water company does it. There is a rotating magnetic disk inside your water meter and the Flume "listens" to it and calculates the flow. It is very accurate based on our observations.
@@Appmyhome ahh good to know. Thank you!
@@TheCodesterr you're welcome
Great video. I used it to guide me through the set-up. Thanks! But, I have found one issue: I can't seem to get it to calibrate correctly. I filled a one gallon bottle and the app read 1.72 gals. I've calibrated the unit several times. Do you have any tips for calibration?
Thank you Marko.
So turns out they can from Flume edit the waveforms on how they measure. Evidently this can happen if the signals from the meter to the Flume are low. We ended up doing that on our house meter's flume. Go to their website (flumewater.com) and type in the help chat (lower right corner), they respond quickly (real person) and explain your issue. Let me know if they are able to help.
BTW, did you know you can see your Flume data at this website. Just log in to your account.
@@Appmyhome Thanks again! I'll check in with Flume this morning. Fingers crossed!
Where did it come from?
Hi Alvaro, where did what come from? Did you mean like from amazon?
Is it possible to run without water meter, maybe by adding some other devices ?
I believe it works by reading a magnetic impeller.
Who created it?
flumewater is the manufacturer of the device, we independently produced the video.
Great review - this sold me and mine arrives tomorrow. I do have a question - since the bridge is 2.4ghz only, does it have any problems finding that band if you’re using a dual band router? YoLink water sensors for under the sinks for example, their hub has a heck of a time finding the 2.4 band on its own; I had to set it up via Ethernet. But iHome plugs find the 2.4 band immediately without issue. Just wondering if I’ll need to use an old router to set up a 2.4ghz access point for the bridge to hop onto. Thanks in advance!
Hi Alan, we use an Orbi Mesh dual band router and it works just fine. Keep in mind it's only the bridge that connects to Wi-Fi, so you should be fine. Let us know how it goes.
@@Appmyhome Everything hooked up in less than 10 minutes total. The bridge connected directly to the 2.4ghz band from my mesh router without issue. I love being able to quantify my water usage now! Thanks for your response!
@@alanburk7930 Hi Alan, you are welcome, glad it all worked out.
How is it so far? Any issues? How accurate is it?
working great. seems to be spot on though haven’t done a thorough analysis. we use it to see if there is a leak or stuck valve. and for that it works well. it also let us figure out we were using too much water so we could adjust our irrigation system.
How sensitive is this? My water meter will report as low as a .01 gpm flow. Will the flume pick up and report that low of volume? I’ve found .01 gpm can be a damaging leak undetected and really hoping this flume could detect that. Thanks
Hi Jerrod, in checking the alerts they only allow 0.1 increments. The app can show 0.01 increments of usage. This said, we have an alert that lets us know if the gpm is above zero. So as long as they can detect any flow it should trigger. Just don't know how we could test if a flow of .01 would be deemed above zero. The way we use this alert is when we leave home for an extended time we set the alert on so that any water use will trigger. When the alert is off and we are home, we have an alert that triggers if the water is running continuously for 2 hours. This alert is designed per Flume for low flow leaks.
@@Appmyhome After I asked this, I did contact them and they stated the Flume should be able to pick up on ".01 or .02" water flow with my meter. It sounds like .01 wouldn't signal an alert if you're saying the alert minimum is 0.1, but if the app can register a .01, that would still help me pick up on small leaks on the app by analyzing after the fact. Test wise..my Badger meter will register a .01 if I crack a faucet so that it drips about every 2 seconds.... about as small of a flow as I can come up with out of a faucet. I will hook up the Flume when it arrives and see if it will mirror that .01 with that type of drip out of a faucet.
@@jRODl4705 awesome thanks for letting us know. look forward to hearing your results.
@@Appmyhome have mine installed. I’ve cracked a drip on a faucet and measured it at 1 ounce per minute. By my calculations that’s .0078 gpm. Sure enough, the Flume reports a flow of .01 gpm. On the dashboard it shows water flowing at 0.0 but if you go to detailed by the minute it will show the .01 flow there. Pretty impressed
@@jRODl4705 Sounds like you should be fine. We set out drip test to report if anything about 0 happens. The .01 increment would only be needed if you wanted to trigger above zero. Looking forward to hearing your results.
Pairs perfectly with Rachio!
thank you for confirming. did they require a subscription?
@@Appmyhome no subscriptions required
Just took delivery and am disappointed to learn that iOS 14 is somehow blocking the WiFi setup. Support indicates hope to have app fixed to remedy this issue by end of last week of September. Not a long wait.
That is really weird though iOS 14 does have the message that comes up saying you need to allow the app to access your network. While we can't speak to the install, we are having no operational issues with iOS 14 and the Flume app on our installed system. Hopefully they'll get that issue fixed quick.
Screws are horrible! Will strip very quickly.
Their new model Flume 2 no longer uses screws.
@@AppmyhomeI have the Flume 2. It lasted barely 2 years before becoming damaged due to rain. Their batteries are proprietary, so you're stuck having to shell out $20 for a replacement. The seal DOES NOT SEAL OUT WATER and will get ruined in a big rain storm. I paid $29 for the Flume 2 when it came out. They want $249 for it now. Flume offered me one for $129, but I honestly see the same problems happening in the future because it simply won't seal out water or moisture. It's a good concept, but they are clearly in the business of selling you a new unit in a couple of years knowing that's about how long they last. Oh, they supposedly have a lifetime warranty... yeah, no warranty accepted, they force you to buy a new unit for about the cost of having a plumber fix a leak. They just want your money every few years.
I don't know if they are sealed enough if immersed in water. So far, fingers crossed, ours haven't had an issue. Flume changed their pricing a while back used to be you had to subscribe for a lot of features, but then changed to bundling in the features to the price, ie no more subscriptions.
your irrigation is connected to sewage water? Nasty!
irrigation uses recycled water, and that is treated. plus recycled water is much cheaper than regular water. that said, you cannot drink it, but it is approved for plants.
Thank you for you video, very well explained, you are a good man.
Thank you Alex, much appreciated. Do you plan to install one at your home? If you do we'd like to hear what you think.
Great video! Thank you!
You are welcome! Did you pick one up?
@@Appmyhome Not yet, but soon. I was shopping around and you helped me with the decision.
I don't have a need, but it was a great review. Always interested in new tech.
Thank you.
Great video .......so after straping it to water meter do you need to change batteries or recharge anything on the part that's strap to water meter???
The batteries are supposed to last around two years. The current model even lets to add an extra battery back. The app will let you know when they run low. Then just remove the unit from the meter and swap them out.
Great video. Just starting my Flume research. Very helpful! No separate meter for irrigation or pool. Can this help identify pool leak?
You're welcome.
You should be able to. Just open the app and watch the real time view, that's in the dashboard when the app launches. Make sure no other water is running in the house and see if it shows any water flow. Be sure to give it 10 minutes as there does appear to be a slight delay.
The other thing to do is set an alert if water is running for over a certain amount of time, like 2 hours, that may catch a leak even if folks are turning on taps now and then.
They also have great chat support where I would expect even more ideas.
Let us know how it turns out.
Hi,
This smart water system is for garden and backyard sprinklers? Or generally for entire home water meter purpose? Because we have 2 water meters one is home utility water company meter and second water meter is only for water garden sprinklers, so which one do I need to attach this smart water system device?
It works at the meter. Like you we have two meters, so we put this on the sprinkler meter to see how much water we use per cycle plus can detect if a valve is leaking. We might get a second flume for the house water meter.
Can this be installed under my house where the main comes in from the street,instead on the meter?
Hi Denny, the device requires a compatible water meter. It sits on the meter and "listens" to the spinning magnet inside the water meter to register usage.
Where were you before I ordered it? ;-) Stupid me just assumed I'd be good as a water meter looks like a water meter. And now I'm sad as I found out my meter was too old and was incompatible. Now I'm going to be depressed all week as I don't get to play with my new toy.
Bummer! There are some other cool water monitoring stuff we’ve seen that might work for you. Check out our channel for the Flo by Moen, Hero labs, Phyn, Buoy and Streamlabs, all videos of products we’ve seen demoed at shows. There are a lot of interesting solutions out there!
@@Appmyhome Yeah, I liked it for the idea of being able to see any slow leaks or similar issues. Thanks for sending the other suggestions. I'm familiar with those but none of them are an option for various reasons. Streamlabs would have been option B but the pipe I can put it in on is 1 1/4" and it only supports up to 1". Woe is me. ;)
Great review! Thanks for the info
Thank you.