Having water trouble on your home? Or just afraid about an unforeseen water leaks? The Fibaro Flood Sensor got your back! Fibaro Water Sensor will let you know if water shows up in places where it shouldnʼt. But is the Fibaro Flood Sensor perfect for your home? How many should you even get in the first place?
At Smart Home Reviews Eh!, we try to answer our practical questions to satisfy our curiosity. And hopefully along the way, help you decide if the product is the right one for you The Fibaro Flood Sensor is a simple product. It just alerts you about water leaks and flooding. Simple enough. But the question that was nagging on our heads is: How well does the Fibaro Flood Sensor work?
In this Fibaro Flood Sensor Review, we will discuss:
- Design and functionality
- Water sensor sensitivity
- Tamper sensor sensitivity
- The Fibaro Flood Sensor on uneven floors
- The Fibaro Flood Sensor on carpets
- The Fibaro Flood Sensors on our house (how will we use one)
SIDE NOTE: Fibaro Flood Sensor is a little harder to find. If you are planning on getting them, make sure you get the right versions as there are Apple Home versions and non-Apple Home versions.
Design & Functionality
The Fibaro Flood Sensor is quite small and light and generally nondescript. We personally wouldnʼt put the Fibaro Flood Sensor in the middle of the room as some of Fibaroʼs marketing fluff might suggest. The water sensor actually has three sensors. the water sensor, a temperature sensor and the tamper sensor.
It also floats!
The unit is battery powered by a 1/2 AA battery. The unit theoretically is suppose to last 2 years which is long enough for you to actually forget you had this unit.
Depending on the model that you get, the Fibaro Flood Sensor can be attached to a permanent power supply which is handy.
Water Sensor Sensitivity
The Fibaro Flood Sensor has three telescopic stands that detect water. From our testing, two out of three sensors need to get wet before the smart home water sensor triggers.
If you’re using Apple Home, you get a timely notification indicating that the sensor has been triggered.
To figure out how sensitive the sensor is, we did several tests. The first test we did was to see how sensitive the water sensors were. We spent several minutes squirting water on the telescopic stands and came to the conclusion that the sensors were sensitive as long as two of the three were wet. The Fibaro flood sensor will not trigger when one sensor gets wet.
As a side note, the unit will not trigger if it is upside down. We’re guessing the gyro used in the tamper sensor can detect if the unit is upside down.
The second test started in our bathtub. We splashed about a cup of water along the flood sensor to see how quickly the unit would trigger. It was quick.
The sound alert is quite loud and would be useful if youʼre running multiple sensors to know physically which sensor has triggered.
To stop the unit from beeping, you pick it up and wait for it to turn off.
Tamper sensor sensitivity
One of the features of the Fibaro Flood Sensor is the tamper sensor. Some of Fibaroʼs marketing fluff includes pictures of cats playing with the sensor. Which made us wonder, how sensitive the Fibaro Flood Sensor really is?
Based on our tests, we could slowly move the sensor across the floor without ever setting off the unit. In fact, we could move it slowly across the grout on the tiled floor. Or lift it up slowly. It only triggers from a sudden movement, whether it be a small kick or being lifted up quickly.
On Apple Home, the tamper sensor status can be seen in the details portion of the device. It rests approx. 60 seconds after it registered being tampered.
Does the Fibaro Flood sensor work on uneven floors?
The short answer is yes.
In order to figure this answer out, we placed the sensor on the 100 year old concrete in the basement and spilled water on the ground around it. In the video, you’ll see the Fibaro Flood Sensor trigger on two sensors instead of just one
There is an obvious limit to how uneven as anything greater than a couple of degrees will result on the stands being lifted off. But the legs seem to be long enough to sit in the grout of tiled floors.
Does the water sensor trigger on carpeted floors?
We’ve tested the Fibaro Flood Sensor on flat and uneven surfaces. In this section we will test the Fibaro Flood Sensor on carpeted floors.
We grew up in a house whose basement flooded almost every year. And it never occurred near the water main. The basement always started to flood from the developed section of the basement which was awful. So would this little sensor been able to warn us before we spent weeks drying out the basement?
The short answer is not really. The Fibaro Flood Sensor triggers on water contact. A solid bead of water needs to hit the leads before the unit triggers. With carpet, that only happens when itʼs soaked through.
We did two tests to come to this conclusion. We took a carpet sample and placed it on a flat surface and started to pour water on the carpet.
In order to trigger the unit, we had to pour the water right beside the unit. It took a couple of pours before there was enough water in the carpet for the water sensor of the Fibaro Flood Sensor to trigger. In total, we used a little over 2 litres of water for this test.
In the second test, we took another carpet square, placed the sensor on top of it and slowly filled the tub. The Fibaro Flood Sensor only triggered when the carpet was almost submerged. Keep in mind that this is a carpet sample. There isnʼt an underlay so our tub is going to need to fill up another 1/2 inch before the Fibaro Flood Sensor triggers. Thatʼs a lot of extra water in the context of a large basement room before being notified.
We’re not sure we would get the Fibaro Flood Sensor for a house where there might be a water issue in a carpeted area. By the time something bad happens, thereʼs a good chance that it will be too late for you to do anything to prevent water from soaking through the underlay and carpet.
We will note that the Fibaro Flood Sensor does allow you to attach a wired probe to the unit. But thatʼs something that doesnʼt come out of the box. In fact, we’re not sure where we’d buy the probes as shown in their marketing fluff.
The fibaro flood sensor on our homes
With all of the Fibaro Flood Sensor restrictions in mind, where would we use the Fibaro Flood Sensor?
Personally, this sensor is going to be the most useful when we’re gone on vacation. Now, weʼve got a newborn so the likelihood of us leaving the home for days is going to be far and few between.
But if we think back to our pre-baby years, weʼd definitely have two sensors in the basement. Our water main and sewage pipe all sit in the same room so weʼd be able to get away with having one sensor and weʼd put one near our sump pump. We could probably get away with just one near the water main.
If we look back before our married years, weʼd probably use two in our condo. Weʼd put one in each bathroom. We were unable to turn the water off to our unit so being able to monitor any potential leaks in the bathrooms would be handy.
One of the things we’re trying to grapple with is how we would use this sensor on a day-to-day basis. We’re personally not paranoid enough to keep one near each toilet or tub. We donʼt think thereʼs enough shenanigans in our house that flooding is going to be an issue.
