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

I bought these over 1.5 year ago and they are still running on the same battery set, without a single false alarm... I test them once in a while just to make sure they are still alive, and they are! All 4 of them still work perfectly. Great product.

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.

In its standard form, the contact sensors are recessed into the bottom of the unit. That means there needs to be a lot of water before it will detect any, which means the damage is already done.I bought a thin sheet of aluminum (has high conductivity) that is 1/8" thick. I cut 1 1/2" strips that are the width of the the channels on the bottom and drilled a small hole at the end of each to allow me to use the screws to hold them on.Bending them slightly at the end created 3 little "feet" that will detect water much faster.Only gripe is that the front sensor needs to be one of the two required to trigger the alarm. The back 2 sensors together won't trigger without the front one also getting wet.It paired with Hubitat easily and shows battery status.

Full disclosure - I "improved" these - but they are a great value, and great device.Note they have their own sounder as well as being "smart" - so will provide local audible warning to anyone, not just follow automation.These were easily found and setup with Alexa (using Zigbee, via an Echo 4) - they manifest as "motion sensors" which is weird but "motion" = water, so easy to workout what is going on.I places three 18 AWG extensions to each of the connectors and ran them around the each of the device, this extends the detection "surface" massively - allowing any water to run along the edge and "short" to the other contact in no time. This saves the need to sit in a puddle to get an alarm.They sell pieces to do this but I'd already ordered 5 devices, and it was quick and easy to add these. The extenders add a good chunk to the price - but the final price is still better than most of the competition and these are nicely made, and feel like they will last.

Easily hooked up to the Habitat hub. The device size is small enough but not the smallest leak sensor. Only issues I see is that the sensor plates sit too high on the floor, about quarter inch.I purchased the extra sensitive plates with the leak sensor. They are metal and connect under the screws on they bottom of the device. The water is sensed from the front screw to either back screw. That distance is several inches apart and a quarter inch off the ground.Without the plates it would detect water when it was in a flood and the water level reached a quarter inch high. I feel that is a little late. Would rather know there is a leak at first sign of any water.The add on plates do better but they still sit about the thickness of a quarter from the floor. Better than without.I have other water leak sensors with two metal contacts about half inch apart and sit right on the floor. Much better to detect a leak before it gets out of hand.On this sensor, you could add two wires to the screws on the bottom and put them on the ground near each other for better sensitivity. The connections are sensitive enough to go off just touching with my dry fingers. Didn't need water. That's good news.I used this device for a a sump pump water alert. I purchased a small sump pump float switch that attached to the side of the sump pump PVC pipe. It had two wires which I hooked to the two sensor screws. When the small float goes up the alert goes out. This device works really well for that. I could have used a contact sensor in my case but this sensor was cheaper and it has the extra function to detect water. Although water at a depth high enough to trigger the alarm would be at the point the water level filled the room and started to rise.The sensor also has a sound alarm beep, like a smoke detector. And it sends a signal too to my phone, thru the Habitat hub.Devices uses two AAA batteries. Need to unscrew the small screws to put in batteries. Kind of a pain but hopefully do not need to do that often. Looks like the Hubitat provides the battery life in percent. I should know when the battery is getting low without taking the device apart.Overall, recommend with modification to extend the sensors. The access to the sensor wires, thru the screws, make it easy.