Anyone have experience with water shutoff sensors?

[pete6032]

I have a washer/dryer that are on the 2nd floor and they are essentially placed in a closet. The water valves are unfortunately directly behind the washer/dryer and there isn't much space on the left or right of the washer/dryer since its in a closet. I'm concerned the hoses could leak/fail and if they did I would have trouble getting back there quickly to shut the valves off. Does anyone here have experience with electric shut off sensors? Seems you hook them up to your hot/cold valves and then connect a sensor on the floor that will shut off the valves if a leak is detected. This seems like a much cheaper option than paying a plumber to move the hot/cold valves to a more accessible place. Any thoughts?

I have no idea about this brand but its what popped up when I searched.

 

[feralkid]

I have never installed anything like this, but my first thought would be to go with a plug-in version, something like this.

 

[deadlyapp]

Actuated valves are very commonplace, so I think this is a fairly good idea, even if burst washer hoses are probably one of the least likely things to happen. More than likely than not, the connection isn't great and you leak at the fitting anyways.

I have no experience, however my recommendation is that you make sure you find valves that are fail closed, so if they lose sensor input, the battery dies, or they lose power, they automatically close rather than staying open.

 

[Paperdoc]

Here's another option to consider, although it responds only to half of your post. I have two items from D-Link. Both are items that plug into a wall socket for power. Their mylink WiFi Water Sensor places a sensor about a foot long along the floor where water would be ex[ected top collect in the event of a leak, and it is attached to the plug-in module. If it detects water, it sounds its own alarm and sends out signals via a WiFi connection to any other device. Then I downloaded their Mylink Home app on my cell phone, and it will receive any alarms sent out by that sensor and notify me immediately. In addition, a second item, the D-Link mydlik WiFi Siren plugs into any outlet in your house, so you place it whre it WILL be heard easily.It listens for alarms, too. If it gets one, it sets off an alarm sound so anyone (not just my cell phone) will hear and respond.

Together these ensure that a leak will be detected and alarms sent within the home and to your cell phone so you can respond quickly. I realize it does not immediately shut off the water as your post asked, but it does ensure the problem is noticed right away.