In the context of a plumbing and electrical upgrade in a 70s block house located in Tampere, Finland, secure and reliable leak guards were installed in order to prevent moisture damages and resulting expenses. Sitowise, a company carrying out the HVAC planning of the property, chose for this purpose the Main-IoT Leak Guard, designed and produced by a Finnish company Xortec.
– The Main-IoT Leak Guard turned out to be the best solution for its handiness and cost efficiency. When comparing traditional methods with new technologies, this was in our opinion the most reasonable solution, says Lari Varis, Project Engineer at Sitowise.
The Leak Guard was installed in all 25 kitchens of the property. The sensors are placed e.g. underneath dishwashers and the devices themselves in an inside wall of the closest kitchen unit. Thanks to the IoT technology the Leak Guard is not directly connected to the Internet, therefore it has an extremely high data security. Thanks to the new technology there’s no need to install any additional cables either.
– The installation was straightforward and fast, and the devices will not need any additional service. A long-aged battery will guarantee a trouble-free use for at least 10 years, Varis continues.
Unobtrusive additional security for remote surveillance of properties at an attractive price
In Finland there are approximately 36 000 plumbing leaks per year and according to estimations even 400 MEUR are being spent for repairing the damages in residential buildings (cf. within Europe 37 % of the households suffer water damages every year). In Finland, restricting water damages is an essential part of the property risk management, therefore it is recommended to give a leak guard a similar emphasis as to smoke detectors. If a plumbing leak happens on the upper floor of a block house and it is not timely detected, the water will have time to cascade all the way down and get absorbed in the structure of the entire building. This will lead to exponential raise of costs.
– In case of a water leak the alarm will be redirected straight to the property services, which means that the affected apartment can immediately be identified. The device also reacts to humidity built up by condensed water, says Lari Varis.
In addition to the operational security Varis is also satisfied with the expertise and service provided by Xortec.
– The cooperation has worked extremely well both during the planning and the execution of the project. Among other things, Xortec helped the electricity planner of the property to define the alarms and guided the property service staff through the use onsite, Varis closes. Sitowise is also supervising the contract work of the property.
