Several years ago the water heater in my basement burst sometime during the night. I woke up the following morning to discover about three inches of water on my basement floor as more water poured out of the water heater.
If you’ve ever had a water heater or pipe burst you know it can cause thousands of dollars in damages before you even know what’s happened.
In the last couple of years, leak detectors have come onto the market to alert you in the event of a burst water heater or pipes under the sink.
I picked a water leak detector by Govee for about $25 but there are many others listed on Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart.
It comes with a sensor and a gateway you plug into a nearby outlet that connects to the sensor over Bluetooth, and your home’s WiFi.
An app guides you through the simple setup process. All you need to do is place the sensor where you want it to watch, or feel for leaks. Sensors on the bottom of the small device detect any moisture.
I tested it by pouring water around the sensor on my kitchen countertop.
When the sensor detected the water it let out a loud alarm that I could probably hear from another room. But if you're putting it somewhere, like beside a water heater in the basement, the Govee app sends a text alert as well as one over email. So even if I can’t hear the alarm, and even if I’m not home, I’ll still be warned. It works.
Radon is a dangerous gas that leads to cancer. The EPA says Radon exposure is the second leading cause of lung cancer and the number one cause of lung cancer in non-smokers.
It comes from the ground and since it is odorless, it is impossible to detect without a radon detector. Since my studio is in the basement, I picked up the Corentium radon detector from AirThings.
It’s about the size of a smartphone and you’re instructed to place it on a table on the lowest floor in your home.
Throughout a couple of weeks, it detected a long-term Radon level of over 6. Anything over 4, it says, should be looked at by a professional.
I also compared the results to a professional radon kit provided by a home inspector that costs thousands of dollars and the numbers were very close.
I ended up getting a home remediation system, and within a few days, the average level of radon had dropped to a long-term average of just 0.2.
The Corentium Radon Detector is about $180.
Both home safety gadgets work as advertised and I feel it’s worth the money for a little peace of mind.
