THIRDREALITY Zigbee Water Leak Sensor with Dripping Detection,120dB Alarm,App Notifications Enabled When Work with Home Assistant and Compatible Zigbee HUB Like SmartThings,Aeotec or Third Reality Hub

These leak detectors are great. I grab them when they go on sale because you once were able to get them for $14. I use SmartThings to add them to my Ecosystem and Home Assistant to handle the automations. I put them in all my bathrooms, in the laundry room, under the kitchen sink, near the basement sump pump. What's great is they have an audible sounder making it easier to locate which one is tripped, even though my automations text me the location. The newest version now has some included hardware to increase the sensitivity of the sensor. It consists of 2 metal arms that attached to the screws to make the detection area smaller. SmartThings was able to add these without incident. After putting in the batteries a blue blinking light on the sensor will indicate its ready to pair, open SmartThings, add a new device and scan for nearby. That's it. I've been using these for a couple years now. Battery life is good and reported in SmartThings so you can create a SmartThings automation to let you know when the battery is low. Overall, this is a really good sensor for the price.

Should be 5 stars, but I rate it a 4/5 due to one huge, stupid decision ThirdReality made the bad decision to use screws to attach the case to the base. Now imagine if one installs a few of these, when it comes to swap out batteries one will have to go grab a screwdriver, and unscrew 3 screws, and re-tighten them. All to pop in new AAA’aIt just interesting. They use the screws to attach the additional metallic strips for more sensitivity, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that this is gonna be a pain in the butt come sometime to replace batteries.

The Thirdreality sensor case has a distinct form factor, but in a house with a number of other small sensors of various types, that could be a good thing. Good build quality, and reliable operation so far.Stuff I've liked:It had the best range for pairing and operating of the ones that I've tried. It had a loud, on-board alarm. The version with the drip leak function can optionally detect very small amounts of water, depending upon physical configuration. It has paired easily and worked well with my Hubitat system. It uses common AAA batteries.Possible issues:Where an audible alarm is not wanted, another brand/model sensor would be needed.The case is much thicker than others in its class, and may not fit beneath a refrigerator or other device.The first unit I received used slot-head screws. A very small screwdriver was included in the box, a really thoughtful touch. But, a jeweler's kit, like many folks use to tighten eyeglass screws, would be much easier. The sensors in a subsequent order had screws that could be worked with either a Phillips or straight-bladed driver.Where a low-profile case, or a sensor with a remote head, is not needed, this is my choice so far for an inexpensive Zigbee unit.Background:Most homes have many potential sources of leaks - water heater, dish washer, clothes washer, refrigerator, bathroom plumbing, etc. - that could cause expensive damage. I decided to buy and try five different, inexpensive, Zigbee leak detectors that might work directly with my Hubitat home automation hub. They were by iAlarm, Neo, Thirdreality, and Treatlife, and a generic "Water Leak Detector Zigbee" was added to the mix. At the time of my purchase (August, 2023), each was slightly less than $20.All worked properly with my system using the Hubitat "Generic Zigbee Moisture Sensor" driver. All but the Thirdreality also worked with the custom "Tuya NEO Coolcam Zigbee Water Leak Sensor" driver, which adds an explicit state indication of online or offline. But, both drivers support current wet/dry status and battery % reporting. A tip would be to install the custom driver first, if desired, then let Hubitat choose it during device pairing. Also, each of these should be paired within a couple of feet of the hub, then moved to the desired location.Some thoughts about the group:Overall build quality of the group seemed quite good, with the exception of the generic "Water Leak Detector Zigbee", which was only mediocre.The Thirdreality and Treatlife devices have onboard alarms, and could be used as stand-alone detectors, although there appear to be several detectors available that are only stand-alone, and less expensive than the Zigbee devices. The Thirdreality alarm is much louder than the Treatlife's.The Thirdreality unit had a longer range than the others, both in pairing and in operation. It and the Treatlife both use common AAA batteries, but I haven't used these sensors long enough to be able to compare battery life.The Neo device was the only one with a "remote" sensor - limited to the length of the attaching cord, but still may be needed functionality. However, the cord actually plugs into the wall mount, not the unit itself, so the mount must be used when remote sensing.

Works great

I ordered two 4-packs of these, using with Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi, for leak detection under sinks, washing machine, and water heater. Entities are provided for the presence of water, and the battery level of each sensor. The optionally installed "extra sensitivity" fins (i.e.: extra pieces of metal to mount at the screws) may make it sense very small amounts of moisture between the small gap after installation. Without the fins, the screws are perhaps a mm above the bottom surface of the case. This is ideal if they are being placed on a metal surface that would otherwise short out the sensor. With the fins installed, the screws would be touching the surface of the floor.The small, flat-bladed screwdriver provided isn't for removing the screws, but, rather, for separating the case halves after the Phillips screws are removed.For the least amount of risked water damage, I'd suggest all of these devices be placed within a mat/pan under the areas being protected. For example, under each sink, use an "Xtreme Mat". Water heaters should have a water pan under them (use without the "extra sensitivity" fins if your pan is metal), and install an under pan for the washing machine that extends beyond the back of the machine to the wall under the water hookups.Given that the device cases are not waterproof, I suspect they might not survive a leak bad enough to submerge them in water; but that would be the least of your worries. They can be tested during installation by shorting with your moistened fingers between the peak-end case screw and one of the two other screws.Pairing them with Home Assistant couldn't be easier. As soon as I inserted the batteries, they immediately went into pairing mode (blue flashing light). Home Assistant found them immediately after requesting a Zigbee device search. Pair them one at a time, so you can rename them according to where they are placed.The hardest part of my installation was the placement of the pan under the washing machine; but that had nothing to do with the moisture detectors.The next steps will likely take more time than placing the moisture detectors: Configuring automations for each of the devices to send notification to my phones for both moisture detection and for low battery.Overall, I'm very happy with these devices and would recommend them.-----------------Update: The 2nd 4-pack of these moisture detectors did not come with the extra-sensitivity fins.