Protect Your Home From Plumbing Leaks: Flo and Phyn
**Our honesty policy: This post may contain affiliate links and I may be compensated if you make a purchase at no extra cost to you. Some are, some aren't--I do some comparison shopping. The important thing is you will know exactly what we are talking about. Drop a note/comment if you have any questions on the products as these are materials and tools we use on our own projects.
A pinhole leak, courtesy of the Uponor Phyn display at IBS 2019.
A leak never waits for a convenient time. In fact, it often seems to happen while there a million things going on, you are headed out the door, or, even worse, while you are on vacation.
That is, when you discover a leak. Oftentimes a leak is something that comes on gradually–starting with a slow drip. It isn’t even noticeable at the beginning…
But what if there was a way to protect your home from plumbing leaks–even at a slow drip?
Moen Flo and Uponor Phyn are your best two answers currently on the market.
(Update 1/22/2020: Resideo Bouy is a new entry in the whole house water monitoring arena, but, sorry, Bouy, I can’t handle your style against the contrasting stacked stone on the front of my house. However, if the location of your water monitor, dear reader, is not plastered to the front of your house you may want to consider a Bouy–just know I’m not going into it at all, admittedly based solely on looks).
Update 7/17/2021: It appears Bouy didn’t make it with their support ending on 3/31/2021. Streamlabs is a possible alternative for indoor only installs and Flo Logic is another choice a YouTube viewer has chosen for an outdoor install. Meanwhile, my Phyn Plus is still holding up strong here in the heat of the desert.
Both Flo and Phyn monitor water usage for your entire house. They track the amount of water used by each type of outlet in your house (toilets, faucets, laundry, etc.) with stats that will delight the nerdiest superuser.
Both systems use artificial intelligence and recognize the patterns of different sinks, toilets, etc. In about a week, determining the type of source and expected usage patterns are set and the monitoring starts in earnest. The water monitoring systems also tests daily for leaks when the system is normally not in use.
Both of these products are a device you place inline on the main plumbing stack leading into your house. You’ll need a 15 amp circuit and internet to power it and communicate with your phone.
Moen Flo
Uponor Phyn
When a leak is detected you are alerted on your phone. If the leak is bad enough these water monitoring devices will shut off the water to the house without your intervention.
Now just because you are taking an extra long shower doesn’t mean it’s going to shut the water off on you. These water monitoring systems are clearly more sophisticated than that. In the case of a longer shower, it can tell the water is going to a certain showerhead from the normal vibrations coming through the system versus a pinhole leak where water is spewing out. But now that it is easy to turn off the water from a phone, your significant other might shut your long shower off!
Prevent major water leaks by discovering a leak the moment it starts.*
Both Uponor and Moen claim they can detect a leak as little as one drop a minute. Early detection, easily done with these systems, is key to preventing your average $7,500 water damage claim.
It’s not like you plan on having a bad plumbing system, but…
My neighborhood was built in the mid to late 80’s. The rolled copper only lasted about 20 years.
The neighbor next door had a under slab leak in one of their main runs, popping off tile in their entryway. Another neighbor across the street has plumbing through his attic–signalling a past leak.
As I mentioned in past posts, I already had a leak under the slab foundation. I know I got lucky with the leak appearing in the hot water line where I could hear it as I walked past. If it had been in a cold line I wouldn’t know until I was staring at an insane water bill in disbelief.
Another leak is not a surprise–it is an expectation.
Your neighborhood is statistically more likely to have a better plumbing system than mine. So why else buy a whole house monitoring system?
Detect a smaller water leak faster.
- A failing toilet flapper.
- A leaky faucet.
- An undetected crack in your pool.
There are many leaks at various endpoints which may be silent and unseen. A monitoring system finds these failures right when they begin instead of days, weeks or years down the road.
Lower insurance premiums.
A few carriers offer discounts for installing a water monitoring device. State Farm, Progressive, Liberty Mutual and Farmers are some of the bigger names.
Unfortunately, this isn’t already in place through some of the major carriers…yet! I did a bit of my own research on this by calling into a few big name insurance companies. As much as I love my current carrier (I actually do!), I was a bit bummed they do not cover this yet. However, I’ll keep calling when it is time to pay my insurance in hopes underwriting has it in the works…or at least give the call center representative some fodder to sound smart during their next staff meeting.
Here’s my call to action for you: if you have one or considering installing a water monitoring system, call it in! The more the insurance companies are made aware, it is possible this could change faster.
When you think about it statistically, water damage from a leak is more likely than theft, fire, or other home emergencies. An insured with a water monitoring system is less likely to have a high dollar claim. It’s a win-win. They don’t want to pay that average $7,500 and, honestly, that’s not what you want to spend $7,500 on anyway. Moving out your stuff, scheduling your life around contractors, and getting it all looking as good as it did before is no one’s idea of a good time.
So when you are on the phone with your insurance asking about this coverage you can casually mention they pay out less, you pay less in insurance, and you don’t have the headache of dealing with massive repairs after a loss. That or you can be excited as I was talking about this to them. I’m pretty sure it was infectious as a couple ladies on the other end of the phone sounded like they were smiling as they put it together, “So it ends up costing everyone less…” Yep!
Less hassle to you when smaller repairs are done.
A smaller repair means less putback:
- Less time off work to deal with repairs.
- Less stress in your life between dealing with insurance, contractors, and the state of living in the same home while this is all happening.
- Perhaps less contractors coming in and out of your home.
Detect leaks during foundation repair.
A lesser used reason is to use a water monitor as a leak detector during or after foundation repairs. While the foundation is moved and shifted back into place a water monitor such as Phyn or Flo keeps tabs during the whole process. Plumbing is one of the many possible repairs necessary after a foundation fix is complete.
As a slab on grade foundation moves, the plumbing under the slab wants to stay in place as it was buried further by the pressure of the house sinking on it. As the house is lifted, many times plumbing stays causing a break.
Pier and beam foundations may not suffer as bad since plumbing is in the crawlspace, but breaks can still occur.
Some foundation repair companies offer plumbing checks before and after as an additional service during the repair process. A Flo by Moen or and Uponor Phyn will keep tabs the whole time and let you know as soon as a break occurs. Of course, this does not help you with your outgoing plumbing. A scope is still necessary for that kind of break. However, outgoing is not going to be a steady stream shooting out unchecked.
This is great and all, but what’s the cost?
MSRP for Moen Flo is $499.
MSRP for Uponor Phyn is $850 now $699.
Moen Flo has a one year warranty. They also offer a $5/month subscription to allow you to track individual fixtures in the app. This subscription also includes two more years of warranty. In addition, it also covers up to a $2,500 deductible if you have an insurance claim related to a water repair caused by a failure in the supply lines monitored by Flo (probably obvious, but for clarity–it does not cover any supply line before the location of the device). At $5 a month it will take 41.67 years before you hit $2,500.
Uponor Phyn has a two year warranty. If you have it installed by one of their Pro Squad the warranty increases to three years and they will also cover up to a $3,000 deductible.
If you are having your water monitor system professionally installed–we’ll call that a wash between the two competing products. The additional warranty for the Flo with the offered subscription is an additional $180 ($5 x 3 years). The deductible coverage will continue as long as you keep the subscription, even after three years.
As with many of my posts–and I’m shopping for myself here–I want to present you with an apples to apples comparison. An added on subscription starts eating into the cost difference if these additional coverages are something you want.
Monitoring your water usage is a nerdy kind of fun–you can even set up goals and challenges. However, I don’t want to spend $499-$850 on something cool. It’s gotta justify the cost. Remember how I mentioned looking at an exorbitant water bill if a leak appears and goes undetected?
My tenant had a water bill of $450+ one month with an unknown leak. One of our doctors lived in a house without a pool with $800+ water bills every month. They moved out as soon as they could get out of the lease. Those kinds of numbers justify the cost of one of these monitoring systems.
When it comes to detecting leaks in plumbing, you want to know the source when the leak is small. Both Phyn and Flo will do that. These systems are on 24/7. So whether or not you are sleeping, away at work during the day, or away on vacation or business travel for a month–these water monitoring systems have your back.
My prediction: at the $499 price point it is going to start getting into mainstream new builds.
My second prediction: are you really going to hit that deductible when the device cuts the water off for you? Sometimes, yes, but with a monitoring system in place and you addressing the issue immediately, a leak doesn’t go for days on end. Your damage is minimal in comparison to what it could be.
It’s crazy to think you are going to protect your home from plumbing leaks through your phone!
This is one of those devices you never knew you needed until you find out about it. Or you’ve wished for it–like back in the 90’s I wanted to control the radio in the car from where my hands should be…on the steering wheel–but the technology wasn’t there yet.
I’m debating between the two for my own house now. I’m sure we are going to love the Moen Flo or Uponor Phyn–we won’t go wrong with either one. Sneak preview: depending on what are the best options on the market in a couple years, don’t be surprised if a new post appears on this blog with both Flo and Phyn on the same house (that seems like the ultimate test)!
The only concern in the back of my mind is…what happens when I install it and find out I already have a leak?
Fingers crossed, but you never know…and knowledge is the point.
We installed Flo by Moen in April 2019. In November 2020 we replaced Flo with Phyn Plus. Check out my full feature reviews here:
Phyn Plus Feature Deep Dive Review
Prevent Water Damage 24/7: A Flo by Moen Review
along with a cost breakdown:
The REAL COST of Flo by Moen vs Phyn Plus
Ready to buy? Here are two great places to look: Moen Flo and Phyn Plus (and enter discount code ‘Margaret10’ at checkout for 10% off).
After this article was written we ended up installing a Flo on our own home. I’d strongly suggest reading this before you decide on either device. It is an in depth review / preview of what you are getting on top of the limitations: Prevent Water Damage 24/7: a Flo by Moen Review
*The one down side: how to detect the source of the leak if it is not obvious.
You might have already thought, “Detecting a drop is great, but how do you determine the source if it is under the slab foundation or in the walls?”
It’s going to be tough in our average homes with a trunk and branch system. With a manifold system you have the ability to test each line individually (search for Eureka! in this post here).
First, you’ll check out all the easy to view places–a faucet, the sound of the toilet flapper. Did you just install a picture and unknowingly spring a leak by hitting a supply line? (that would be terrible luck and a story to pass on…)
While you may want to claim ignorance is bliss, at least you know to start hunting. Once all the obvious answers come up short, you’ll be looking for a soggy spot in the ceiling or wall or tiles popping up from a saturated cement slab.
(Updated 2020) Here are some other ways: 12 Ways to Detect a Supply Plumbing Leak Under a Slab Foundation
