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Winter arrived a bit earlier than usual here in the Upper Midwest, and the moment I saw the projected cold snap, my mind immediately went to the maintenance involved in preparing my home for a long winter in Traverse City, Mich., where our average snowfall is between 125 inches and 145 inches each year.

Questions like, ‘did I blow out my sprinkler lines so the water doesn’t freeze and crack the copper pipes and sprinkler heads?’ Or ‘is my boiler tuned up and ready for another heating season? I hate to leave my home unprotected.’ It’s my family’s sanctuary and a massive financial investment.

The force that can carve out the Grand Canyon can also carve out massive damage to your home. How can we protect our homes from this great force of nature? Knowledge and preparation are critical.

Water Leaks are on the Rise

Water makes up most of the human body and our earth, it’s more important than food to sustain life, and yet it is the largest menace for home insurance claims. Each year, about one in 60 homeowners files a water damage claim, accounting for 20% of all homeowner insurance claims.

I have inflated this statistic by having dealt with two water damage insurance claims myself. My first claim occurred in 2008. Four days after renting out our home after we struggled to sell it, the renter left a bathtub faucet running upstairs while they were at work and the loft next to the bathroom imploded into the living room below. If that was not bad enough, several years ago my friend’s four-year-old daughter flushed a towel down my current basement toilet and the towel then wrapped around my sewage sump pump and clogged it while the toilet continued to run. I came home late that night to 3 inches of water in the basement. The worst/best part happened when my plumber was replacing my sump pump. He offered me a water leak detector, so I’d be alerted if something like that happened again. The irony was that I already had a sample sitting in a box soaking wet – unused!

Beyond personal residences, think how vital water leak prevention devices can be in multi-family dwellings like condos and town homes, home rentals and even new construction. For example, if you were living in a condo and the property above yours had a pipe burst while your neighbor was away. Your neighbor’s nightmare is now yours, and the property below you and the building management company. Now the home insurance claim isn’t limited to your condo alone.

The same goes for any unoccupied home. Home rentals are notorious for large water damage claims due to faucets and fixtures being left open to run. I know from personal experience. Knowing your water supply line is protected, similar to a connected thermostat communicating your property is properly heating and cooling, is worth the price!

Stopping Water at the Source

The good news is that 93% of water leaks can be prevented. Utilizing well-placed water leak detectors that are connected to a water shutoff valve can help prevent catastrophic water damage. In 2021, Resideo Water Leak and Freeze detectors helped save 3 million gallons of water and helped prevent an estimated $1.9 million in insurance claims.

Today, I use Resideo’s new Braukmann L5 WiFi Water Shutoff Valve on my home’s water main and simply shutoff the water flow into my entire home while I travel via the Resideo app. I can also pair Resideo’s WiFi Water Leak & Freeze Detectors in high-risk places and use the actuator’s water sensor cable plugged directly into it – if any part of the cable gets wet, it will close off the actuator stopping water from entering our home. The water cables can be daisy chained up to 500 ft to protect a complete mechanical room. Pipes can leak and burst anywhere throughout the home, especially during the change of seasons, and this product offers me personal peace of mind.

Here are a few additional scenarios that could warrant a water management system and/or leak detection device:

1. Air handler in the attic. Using water leak detection devices in or around a condensation pan would be a good idea so as to identify any water damage threat in an unconditioned space.
2. Dehumidifier in a crawl space. The average dehumidifier captures 30-70 pints of water per day and this moisture needs to go somewhere. A water leak detector delivers peace of mind when the unit is out of sight.
3. Laundry on the second floor. Water damage from a second story can heavily increase the liability of a water damage claims above one’s insurance deductible. A water leak detector will quickly alert you to an issue.
4. Tankless water heater installed. If a homeowner has one of these, it’s likely they are resource conscious and may be more interested in reducing the amount of water lost to leaks.
5. Sump pump pit. These devices are critical for providing protection to one’s home from ground water. Knowing there is a problem allows you to act before three inches of water fills the entire basement.
6. Recent leak damage. Just as my plumber offered me when I had a water damage to my basement – there is no better time to offer water protection than after a customer has felt the sting of a water insurance claim.

What is peace of mind worth to you and your customers? The cost of water is rising like other utilities and so are monthly insurance premiums. Knowing that I do not need to worry about a pipe burst destroying my home and savings account while I visit the in-laws this Christmas will save some of my sanity, and you can’t put a price on that.

*Jason Abajian is the North America Water Sales Manager for Resideo’s Hydronic & Potable Water Solutions. Jason has spent more than 17 years working in the HVAC industry for Resideo Technologies, and previously Honeywell International. With a passion for education and making an impact on future generations, Jason worked for an HVAC installer in the summer, and was a high school teacher during the school year. What started as a summer gig turned into an ideal springboard for his purpose-driven career as a “Wet Head.” Jason is proud to work for an industry that can inspire others and deliver superior craftmanship, comfort and control with minimized environmental impact.

While a vast majority (89%) of the earth’s water is used and consumed for agricultural and industrial sectors (for example farmers for livestock and crops, and key players in food production), there are still steps each of us can take at home to help limit our water waste.

FOUR WAYS TO MINIMIZE UNNECESSARY WATER USE

There are certain elements relating to water that are out of our control – such as droughts or aging underground pipes. But we do have a direct impact on how we use water in our own homes. Homeowners can play a large role in helping conserve water in these four ways:

• Invest in a water management system.  If a smart water management system detects a leak, the user can minimize water loss and damage through app alerts. For example, the user is notified and can either: 1.) turn off the water manually to, or; 2.) use a customized routine that would automatically turn off the water to the home. In 2021, Resideo water leak detectors helped stop an estimated 2.4 million gallons of water leaks and prevented $2.6M in insurance claims. That’s roughly enough water to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool 3.6 times!
• Check for a leaky faucet. A faucet that drips once per second wastes 3,000 gallons annually. It can be caused by a multitude of things, such as corrosion or a loose O-Ring. These leaks are typically small and can be an easy, DIY fix.

• Consider your laundry and dishwasher. Use ENERGY-STAR and High Efficiency products in the kitchen and laundry room. These can save you money on your water bill by using two times less water. Also, washing dishes by hand uses 3.5 times more water than using a dishwasher.
• Re-use where you can. Capture rainwater by adding a rain barrel to the end of your gutters, which can conserve and hold 65-85 gallons of rainwater for your plants or outside cleaning. In your home, try reusing your cooking water for more plant watering!

With a few small changes to your daily lifestyle, you too can make a big impact on Earth’s most precious resource. More information about Resideo water solutions at Resideo.com/water.

PRODUCT OVERVIEW

New from Resideo, the Braukmann L5 WiFi Water Leak Shutoff Valve connects to the main water supply and can automatically turn off the supply to the home if a water leak is detected either by a sensor cable or a paired Resideo WiFI Water Leak and Freeze Detector.

For more than 100 years, Braukmann has stood for trusted and innovative water solutions for homeowners and contractors. Designed with the professional in mind, the high-quality valve is easy to install, support and offers easy monitoring via the Resideo App.

How it Works

The professionally installed L5 valve is added to the home’s main water supply in about ten minutes. An included, 5-foot cable sensor can be plugged into the L5 that detects water along its entire length. The L5 can also connect with future and existing Resideo WiFi Water Leak & Freeze Detectors to expand the coverage. Connect up to 100 sensor cables and lay them through a basement or utility room to extend the sensor length up to 500 feet.

Customers can use the Resideo App to customize triggers, manage alerts and set up shutoff events. For example, when the sensor cable detects water, it can:

• Automatically signal to the L5 to close the valve to turn off the water supply to the house; and,
• Alert the user via the Resideo App and the user can adjust the shutoff valve with the Resideo App.

The L5 has a five-year limited warranty, runs on an A/C power supply and is available through select distributors in November 2022. Future L Series water leak detectors are expected in 2023.

RESIDEO WIFI WATER LEAK & FREEZE DETECTOR

During colder weather, pipes may burst when the water inside them freezes and expands. That’s why, in addition to water leaks, the Resideo WiFi Water Leak & Freeze Detector also can sense temperature changes and humidity, then send an alert – either via the app or the device – when the temperature dips low enough that the pipes could freeze.

The sensor runs on three AA batteries, which are rated to last up to three years with regular use. It includes a 48-inch sensor cable – the entire length of which can detect leaks – that can be combined with other cables for coverage of a whole room.

Product Testimonials*

“I recently installed the L5 in my home and the installation process was extremely easy – and the app set up was very user-friendly. This product is made from the same great quality we can trust and expect from Resideo. I think an automatic water shutoff system is critical to have in a home and will recommend it to my customers. A water shutoff system is just as important as having a smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in a home.” – Dominick Esposito, Plumbing & Water systems Product Manager at F.W. Webb Company

*Additional testimonials and photos available on request.
Download zip file of images: Water.zip