How FAST Does Flo by Moen Detect a Leak?
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The goal of this post is to determine how fast Flo by Moen detects leaks of all sizes–small, medium and large. This post is going to cover all those scenarios and give you a preview of what you can expect from Flo by Moen if you are considering one for your home.
That’s a 5:17 minute video with real footage from the Flo app and the actual flow of water coming out of the water hose, or you can read the script here:
First things first, here is the starting point where these tests began. This set of tests were run on a recently installed Flo. The week long learning cycle was over and an additional week had passed so there wasn’t a lot of system learning our household habits yet. I had run a full irrigation cycle where I flood irrigated all my citrus trees in one day, the week after it was installed.
The first series of tests were medium
to
large scenarios.
These involved running the water through a hose bibb to irrigate the citrus trees instead of wasting the water.
The first test was at full blast, maxing out at 9.2 gallons per minute.
5 minutes in I received the first round of notifications stating there was a possible problem and that 53.3 gallons had already come out.
The water was shut off at 11 minutes with 102.2 gallons used.
Flo by Moen 9.2 gpm leak test results
My next test was at 3.1 gallons per minute. At a slower flow rate, this event triggered a notification after 14 minutes and the water was shut off at 19 minutes with 66.2 gallons used.
Flo by Moen 3.1 gpm leak test results
A flow rate of 1.5 gallons is caught at 20 minutes and shut off at 25 minutes with a measurement of 38 gallons.
Flo by Moen 1.5 gpm leak test results
Half a gallon a minute triggers a notification at 24 minutes and the valve automatically closes at 29 minutes with 14.5 gallons used.
Flo by Moen .5 gpm leak test results
A rate of .2 gallons per minute flows for 25 minutes and it shut off at 31 minutes after 6 gallons ran out.
Flo by Moen .2 gpm leak test results
Other Settings Impact the Shutoff Threshold
Here’s the interesting twist. There are a handful of irrigation settings that very much have an impact on how much water can occur in a single event before an alert is triggered. What I just showed you was the scenario where I did not indicate I had any form of irrigation. When I’m not doing full on testing like this I set my Melnor Raincloud to eco mode where it turns on and off, keeping Flo happy and preventing it from shutting off the water.
Note: The Flo app has some kind of quirk where you don’t see the radio button selected, but when you back out and go back into that setting, it actually kept the setting you selected.
So I tried my high flow test again, which maxed out at 9.4 gallons per minute this time with Drip Irrigation selected. With this setting the high flow event did not trigger a critical alert for 35 minutes. At that time 327.8 gallons had come out. 5 minutes later, Flo automatically shut the valve at 377.5 gallons used.
Flo by Moen 9.4 gpm test results with irrigation selected
I was only able to run one scenario on this setting, first, because the berms of the trees were all filled to the brim with that volume of water. Second, this device failed a week later from what I suspect is excessive heat and UV exposure. After going through 4 units in a year and a half, I’ve also tested/concluded Flo is ill suited for my kind of environment with our exposed plumbing and subsequent heat and UV.
But what this does show you is that you can carefully consider your usage and how you might try to select a more conservative setting by changing the usage pattern of other events to make your home more secure from actual leaks.
Flo by Moen medium to large leak test results
When I first uploaded the video, I had totally forgotten some of the original Flo scenario testing I shared with you all here on the blog in 2019. While the numbers may not be 100% what you’d get now because Flo has improved their algorithm since then, they do show you real scenarios and some lessons learned: Prevent Water Damage 24/7: A Flo by Moen Review
I have plans to make a future video about what you can expect from all water monitor and shutoff systems, not just Flo by Moen and Phyn Plus and I’ll incorporate those findings in there.
Now we’re on to the really small leaks (less than .2 gpm), which won’t be caught any other time than during an automatic or manually run health check. And for those results, I’ll point you to this video:
I also have the exact same testing with Phyn Plus:
I also have another video on a full walkthrough of all the notifications you can receive from Flo when a leak occurs, which I only touched on the alerts within the app here.
Keep in mind, your own experience will depend on your own household habits as the Flo’s artificial intelligence recognizes your usage patterns and adjusts the reaction time accordingly. You have to consider how grumpy you might be if you are cut off in the middle of a long relaxing shower with bubbles in your hair. There is a fine line between too much interference and detecting a real leak.
PRICING / REVIEWS
NEXT VIDEOS:
How Small of a Leak can Flo by Moen Catch?
How Fast Does Phyn Plus Detect a Leak?
How Small of a Leak does Phyn Plus Catch?
MENTIONED VIDEO:
Flo by Moen Unboxing & Install
