Review: Phyn Smart Water Sensor Monitors More than Water

Leak detectors are essential smart devices that can save you money by preventing water damage from broken pipes in hard-to-reach areas of your home or overflowing toilets. We have been testing these devices in real homes for years and have a good understanding of how they work and function with other smart devices in the home. We recently tested Phyn’s new Smart Water Sensor in a real home to see how this powerful water sensor works both as a standalone leak detector and in conjunction with the Phyn Plus Smart Water Monitor. Here’s what we found out while testing.

Phyn Smart water sensor unpacked, GearBrain

What is the Phyn Smart Water Sensor?

Phyn Smart Water Sensor is a sensor that can detect water and temperature changes in your home. With the free Phyn app (iOS and Android OS), this intelligent water sensor can detect water leaks, frozen temperatures, high and low humidity in real time. It can also notify you through an SMS text, an acoustic tone and a flickering LED light on the sensor.

Buy Phyn Smart Water Sensor from The Home Depot

The Phyn water sensor can be placed in any area of ​​your house, even in hard-to-reach places, such as in your basement next to your boiler or in your bathroom behind the toilet. It can also work in attics to monitor temperature and humidity during those hot summer days. This intelligent leak sensor should be placed wherever water shouldn’t go. It connects to your home Wi-Fi network (2.4 GHz) and you can create custom alerts in the free Phyn app.

The Phyn water sensor has a unique design. It looks like a hockey puck with an LED light on top. It is battery operated and can last up to two years.

Phyn Smart water sensor listed in app

The Phyn app helps you set up your Phyn Smart Water Sensor and the integrations.GearBrain

How to set up your Phyn water sensor

Setting up a water sensor or water leak detector is very easy. It’s no different with Phyn Smart Water Sensor. After unpacking the Phyn water sensor, insert the supplied batteries, download the Phyn app and follow the installation instructions. You need to connect the sensor to your home WiFi router. If you already own a Phyn water monitoring device such as a Phyn Plus or Phyn Water Assistant, simply add the Phyn water sensor to your existing account. The set-up time should not be more than five minutes.

Buy Phyn Smart Water Sensor at Best Buy

What if you need a water sensor to monitor a large area in your home?

A major challenge for homeowners who need to monitor large areas for possible leaks or water damage is finding a fair and effective way to monitor the space. Phyn offers a solution that allows you to use a leak sensor and an extension sensor cable to protect against water damage. The company offers two accessories that you can pair with your Phyn water sensor, the Phyn water sensor expansion node and the Phyn water sensor cable. Each of these devices work in conjunction with your Phyn water sensor to monitor for leaks within a range of 1.2 m and up to 3.6 m with the addition of additional cables.

Phyn water sensor cable under a refrigerator
The Phyn water sensor cable extends the range of a sensor by 1.2 m. Phyn

How many cables and leak detectors can you join together with Phyn?

Phyn can control up to 9 Phyn Smart water sensors per house. Phyn expansion nodes and sensor cables are four feet long and you can add up to three sensor cables (12 feet) to one smart water sensor, or you can add up to two sensor cables and one expansion node per Phyn Smart water sensor.

The difference between a sensor cable and an extension knot is that a sensor cable is a four foot cable that can detect water as soon as it hits part of the cable. Extension knot is also a 1.2 m long cable, but has a knot or sensor at the end. As soon as water hits the knot and only the knot, the sensor sends a warning.

By adding three sensor cables to each Phyn smart water sensor and based on 9 sensors in your home, you can cover 108 square feet. Not bad, but what would it cost?

costs

Phyn’s smart water sensors are priced at $ 39.99 each and are available from Best Buy, The Home Depot, and the company’s website. Phyn sensor cables are $ 25.99 each and Extension Node is $ 9.99 each. Adding 3 sensor cables to each of the 9 smart water sensors would cost $ 1,061.64 ($ 701.73 for the sensor cables and $ 359.91 for the water sensors). This is expensive, but it is a decision that can save money on repairs and potentially your homeowner’s insurance premiums.

Buy Phyn Smart Water Sensor from The Home Depot

Phyn compatibility

The Phyn Smart Water Sensor is compatible with other Phyn Smart devices and systems. It also works with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant enabled devices. And for the more adventurous, Phyn works with If This Than That (IFTTT) applets. You can set up automations like “turn up your thermostat when you get a frost warning from your Phyn Smart Water Sensor”. Or ask Alexa about the temperature in the room where your Phyn Smart Water Sensor is installed. All integrations are set up in the Phyn app under Smart Home Integrations.

However, Phyn is best used in conjunction with a Phyn Plus or Phyn Smart Water Assistant. These types of setups offer your home additional protection from water damage. The water sensor works together to ensure that your water is turned off when water is detected. It’s the perfect combination to provide a just solution for every smart home.

Alexa app with Phyn integrations

Phyn Smart Water Sensor can be integrated into Amazon Alexa-enabled devices. Just download the Alexa skill in the Alexa app, GearBrain

power

One of the biggest challenges with water sensors or leak detectors is making sure you have a good WiFi signal for the leak detector, especially when it’s in position. Lots of the places you might want to place a leak detector, e.g. B. in the basement next to your boiler or water heater, usually do not have a good WiFi signal. We have found in testing other smart leak detectors that many occasionally lose their signal. With the Phyn Smart Water Sensor, we had no connection problems even when we moved it around our house. We had it in the attic, in the basement, under sinks, next to washing machines, and behind toilets in our bathrooms. The device never lost a wireless connection which was good.

Another feature we don’t often find on leak detectors is humidity monitoring. There are several leak detectors we tested that can monitor temperature changes like Phyn, but humidity monitoring was a first. During setup, you can set the humidity for each Phyn Smart Water Sensor. Humidity monitoring is great if you want to keep an eye on the heat and humidity in your attic so that items don’t get damaged.

Phyn App – humidity measurements

Phyn app with moisture readings from Phyn's intelligent water sensor

Moisture readings are tracked in the Phyn app

GearBrain

In addition to tracking your temperature and humidity readings, the Phyn app also provides tips and information on what the readings mean. They also give tips on what to do.

Phyn App – Insurance Discounts

Search for insurance providers in Phyn app

Phyn app offers insurance discounts.

GearBrain

Homeowners can get insurance discounts by installing Phyn equipment, including the Phyn Smart Water Sensor. Use the app to find out whether your insurance company participates.

We have installed a Phyn Plus Water Monitoring System in our smart home. Pairing the Phyn water sensor with our Phyn Plus was extremely easy and it’s nice to be able to control these devices in an app. Setting up notifications was quick and easy. If you can afford to install a Phyn Plus system, we highly recommend it. The combination of this system with the Phyn water sensors offers you the ultimate protection against water damage. Also, you may be able to get bigger discounts on your homeowner’s insurance premiums.

In the Phyn app you will see “Home contents insurance discount” under Settings. Click the link and see if your home insurance is listed. Phyn has partnerships with AIG and Chubb insurance companies. If you do not use these companies, Phyn will provide “Proof of Activation” that you can email your insurance carrier to see if you are eligible for discounts. Since water damage is the largest cost to insurance companies, there is a good chance you can get a discount on installing a Phyn system.

Phyn Smart Water Sensor and box on one worktop.

Phyn Smart Water Sensor is available from The Home Depot, Best Buy and Phyn.comGearBrain

Buy Phyn Smart Water Sensor from The Home Depot

summary

As I mentioned in our review, GearBrain has been testing intelligent leak detectors for years. We saw these smart little sensors transform into cost-saving smart devices that are essential to today’s smart home. With the Phyn Smart Water Sensor and its new functions, they continue to help prevent water or moisture damage to your smart home at an attractive price. The cost of this smart leak detector, which looks like a hockey puck, is way below the cost of other leak detectors (which cost between $ 50 and $ 100), even if you have either a Phyn expansion node ($ 25.99) or one Would add sensor cables ($ 9.99 each).

Overall, GearBrain recommends the Phyn Smart Water Sensor for users looking for a good reliable leak detector that will keep an eye on leaks, temperature changes and humidity in your smart home. It can help you save money on home insurance (depending on your carrier) and protect your home from water damage that comes with costly repairs, no matter how big it is.

professional

  • Works with Phyn Plus, Phyn Smart Water Assistant, IFTTT and Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant enabled devices.
  • Easy adjustment
  • Monitors humidity, temperature and water detection
  • Reliable WiFi connection

With

  • Extension cords cost extra
  • Sensor cables cost extra

Buy Phyn Smart Water Sensor at Best Buy

Check out The GearBrain, our smart home compatibility search engine, to see the other compatible products that work with Phyn devices, Google Assistant, and Amazon Alexa-enabled devices.

How to ask questions about GearBrain, the Compatibility Find Engine for Smart Devices. www.youtube.com

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