Water leak alarm.

[DIYourselfer]

Is anyone familiar with the watercop system?
DynaQuip Controls - WaterCop Components


It's not cheap but if it works when needed it is worth the price(just like insurance).
My house has a below ground den and the water main,washing machine,boiler and hot water heater are all downstairs and the pipes run into a crawlspace that is not heated. They are wrapped as best I can but over the weekend I found a leak from a spot that apparently expanded due to ice inside the line. If I wasn't home I would have lost the carpet and other stuff.
Anyone have any thoughts on this product?
Thanks in advance,
Joe

[LazyPup]

On paper it looks good, but in the real world I would have serious doubts as to the value.

Let us consider the facts. If you were to install that unit and you put a thermal sensor in the crawl space it would turn the water off when the temperature in the crawl space drops below a preset point, however, even though it turns the water supply off the pipes in the crawlspace are still full of water and subject to freezing and rupturing a line. On the other hand, when a line freezes the ice in the line also stops the water flow.

Later when the temperature in the crawlspace warms up the ice in the line would melt and you have a leak. On the other hand, if you have that control unit when the temperature sensor senses the crawlspace has warmed up it will open reset and here again, you have a leak so my question is, what is to be gained?

It makes much better sense to me to take the appropriate actions to prevent the lines from freezing.

One sure method is to install a circulating pump and a return loop on your hot water line then wrap the hot water line, return loop and cold water line in a common insulation blanket. In this manner the slight amount of heat radiating from the hot water line would be enough to protect the cold line as well. This would also provide instant on hot water at the remote bathroom.

If your lines are run parallel to the joist I prefer to install the lines high up into the joist bay, then insulate the sides of the joist bay and install insulation under the pipe but none on top of the pipe. In this manner a slight amount of residual heat will migrate through the floor from the heated living space above and it keeps the joist bay above freezing temp. (See illustration below).

If the lines are running at right angle to the joists through bored holes you could create the same insulation effect by creatively making simple cardboard headers between the joists and installing insulation in the same manner.

Another option is to install thermostatic controlled heat tapes on the pipes, then cover both the pipe and the heat tape in pipe insulation.

Now some may argue that a recirculation pump or the heat tapes waste energy, but I would counter by saying that when you consider the minimal amount of energy they consume it could run all winter and still be much cheaper than paying a plumber to crawl under your house in a wet crawlspace on a cold day to repair a pipe.

[HayZee518]

Water alarm

Want something simple for water detection? Look in some electronic circuits on the web or make up one of these things. Very simple and it works! Hayzee