YoLink FlowSmart NSF Water Meter, Smart Water Usage Monitor and Water Leak Detection: 0.75 Inch Advanced Smart Home Water Meter, Hub Included, YS1603+YS5007

I installed this system on a vacation property with a home water system and two separate yard watering lines, all of which branch out from a central water line coming from city water. There’s a single main water meter and shutoff valve for the entire property, but it’s located several hundred feet away and takes some effort to access. To add to the picture, the property has had a history of recurring water leaks which cost the previous owner thousands of dollars in unexpected water bills. Needless to say, one of my priorities was to prevent this from happening again.After a significant amount of online research, I decided to try out the YoLink FlowSmart system. I consists of a battery powered control unit, a water monitor/meter, and a motorized ball valve. The control unit is directly wired to the monitor/meter and ball valve, and communicates wirelessly with a YoLink hub, which in turn is connected to my Wifi router. I installed the monitor and valve downstream from the main meter, just before the line splits off to the home and yard watering lines. This allows me to monitor water usage nearly real-time on the YoLink app, and to easily shut off the valve remotely if it detects any suspected leaks. So far, this has already helped me find one confirmed leak. I ran into one completely unexpected issue – a mouse chewed through the wire harness to the valve, disabling it. I emailed YoLink customer support for advice, and they responded within a couple of hours. They quickly FedEx’d me a replacement unit within a couple of days, which allowed me to get it operational again with minimal downtime.In the meantime, YoLink has quickly become the primary home automation solution for my vacation home – I’ve added water sensors placed underneath sink areas and by the washing machine which, if triggered, will automatically shut off the main water supply, as well as various motion sensors and outlet controllers. I also added a couple of temperature/humidity sensors and two garden sprinkler controllers to fully automate the existing 9-zone water system. All of them are easy to pair, have a much longer range than either direct Wifi or Z-Link, and have an impressive battery life. I will likely add two more YoLink water valves to give me additional flexibility in isolating different sections of the water system.Overall, I highly recommend this as a home automation system that’s very functional, easy to set up and use, and especially shines for long-ranges.Positives:* Easiest pairing and inclusion process of any home automation system I’ve tried so far* Long range far surpassing WiFi and Z-Wave is great for larger properties (I’m using motion sensors on the far side of a 5-acre lot with no connectivity issues)* Long battery life* Large selection of other home automation sensors/controls to expand system* Great customer support* Functional, easy to use app* No ongoing subscription costs!Downsides:* Water valve wire harness is a bit on the delicate side for an outdoor installation – recommend additional wire shielding to slip over exposed connections (easily found on amazon)* Would be great if app provided more options in customizing the home screen layout in the future

This is a very good system for keeping track of your water usage and for remote shut off in case of emergency. The city said I used 9k gallons one month. Which there wouldn’t have been any way I used that much so I looked for a system like this to double check. Sure enough I typically use 3k gallons a month. I will always have a way to double check now.The app is very useful and I can easily monitor for leaks and usage. We just got back from vacation and I double checked the house while away to make sure there wasn’t any water usage in case of any leaks. All good. I bought an old house and it’s nice to have this peace of mind. I felt the unit is very worth the money.

Easy to install, accurate water meter. Works well with the yolink YS 5007 to provide accurate water consumption data

Simple installation, instructions good, app - good, network setup fast. will update if that changes.Overall a nicely made and packaged with easy setup using app.

I have a slow leak based on my increased water bill. So I installed this meter right outside my house. This has allowed me to determine that the leak is most likely past my shutoff, and unfortunately probably under my slab. (I can see that the leak is not in my yard between the water company meter and the side of the house).Positives:- Fairly easy to install. I had to dig out a hole to put it in, and also installed an in ground meter box.(note: I had a nice straight run of pipe to put it in, which is required to have accurate measurements)- No additional power wiring required on the outside of the house- The digital part that goes on the outside of the house uses standard AA size batteries(requires lithium AA batteries but comes with them).- The part that goes inside the house uses a standard USB plug and includes both WIFI andEthernet port. I did initial setup with Ethernet and then was able to put the WIFI on my guest network(did not require local LAN access). Works fine with the Ethernet cord unplugged.- Both the Yolink hub and the outside digital part of the meter paired easily with the Yolink app(Android phone, app is in the play store). Paring is done by scanning a QR code, first on the Hub.And then later scanning the QR code on the back of the digital part of the meter.- Customer service responded very quickly to my feedback about the app.Negatives:- You only get a total water used amount and not a flow rate, where the water company meter gives GPM(you can select the units between Gal, L, CCF, M3).- My leak is too slow to be continuously monitored by the digital part. If I am not using water, my leak shows up as a periodic blip once an hour of about 5 gal. The meter is still measuring the amount, it just doesn't get reported on the app constantly. This is also kind of a feature because it helps preserve the battery life.- The wiring between the flow meter and the digital part that stays outside could be better. It comes with generic WAGO type connectors to connect between the digital part and the meter. There is no enclosure for this connector and it is left exposed. I kind of want to get an external box to put the digital part in now even though it is IP66 rated.- The app is not very intuitive. It does have quite a few features (it is designed to work with other yolink devices, but I only have the water meter). I was hoping to share the device with another user. I initially didn't see any option to do this in the app. So I submitted feedback that the functionality should be added. Yolink responded with instructions on how to set it up, since the feature was already there.