FloSense, explained
This article includes detailed information on the:
- Flo by Moen app, also known as the Smart Water Network app or the Moen Smart Water app
- Flo Smart Water Monitor and Shutoff, also known as the Flo by Moen Water Shutoff
The Flo by Moen Smart Water Shutoff is supported by FloSense™ technology, which learns the unique water footprint of your home. As it gets to know your home's typical usage, FloSense™ builds on expanding knowledge to identify when there are irregularities or inconsistencies and quickly alert you of a potential leak.
In this article, dive deep into how the FloSense™ works to protect your home.
How FloSense™ works
FloSense™ begins its journey as soon as the Flo Smart Water Monitor and Shutoff is paired to the Flo by Moen App and installed on the main water supply line.
Learning Mode & Proactive Monitoring (Continual Learning)
From there, the Flo Smart Water Monitor and Shutoff is automatically set to Learning Mode. For the next 7 days of water usage, FloSense™ develops an initial understanding of the typical water usage patterns in the home. Once that base knowledge is gained upon the completion of Learning Mode, the learning does not stop there. FloSense™ continues to learn, adapting to the latest behaviors.
FloSense™ proactively monitors your home’s plumbing for any signs or leaks or unusual water usage. As soon as it identifies a potential leak based on unusual activity, FloSense™ triggers an alert to your smart phone via the Flo by Moen App as well as the automatic shutoff feature to protect your home from severe water damage. Note: Certain app features including alerts, fixture labels and automatic shutoff will be enabled once Learning Mode has been completed.
Automatic Health Tests
In addition to proactively monitoring your home's plumbing for any sign of leaks, FloSense™ also finds the best time to run your daily automatic Health Test(s). These are pressure-loss tests on your plumbing system to ensure your home is leak-free, by briefly isolating the water in your home plumbing and monitoring for any drops or irregularities in pressure, down to one drop per minute. To prevent interrupting your home's normal flow, FloSense™ schedules these tests to run when you are least likely to use water.
Fixture Detection
Usage by Fixture in the Flo by Moen App
FloSense™ is also the brain behind the Flo Smart Water Monitor and Shutoff 's fixture labeling service. For each water event, FloSense™ detects and automatically labels the fixture responsible. You can see each water event assigned to the corresponding fixture displayed it in the “Usage History” of the App on the Device Homepage.
Customizable Controls
FloSense™ can be customized so that you can control the Flo Smart Water Monitor and Shutoff ’s responsiveness to water activity outside of your usual habits and reduce potential false alarms. Depending on the use case, there are different paths we encourage you to take to tailor these settings to your unique needs.
If you do not know what water event is causing FloSense™ to send false alarms:
- We recommend to adjust the FloSense Alert Sensitivity Slider.
If you know what specific water event you want to control FloSense™ alarms for:
- And, if it is a random water event and you don’t want FloSense™ to learn from it as a habit, we recommend to set the device to Sleep Mode for the duration of the event.
- And, if it is a regularly scheduled water event that FloSense™ is identifying as “unusual” because it may yield larger or less frequent water events than what it is typically used to, we recommend to add a Manual Override.
Alert Sensitivity Slider
We recommend adjusting the sensitivity slider if you feel that FloSense™ is sending false alarms, and you are not sure which water event is causing this to happen (or when these events will occur).
In the event of unusual activity, FloSense™ will trigger an alert to notify you via the Flo by Moen App. In the Device Settings page of the App, you can manage the level of responsiveness of the system to trigger alerts with the Alert Sensitivity Bar. By moving the slider bar to the left, you are decreasing the sensitivity to receive alerts and subsequently shut off the water. Alternatively, by moving the slider bar to the right, you are increasing the sensitivity to permit more alerts for added protection.
To adjust the Alert Sensitivity, go to your Device Settings and, Under "Advanced Features", select FloSense™.
Sleep Mode
We recommend setting the Flo Smart Water Monitor and Shutoff to Sleep Mode in advance of any anticipated water usage event that you want to block alerts for, including automatic shutoff.
System Modes menu in the Device homepage
For example, Sleep Mode may be particularly useful when washing a car, refilling a swimming pool, or when entertaining guests in your home. All of these events may cause excess water use and may trigger a critical alert.
Remember, FloSense™ only learns from water events when they are complete events and not interrupted by the automatic shutoff feature. Let’s say for example that you normally take a 30-minute shower, but for some reason today you decide to take a 1-hour long shower. Since FloSense™ has learned that you typically take a 30-minute shower, it will send a critical alert after 30 minutes and shut off your water (if the alert is not cleared). When the water is shut off, FloSense™ considers it a job well done and your home has been protected from catastrophic water damage. How would it know that you wanted to take a 1-hour shower this time?
For this reason, Sleep Mode can be especially useful because it ensures that FloSense™ can learn from the water event by blocking all alerts and the shutoff feature, thereby allowing the water event to complete. Once FloSense™ is able to observe the entire event a couple times, it will learn from it and by doing so, Sleep Mode can be used as a temporary Learning Mode whenever you need it.
System modes can be changed in the App home screen.
Manual Overrides
We recommend adding a Manual Override for any water event that recurs on a normal schedule but that FloSense™ is recognizing as abnormal because it may yield larger or less frequent water events than what it is typically used to.
If you are receiving alerts for regularly scheduled water events, such as heavy irrigation or the infrequent running of a water softener, you can add a manual override for a specific time period to monitor your home with your own settings. With some time, FloSense™ will learn from this manual schedule and adopt it in its settings so that you won't be alerted for this type of event in the future.
Manual Overrides run on a schedule and, when there are two or more that have overlapping time periods, they need to be prioritized. The Override positioned higher on the list will be the one applied to override FloSense™. In these cases, we recommend positioning the Override with the higher water event alert thresholds (for larger water events) higher on the list.
To add a Manual Override, go to your Device Settings and, Under "Advanced Features", select FloSense™.