Protect Your Home from Water Damage with GROHE Sense Guard

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High-end plumbing fixture manufacturer GROHE has entered the smarthome market with their new GROHE Sense Guard water controller. The Sense Guard monitors your water consumption, can detect micro leaks, and will protect your home in the event of a pipe burst. When paired with the GROHE Sense accessory, you’ve got an outstanding system to protect your home against water damage.

GROHE Sense Guard.  Photo courtesy of GROHE.

The GROHE Sense Guard is installed directly into your home’s water main and monitors the flow of water through that line. The Sense Guard uses multiple sensors to track water pressure and general water consumption all to help protect your home from costly water damage due to micro leaks or pipe breaks. It can even detect whether the incoming water is cold enough to cause frost and will alert you. The Sense Guard connects to your home’s Wi-Fi and alerts you via the GROHE Ondus app.

My GROHE Sense Guard

The GROHE Sense is a wireless accessory that can be used with or without the Sense Guard. It’s shaped like a hockey puck and sits on the floor of any room where you are worried about flooding. GROHE Sense connects to Wi-Fi and can detect water leaks, frost risk, and senses humidity. The Sense also syncs with the GROHE Ondus app, sending push alerts when necessary. If you have the Sense Guard installed, the Sense can also cause the Sense Guard to turn off the water supply to stop a leak if, let’s say, your water heater bursts.

The inside of GROHE Sense.

The Sense Guard will need to be installed by a professional plumber because it needs to be installed right into your home’s main water line. No DIYer should mess with that unless you really know what you’re doing. You’ll need a power outlet near the Sense Guard; otherwise, you’ll want to purchase the power extension cable accessory. The homeowner, however, can install the Sense easily in less than 10 minutes using the included batteries.

I installed my GROHE Sense in my laundry room next to the sump pump.

The GROHE Ondus app is very easy to use. The home screen shows your home and any devices you have connected. You’ll see that mine shows both the Sense Guard and the Sense units. You can click on the unit you want to see, and it’ll show you any outstanding alerts on the top of the screen. For the Sense Guard, you can scroll down to see the current status of your system, including whether water status, water consumption, water temperature, and water pressure. For the Sense, you scroll down to see the battery level, room temperature, and relative humidity.

GROHE Ondus app homescreen

I’ll be honest and say that the Ondus app is not my favorite app. I prefer the layout and functionality of the Flo app. With the Flo app, you can see the current flow rate, which the Ondus app doesn’t show you. You can also see more data on one screen rather than having to scroll down to see each piece of data individually.

It took a little time and troubleshooting to get our Sense Guard unit functioning properly, as it kept shutting off our water after very minor issues like a shower that was too long. However, after the help of GROHE’s amazing customer service team, we were able to adjust our settings to prevent this from happening in the future. Now, we only get alerts when a toilet has been running for a long time or something more serious is going on.

Check out some screenshots from the GROHE Ondus app:

GROHE Sense Guard status in app.

GROHE Sense Guard status in the app, cont’d.

GROHE Sense Guard settings in the app.

GROHE Sense Guard settings in the app, cont’d.

I will say that the GROHE Sense Guard is one of the nicest looking plumbing devices you’ll see. It has a beautiful glowing blue ring that remains lit when the water is flowing. If the water is shut off, it’ll glow an angry red. It almost makes me sad that it’s installed in a seldom-seen niche in my basement.

The GROHE Sense Guard costs around $800 normally, but appears to be on sale at the time of publishing for $500. This does not include professional installation, so you’ll want to confirm the cost of installation with your favorite local plumber. The GROHE Sense will run another $50, which is well worth it if you’re going to be purchasing the Sense Guard. What is peace of mind worth to you?

GROHE Sense status in the app.

In the end, I trust that my GROHE Sense Guard will protect my home from potential costly water damage and that’s really the most important thing. They’re backed by one of the most well-known brands in the industry and they have great customer service. They will go above and beyond to make sure you’re happy.

You can purchase your GROHE Sense Guard and Sense directly from GROHE at buygrohe.us.

Source: The GROHE Sense Guard and Sense were manufacturer provided review samples that included installation.

What I Like: Beautiful product design; Simple to use app; Protects my home without my intervention

What Needs Improvement: App design could use some work to make it more user-friendly

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About the Author

Perry Brauner
I'm an architect by trade, but the overarching theme of my life has always been trying to keep up with the newest, coolest technology. Ever since I picked up an NES controller, I've been hooked on the latest and greatest gadgets, gizmos, and toys. Whether it's gaming, mobile phones, and accessories, or PCs and Apple products, I'm interested. I use many Apple products in my daily life, such as the iPhone, iPad, and my MacBook Pro. I've also built a few PCs in my day, so I'd like to say that I'm a pretty well-rounded techie.