Electric water valve

Hi,

I need some ideas for a project I want to do in my house. I recently bought one (house) and this weekend I replaced the faucets. After the job was done, I was thinking to myself, what if the faucets leak? I'm not much of a plumber so the probability is high I guess.

Anyhow, that got me thinking. What about a wireless system where it could detect water (from a busted pipe or something similar) and then it would automatically shut off the water to the home. I had other ideas like calling you on the phone or text messaging. So I go to www.uspto.gov and I'm really excited but, someone beat me to it.....like three years ago. I found the patent and the device (www.watercop.com) but it's waaaaayyyy too expensive.

So, what I would like to know from the forum is this:

1. Does anyone know of a reliable electric water valve? Something simple. You apply 120VAC and it opens, you cut 120VAC and it closes.

2. I plan to install it right after the water heater so if anything in the home fails, it will cut-off the water. I'm not sure what to do about the water heater yet but it's not inside my house so I will deal with that later.

3. I was thinking about different methods to activate the valve and here are some of my thoughts. Water detection sensors throughout my home would be good but they would not completely solve my potential issue. What if the leak was behind a wall? The watercop uses a flow meter but I don't understand how it knows you would be using a faucet or something similar. What I was thinking was to run it off of some lights in the home. For example, the kitchen, and both bathroom lights would open the valve but if all three are off, the valve would be closed (or gates). This would only leave the dishwasher but what I could do is put a timer there and press a button. Once the timer times out, the valve would close again.

4. My secondary thought, to save energy, was to shut off my water heater when I am not home. Does anyone know how long it would take a water heater to warm up after sitting for a while. Obviously, in the winter months would take longer then the summer months. With the rising costs of just about everything, including energy, I thought this would be a good idea to save some money and do something good for the environment. So, should I just go with a simple timer or make something more elaborate?

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Chris

Hi Christopher4187,
It depends on how much flow you need, but there are lots of options, every dishwasher, washing machine uses solenoid valves and the home center sells valves which cut off water to the washing machine in case of hose failure . . .

Quote:

4. My secondary thought, to save energy, was to shut off my water heater when I am not home. Does anyone know how long it would take a water heater to warm up after sitting for a while. Obviously, in the winter months would take longer then the summer months. With the rising costs of just about everything, including energy, I thought this would be a good idea to save some money and do something good for the environment. So, should I just go with a simple timer or make something more elaborate?

Depends on how long you are gone.
A day? Probably better off to make sure it is insulated and just leave it on.
A week? Depends on how well it is insulated, size, wattage, etc.

1 pound of water takes 1 BTU to raise 1 degree Fahrenheit. 8.34 pounds = 1 gallon.

How cold is the water and how hot do you want it.

Something more elaborate-- Use Solar to maintain or as a pre-heater. But that involves plumbing.