Phyn Plus Feature Deep Dive Review
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This post is reviewing all the Phyn Plus features–covering everything about the Phyn Plus device and I’ll be showing you exactly what you can do with the Phyn phone app.
Business first, this is a review unit–but a water monitor is not a device you can easily install on your home and depending on where you have it installed and your weather conditions (aka the Sonoran Desert), you might need to be a little more choosy about what you are willing to put on your house. There will be more backstory in a follow on post explaining why we made the switch to Phyn Plus.
Honestly, this will be our last attempt at putting a whole house water monitor on this house. There isn’t another water monitor and shutoff system on the market with the stringent testing Phyn Plus has achieved (HALT tested to MIL-STD-810G–more info blow).
Second, the rest of this post is mostly the script for this video. I’m putting it right out there that the video is the better way of viewing this “article” because there is nothing that compares to “seeing” the unit and phone app in action.
BREAKING (11/1/21): Phyn Plus is now Gen 2. This article is based on Gen 1. You KNOW I’ll be sharing the latest on YouTube and on the blog here as soon as I get my hands on this. There are upgrades to the internals, LED screen, and more, but it is still tested to the same military standard.
Also, yes, my phone is cracked at the moment–a freak accident during a game of freeze tag.
However, there is value in searchable text so you don’t have to go searching back through the video (or you get the idea if the point you are interested is at the beginning/middle/end). I can also update this post, which I cannot do with a video. For instance, ALL installation requirements are included here, like making sure you install Phyn Plus AFTER a fire suppressant sprinkler system.
The Phyn Plus device.
Phyn Plus is a whole house water monitor and shutoff system which continuously monitors for leaks and gives you the ability to shut off water to your house with or without your intervention.
You place a Phyn Plus inline on your water riser coming into the house, after your shutoff to the house.
The unit itself has an aluminum housing connected to the plumbing with brass water meter couplings. Let’s be real, this is the sexiest water monitor out there with a sleek design and LED screen on front. It just looks slick.
All of this protects three sensors on the inside: a pressure sensor, temperature sensor and ultrasonic flow sensor with no moving parts. The only moving part is the shutoff valve which is designed with full bore stainless ball construction.
When your faucet runs, the pressure sensor in Phyn detects micro changes in pressure at 240 times a second recognizing the faucet’s pressure signature. Phyn matches this event with the flow rate measured by the ultrasonic flow sensor to determine how much water is going through that particular faucet.
Interactive Phyn app display while water is in use.
That, on top of the AI using your past usage history, is how Phyn Plus learns to differentiate between a toilet flushing at the exact same time the washing machine is running.
Phyn’s does not easily log backflow events from the supply side because it does not use a turbine. Instead, it uses an ultrasonic flow sensor. Water movement is only logged if the pressure sensor detects a vibration signature, which generally comes from a fixture or a new leak. In other words, you are less likely to need a check valve or water hammer arrestor installed to get useful information in Phyn’s event log.
If the leak is small and is not large enough to be easily detected it will be discovered during the automated daily plumbing check.
Phyn monitors your water usage and sends texts and push notifications from the phone app if it detects any kind of leaks, pressure issues, and offline status. It will also send alerts if the issue is resolved in time before shutting off the water automatically.
You can decide if you would like to receive texts, push notifications, or both. You can also receive a phone call, but I will touch on that later. In other words, you can control JUST how much you want to light up your phone.
Here is what a critical alert looks like inside the Phyn app.
It includes how much water occurred during the event, the date, start and end time along with duration. Depending on the situation, for instance, this was a high flow event, Phyn gives possible suggestions as to the cause along with how to troubleshoot the situation. If it was not an actual leak, you can help Phyn continue to learn your household’s behavior by classifying the event.
If you know it is something you are obviously doing (like flood irrigating a tree berm), turning water back on is as simple as touching the button from off to on.
Phyn Plus also runs a daily plumbing check to detect any smaller leaks. It runs this plumbing check during times when you do not usually use water.
If you do happen to turn on a faucet or appliance during the plumbing check it will immediately interrupt the diagnostic test and turn the water back on. The switch back on is instantaneous so you may not even notice it was on except for the push notification and text.
The app allows you to manually set a time range when you prefer a normal plumbing check to run.
Moving back to the unit itself, Phyn Plus is a worst case scenario backup if the shutoffs at both the water riser and water meter go bad. You can turn the valve off physically two ways. By pressing the blue button on the side for three seconds.
Or second, if, and only if, there is no power to the system you can take the shutoff tool attached to the side, lift the grey panel on the side of the unit, insert the tool until it seats and turn clockwise to turn the water off.
In order to see the status of the device manually you have to push the blue button on the side. The beautiful blue LED screen indicates all is well and when water is running you’ll see the screen shows movement. If the valve is in the off position you can see it also shows that status. If there is no Wi-Fi you see the same flashing sequence used to set up the unit. If you were hoping the LED screen stays on, it has a 2 minute timeout. This is great in the situation where it lives outside and you don’t necessarily need it advertised, but it won’t continuously light up for you if you have it installed indoors.
If your internet goes out, obviously, you won’t get leak notifications in the event of an emergency, although you will receive an offline alert.
However, your home is still protected with offline leak protection. As long as there is power the unit can function independently. You will have to enable this feature in the settings because it is disabled by default. While the unit is offline it will still keep tabs on your water usage and add the amount used to the total for the day.
Phyn will send you notifications if it detects pipes freezing.
The freeze warning is one of the very notable parts of Phyn Plus. Recall, this unit is designed to measure pressure. The freeze warning is not just the temperature sensor on the unit giving you the reading only at the unit, but a combination of both the temperature sensor and the pressure sensor working together. It is a result of seeing the pressure go up in the plumbing, which we all know causes pipes to expand and eventually burst.
We just need to stop for a moment to realize how incredibly sophisticated Phyn Plus is to protect an entire house from freezing pipes. This isn’t just a temperature sensor in the unit. This is a highly sophisticated way of looking at your entire system and keeping that entire system protected NOT just where Phyn Plus is located.
The Phyn app.
The Phyn interface is straightforward and intuitive. The first screen, called the activity monitor, focuses in on the current usage. It gives you a real time reading on the temperature, pressure, and flow rate. It also gives you a warm and fuzzy on your alert status and when your last plumbing check ran. If you are into water conservation or at least getting a feel for how well you are doing in comparison to the average 1 or more person household, you see how you compare right on the front screen.
From this screen you can run a plumbing check, see water usage and see water events.
If you select run a plumbing check you have the option to run a normal check or extended check. We’re going to go into a lot more detail on the plumbing check in a follow on video where I share some real life testing with you.
If you select see water use, it takes you into the water use plus calendar which gives you a heat map for your daily usage over the course of the current month with the comparison, gallons used, and number of events at the bottom. If you have some water cycle you run manually, like I do when I’m irrigating my citrus trees, you can track the last time you watered based on the heat map on the calendar.
When you click on any day you’ll get a high level breakdown on each kind of fixture.
From there if you click on gallons or events you’ll get the lower level events and exact usage. If instead, you clicked on sink, for instance, it will return you back to events filtered on sink.
See water events leads you back to the current day’s events.
Again, because of the ultrasonic flow sensor design (as opposed to a turbine) working in conjunction with the pressure sensor, Phyn does an excellent job at classifying water usage and in my home it ignores water hammer from my water provider. In other words, you won’t see lots of false positives cluttering up the event history. It even distinguishes between multiple water sources simultaneously running. If you think about it, your toilet is still filling up when you have moved on and are already washing your hands. As Phyn Plus learns your behavior along with certain appliances and toilets, these measurements will get more exact.
That said, you also have to have some realization that when a toilet flushes a sink is going to start when a the toilet is finishing it’s refill cycle. So with the AI continuously learning, and if you only use a sink in a bathroom when you use a toilet–like a half bath in a shared space–I would expect it is going to start combining those events because you never use that bathroom otherwise.
The bell on the top right is the alerts screen where all active and resolved alerts are logged.
There is another water use view in the side screen. It also gives you a high level picture of each month with the daily gallons used. There is also an hourly breakdown of the day selected in the chart below.
Moving on to the settings, this is where you can update the fixtures and how many residents are in your home after your initial install. You can also change how you want to be notified of events along if you want to set time windows when alerts can be sent.
Under smart home integrations Phyn Plus can interface with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and IF THIS THEN THAT.
With regard to IFTTT, you can do all of these discoverable applets, except D-link no longer supports IFTTT, so at this time Notion is the only water sensor compatible with Phyn Plus if you are concerned about a water leak in a certain location of your home, like a washing machine on a second floor. If you would like a phone call when Phyn detects a leak, this is the solution. You’ll have to install the IFTTT app and use the discoverable applet to allow IFTTT to call you. While there is no applet for a water pressure alert, you can get a call for frozen pipe alerts.
Pro tip: enter IFTTT’s robocall number in your contact list.
Each Phyn unit is linked to only one account. In real terms, if you have a significant other, you’ll have to share login credentials in order for everyone to have access, but two phones can be logged in at the same time without signing the other off. This way, the push notifications will go out on both phones. However, IFTTT is the answer for text notifications and phone calls to multiple phones.
Settings is also where you can enable and disable away mode. If you enable away mode Phyn will only allow any water to run for 1 minute before shutting off the valve. Just below that you’ll want to go into auto shutoff. The auto shutoff settings are very important, and you’ll want to familiarize yourself with these right after you install Phyn Plus so you know what to expect and modify what is set to your needs.
By default, the system is in learning mode and will not shut off your water for any reason unless you choose to override the default setting. Likewise, offline leak protection comes disabled by default.
Let’s go through a few scenarios to show you how alerts work with Phyn Plus:
If you are actively doing something, you can keep Phyn Plus from shutting off the water by replying to the alert in the app. If you click on flow details you can see the details on what triggered the alert.
When you receive an alert and you reply before the event is resolved or water is automatically shut off, when you open the Phyn app it will ask you a few questions to verify if it is an issue or a regular use scenario. If it is something you know about, this information will then be categorized and used to tailor Phyn to your household’s usage habits. However, Phyn will continue to monitor the event and will keep it as an active issue until it is over.
If you do not respond to the initial alert, you will receive another round of notifications. A third round of notifications will go out when Phyn cuts of water to everything beyond Phyn Plus. There is one last round of notifications when the issue has been resolved, even if that means Phyn Plus turned the water off automatically. You can always shut it off sooner yourself if you are within range of your phone.
If you don’t see the notifications come in, Phyn will send a second set of notifications stating it will turn the water off and then after a little more time has elapsed, cut off the water without you even knowing about the event. The amount of time between each notification and shutoff depends on the rate of flow and your past usage history.
If a leak is discovered during the nightly plumbing check you’ll receive a text and push notification and a different welcome screen discussing the new leak. If you click on test details, you’ll see what you normally see in the plumbing check history. Once you’ve gone through the prompts, the alert will be included at the beginning in the activity monitor summary and the alert will remain in the active alerts until the next successful plumbing check–whether you address it and run a manual test or if you wait for the next automatic plumbing check to run..
These are high level tests and I’ll be doing a follow up video on different tests with how Phyn reacts. Keep in mind the AI will change the reaction time and behaviour is it collects more data and learns your household’s habits. If your device goes offline you’ll know by the notification at the top of the screen and the message displayed.
The online interface of Phyn is only through a phone app. There is no computer access. However, if you are a property manager, or someone with multiple units, there is a Phyn dashboard, which gives you high level monitoring on your properties.
You can install the app and go into demo mode to see many of the features for yourself before you buy Phyn Plus.
Here are all the requirements for installing a Phyn Plus.
Do not put it before a fire suppression system.
It must be installed after the PRV (if you have one–no worries if you don’t).
It can be installed vertically or horizontally and must be at least 12 inches above ground.
It can handle a supply line up to 1-¼”. IMHO 1-¼” seems to be pushing it considering this model has a 3/4″ throughput on the unit itself. It will be a point of restriction on a 1″ line. There is an XL 1.5 model coming out later this year and I’d suggest that for the 1-¼” service lines.
Assuming a horizontal install, Phyn Plus is 16 inches long from end to end including the ¾” brass water meter couplings which are included. The power supply is 7-11/16” in the back flaring out to 8-½” in the front. The depth of the unit is 5-11/16” with 3-1/4” between the plumbing and the back. It extends forward an additional 1-⅛”.
Phyn Plus is 3 inches tall with the plumbing centered in the middle. The back of the power supply is 2-3/16” tall.
Phyn Plus requires a GFCI protected power source–weatherproofed, if your unit is outside. The device comes with an AC adapter with 14 feet and 8 inches of cable.
Because the power supply is attached to the back of Phyn Plus, there must be an electrical outlet within reach of this cord. You’ll want to take into consideration which direction Phyn Plus will face. As you can see in our case, the distance from the outlet was even shorter because the incoming plumbing side of the unit, where the cord attaches to the power supply, is on the opposite side of the electrical outlet, taking an additional 8 inches off that distance, as well as running the electrical cord below the house overhang for protection from the sun.
Phyn also requires Wi-Fi. So far Phyn has always been available when I’ve pulled out my phone and it has not signed me out of the app.
If you look at technical specs for Phyn Plus, they do not specify an exact operating temperature range. Except there is this distinction listed: HALT tested to Military standard-810G: for Heat / UV / Cold and Humidity.
If you read those military standards, this translates into Phyn will have sent you a freeze warning and your pipes will burst before Phyn stops working due to freezing temperatures. Likewise, Phyn Plus was ruggedized for hotter temperatures. Personally, I’m going to be including Phyn in my protective measures when a freeze rolls around since I can’t separate it from the surrounding plumbing. AAAAAND I’m really looking forward to seeing how Phyn performs this summer and sharing those results with you.
The MSRP on Phyn Plus Gen 2 is $499. However, you may catch a better deal on the Phyn website, Amazon, another friend who has one already *cough* *cough* me 😉 or other retailers. I will go into a much deeper cost analysis in an upcoming video between Phyn Plus and Flo by Moen (now linked below–remember, Gen 2 just dropped the price by $200 and I can’t change the price in the video…). Also check with your insurance company–you may get a discount if you have a water monitor and shutoff system installed!
If you buy and install your unit through Uponor Pro Squad program, your two year warranty on Phyn Plus will extend another year for a total of three years. A pro squad install will also give you 3000 of coverage for your insurance deductible, if Phyn Plus misses a leak that causes damage. No longer offered with the move back to Belkin.
Stay tuned for live testing on how Phyn behaves in different “leak” scenarios (also now linked below). Along with another video on how Phyn Plus compares against Flo by Moen. The long term review for Phyn Plus will come out in another year when this unit goes through all seasons here in the desert…restarting when I get Gen 2.
I’m also in the process of creating an entire series you can check out on different ways to detect leaks in your home’s plumbing. Insider tidbit–thermal expansion from the water heater is wreaking havoc on water pressure gauge tests–also REALLY interesting stuff in light of the nightly plumbing checks for Phyn. This isn’t anything I expected and I’m really excited to share my findings with you all!
Check it out for yourself here: https://www.phyn.com/plus-smart-water-assistant/ and enter discount code ‘Margaret10’ at checkout for 10% off.
