小米净水器底部漏水
While most smarthome products are aimed at convenience, there’s one smarthome device that’s actually quite useful, possibly saving you headaches and ton of money: the trusty water leak sensor.
虽然大多数智能家居产品都旨在提供便利，但实际上只有一台智能家居设备非常有用，可能会为您省去很多麻烦和金钱：值得信赖的漏水传感器。
Water damage is a homeowner’s worst nightmare, aside from a house fire or a natural disaster, of course. While a small water leak isn’t a huge deal if you find and repair it promptly, a busted water pipe can turn a dry basement into the Pacific Ocean in zero seconds flat. However, with water leak sensors in place, you’ll at least have the opportunity to lessen the disaster level.
当然，除了房屋失火或自然灾害之外，水灾是房主最严重的噩梦。 如果您及时发现并修复漏水，虽然漏水不算什么，但破裂的输水管可以将干燥的地下室在零秒钟内变成太平洋。 但是，有了漏水传感器，您至少将有机会降低灾难级别。
为什么这是如此重要 (Why This Is So Important)
While it’s easy to notice a burst water pipe and shut the water off ASAP, a slow water leak can go unnoticed for a while. By the time you finally do notice it, significant damage can already be done.
尽管很容易注意到水管破裂并尽快关闭水源，但一会儿就不会注意到缓慢的漏水现象。 到您最终注意到它时，已经可以造成重大损坏。
The situation can be even worse while you’re away from home. If a pipe bursts, you have full city water pressure spraying water into your house at about 20 gallons per minute. To give you some context on just how much water that is, a free-flowing water pipe could fill up one of those utility buckets in about 15 seconds.
当您出门在外时，情况可能更糟。 如果管道破裂，则您有充分的城市用水压力以约20加仑/分钟的速度将水喷入您的房屋。 为了给您提供有关到底有多少水的信息，*流动的水管可能会在15秒内充满其中一个公用水桶。
Once the damage is done, it only gets worse until you begin fixing it, thanks to mold growth. And when you begin the cleanup process, pretty much everything needs to be replaced, including carpet, drywall, and insulation (not to mention any of your personal items like furniture. It might be worth attempting to dry out everything the best you can, but sometimes the damage has already been done.
一旦损坏完成，由于霉菌的生长，直到您开始修复之前，情况只会变得更糟。 而且，当您开始清理过程时，几乎所有的东西都需要更换，包括地毯，石膏板和保温材料(更不用说家具等您的任何个人用品了。尝试将所有东西尽力干燥可能是值得的，但是有时损坏已经造成。
To add insult to injury, insurers don’t like to insure homes where there has been significant water damage. It can not only cause your rates to rise, it can make selling your home a real hassle later on if companies refuse to insure it for new buyers.
为了加重侮辱的伤害，保险公司不愿意为水灾严重的房屋提供保险。 如果公司拒绝为新买家提供保险，这不仅会导致您的房价上涨，还会使以后出售房屋成为真正的麻烦。
Now, we’re not saying that water leak sensors are the end-all solution for preventing water damage. After all, they still won’t prevent water leaks or burst pipes. However, they’ll let you know the instant that water is detected in a place where it shouldn’t be, which then lets you take control of the situation to mitigate any further damage.
现在，我们并不是说漏水传感器是防止水损坏的最终解决方案。 毕竟，它们仍然无法防止漏水或管道破裂。 但是，他们会让您立即知道在不应有水的地方检测到水，然后让您控制情况以减轻进一步的损害。
This is great for when you’re away from home and would have no clue of a burst pipe otherwise—a few days’ worth of water shooting out of a burst pipe can do a lot of damage. Hopefully, you’ve made the habit of turning off your water main whenever you go on vacation, but even if you’re at work, a couple of hours of water flow can still do plenty of damage.
这对您出门在外时非常有用，否则就不会有爆管的提示-从爆管中喷出几天的水可能会造成很大的损失。 希望您已经养成在度假时关掉总水管的习惯，但是即使您在工作，几个小时的水流仍然会造成很大的损失。
如何安装漏水传感器 (How to Install Water Leak Sensors)
There are several smart water leak sensors available on the market. Any of them would do the trick, but the important thing is that you get one that works with your smarthome hub. If you don’t have a smarthome hub, you can get Wi-Fi water sensors that connect directly to your home’s Wi-Fi. However, if you start piling up on these water sensors, there’s a greater chance that your Wi-Fi network gets bogged down with so many devices. This is why we like to use Z-Wave and a smarthome hub for smaller devices around the house.
市场上有几种智能漏水传感器。 他们中的任何一个都可以解决问题，但是重要的是您要获得一个可以与您的智能家居集线器一起使用的软件。 如果您没有智能家居集线器，则可以使用Wi-Fi水传感器直接连接到家庭的Wi-Fi。 但是，如果您开始堆积这些水传感器，那么您的Wi-Fi网络就很可能被如此多的设备所困扰。 这就是为什么我们喜欢将Z-Wave和智能家居集线器用于房屋中较小设备的原因。
You can also get “dumb” water sensors, but all they do is sound an alarm when they detect water, which isn’t helpful at all when you’re away from home. However, they’re generally cheaper than their smart counterparts, and they’re better than nothing. However, we’ll be taking a closer look at smart water sensors, specifically this one from Aeotec.
您也可以使用“哑”水传感器，但是它们所做的只是在检测到水时发出警报，这对您出门在外根本没有帮助。 但是，它们通常比智能同类产品便宜，而且总比没有好。 但是，我们将仔细研究智能水传感器，特别是Aeotec的智能水传感器。
Water sensors are pretty simple, and they work by having two contact points that are disconnected from each other. Whenever the two contact points both make contact with water (since water is conductive), it completes the circuit and activates the alarm (and sends an alert to your phone if it’s a smart sensor).
水传感器非常简单，它们的工作原理是使两个接触点彼此断开。 只要两个接触点都与水接触(因为水是导电的)，它就会接通电路并**警报(如果是智能传感器，则会向手机发送警报)。
After you set up the sensor and connect it to your hub (in my case, I have a Wink hub), it’s important that you install the water sensor correctly. It’s pretty easy with some sensors (like the SmartThings water sensor) where the contacts are on the bottom of the sensor so that you can just place it on a flat surface. However, with the one I have, the contacts are attached via a long wire and need to be properly mounted to something.
设置传感器并将其连接到集线器(在我的情况下，我有一个Wink集线器)之后，正确安装水传感器很重要。 对于某些传感器(例如SmartThings水传感器)来说，这很容易，因为触点位于传感器的底部，因此您可以将其放置在平坦的表面上。 但是，对于我所拥有的那种，触点是通过长电线连接的，需要正确地安装到某些物体上。
With that said, it’s important that you don’t just lay the contacts flat on the surface horizontally, as they’ll be a few millimeters off the ground. Thus, water would have to form a fairly substantial puddle before making contact with the water sensor. Instead, mount the contacts vertical facing down, so that both contacts are touching the surface. That way, any water whatsoever will trigger the sensor.
话虽如此，重要的是不要将触点水平地平放在表面上，因为它们会离地面几毫米。 因此，在与水传感器接触之前，水将必须形成相当大的水坑。 而是将触点垂直面向下安装，以使两个触点都接触表面。 这样，任何水都会触发传感器。
From there, the main sensor body can be mounted somewhere up higher using the included screws or adhesive strips (the main body isn’t waterproof). The contacts themselves can also be mounted using an adhesive strip if need be.
从那里，可以使用随附的螺钉或胶带将传感器主体安装在更高的位置(主体不防水)。 如果需要，触点本身也可以使用胶带安装。
After that, whenever the sensor comes into contact with water, you can have your smarthome hub’s companion app send you an alert on your phone. Or if you have an alarm or siren set up as well, you can also connect it to that so that it sounds an alarm whenever a water leak is detected.
之后，每当传感器与水接触时，您就可以让Smarthome Hub的配套应用在手机上向您发送警报。 或者，如果您还设置了警报或警报器，也可以将其连接到该警报器，以便在检测到漏水时发出警报。
Image from michelmond/Shutterstock
图片来自michelmond / Shutterstock
小米净水器底部漏水