Water

Water damage is the most expensive thing a cheap sensor can prevent. A leak detector that only sends a notification is still useful; one wired to a valve that closes the supply is in a different category of protection.

This section covers detection that leads to action, spotting the slow leak that never announces itself, and the monitoring that reveals a running toilet has been costing you money for months.

Articles in this category

1. Leak detection and automatic shut-off: the best value sensor in a house

   Escape of water is more frequent and more expensive than fire or theft in many markets. The water is not the problem — the delay in noticing is.

   6 min read · 1,395 words · Reviewed July 2026

2. Reading your water meter: finding the leak you did not know about

   The tool for finding a hidden leak is already installed, free to use, and almost nobody knows how to read it properly.

   6 min read · 1,329 words · Reviewed October 2026

3. Hot water: store hot, deliver warm, and shift when you heat it

   Usually the second largest energy use in a home, and the one where a genuine safety issue sits alongside the efficiency question.

   6 min read · 1,430 words · Reviewed November 2026

4. Freeze protection: preventing the most expensive thing water does

   A pipe splits while frozen and stays sealed by ice. The water arrives on the thaw, often a day or two later, usually with nobody home.

   6 min read · 1,412 words · Reviewed September 2026

5. Hard water and scale: what works, and what is sold anyway

   Only one domestic technology actually removes hardness. Knowing which is the difference between solving the problem and decorating it.

   6 min read · 1,404 words · Reviewed June 2026

6. Drinking water: what to test for and what filters actually do

   Most households buying a filter have no idea what is in their water. In much of Europe the supply is already very good — which makes the useful question narrower.

   6 min read · 1,414 words · Reviewed July 2026

7. Rainwater and greywater: how far up the scale is worth going

   Roof plan area times rainfall times 0.8 gives litres a year, and the number surprises people. What to do with it is the harder question.

   6 min read · 1,370 words · Reviewed September 2026

8. Legionella and stagnant water: the risk in ordinary homes

   The bacteria needs warmth, stagnation and a way to become airborne. Most homes rarely meet all three at once, but a few fittings routinely do.

   5 min read · 1,234 words · Reviewed November 2026

9. Water pressure and flow: a diagnostic signal, not just a nuisance

   A pressure or flow reading that drifts over weeks points to scale, a failing valve or a hidden leak, well before anything visibly breaks.

   5 min read · 1,199 words · Reviewed August 2026