I must admit I used to be skeptical that people would embrace smart home plumbing, but no longer.
One of the biggest changes is that costs have fallen dramatically, but the other is the range of products & ease of installation as a recent CNET article outlined.
Nearly every part of your home’s plumbing can now be connected, monitored and updated online. From remote leak detection to smart showers, taps and toilets able to be controlled from your phone & laptop—or by voice or gesture—-the options are endless.
Major players like Kohler and Delta offer taps that can connect to a smart home system or digital assistants like Alexa or Google Assistant, meaning you can control what your taps do by touch or voice. Asking for hot or cold water or even specific quantities is all possible.
Smart showers are also big, and can range from whole systems to just adding an intelligent shower head. Moen & Kohler showers can create individual profiles with specific temperatures plus pausing to cut water consumption as you step in or out of the spray. With the companies apps you can add presets for sound, water, steam and special lighting too.
But you can do as much or as little as you or your budget allows. For instance battery powered leak detectors connect to a mobile app through a smart home hub to warn you if water touches the sensor. Honeywell, Fibaro & Roost make affordable and portable options.
Whole house monitoring is also very doable, with systems that track leaks, shut down water flow in emergencies, call plumbers, give you a weekly checklist of stats to help save water & cut costs, and some can even be DIY installation.
This is a brave new world of plumbing, but like anything do your research to find the best product at the best price. It’s also a good idea to check them out—or install them—with a plumber, but technology is definitely giving consumers water power.
Cheers, John Fennell