Quick List
1. Best overall
2. Best budget
3. Best wireless option
4. Best range
Q&A
Though there are flashier smart devices to put around your home, the best Homekit water leak sensors will be among the most important you ever buy. They are capable of sensing water ingress, leaks, and flooding in your home and will even alert you without having to physically check in. If you need a bit of peace of mind about your leaky basement or boiler, these are an excellent investment.
As of right now, there are only four smart water leak sensors that are compatible with HomeKit so the range is a little limited. However, all four are unique in their own way, and Home compatibility means you can easily access them from your best iPhone. Where some focus on range, others work well in a wireless setup. The Eve Water Guard is our best choice but all four of them are worth looking into before deciding what is right for you.
These are the best HomeKit water leak sensors for the Apple Home app right now.
Quick list
Best overall
The Eve Water Guard is a very unique water leak detection system from one of the top smart home brands. It uses mains power and a unique cable design to detect water on the floor. It has a very loud 100dB siren and a red warning light. Updated in 2022, the latest version includes Thread connectivity, as well as Bluetooth. The cable at the heart of the detection system is more than 6 ft long.
Best budget
The cheapest option on the list, the Aqara Water Leak Sensor is a small battery-powered water leak sensor with an IP67 dustproof and waterproof rating. While the units are very cheap, you also need Aqara’s Hub to use it with your Apple Home app and other HomeKit gear. The Aqara sensor connects to Aqara’s hub using the Zigbee connection standard and boasts a two-year battery life.
Best wireless option
Like the Aqara, the Fibaro Flood Sensor is a small wireless puck that can detect flooding and measures just 7 centimeters in diameter. Unlike the Aqara, however, Fibaro has made an Apple Home model that doesn’t necessarily require a hub, so it can be connected directly to your iPhone or iPad. That means no extra purchases necessary. The Fibaro will sound the alarm when it detects leaks, and it also has a built-in temperature sensor.
Best range
Also like the Aqara, the Meross Smart Water Leak Detector requires an additional hub, but once connected offers 100M of range. This is especially useful if you have a large property or basement, guaranteeing your connection through walls, etc. The standard offering from Meross’ website and some of the listings on Amazon include this hub. Like the Fibaro and Aqara options, the Meross features a replaceable battery, but there’s no temperature sensor and the alarm is a bit quieter.
Best overall
Any accessory endorsed by Apple and sold on the company website is worth its salt. Eve is one of the most reputable names in smart home accessories, and its Eve Water Guard honors that tradition. The Eve Water Guard has a very unique design. Firstly, it’s mains powered. That makes it different from our other picks, while it doesn’t have batteries you’ll need to change, it does require wall power in order to work. As such, it’s also not portable, which might be a deal breaker for some.
The design incorporates a 6.5 ft cable that can detect water leaks. The long cable gives you much better coverage of a large surface area, such as under a sink or in a boiler room, and you can even add multiple extensions to the cable (sold separately), up to a total length of 500ft. If water ever is detected, a 100dB siren and a red flashing light are bound to get your attention. With Apple Home support those alerts will also be delivered to your iPhone. With Thread support, you can also connect the Water Guard to a HomePod mini or Apple TV 4K to connect it to the internet. This will allow you to control the Water Guard away from home.
Best budget
The Aqara Water Leak Sensor is the complete antithesis of the Eve Water Guard, and one of three wireless, portable offerings in our range. This small sensor must be used with another hub to operate, hence its low price. An Apple Home hub (HomePod, iPad, or Apple TV) is required for HomeKit automation. However, for the more basic functionality, you’ll just need the Aqara Zigbee 3.0 hub. The Aqara doesn’t have a built-in alarm, rather it sends a signal to the hub triggering an alarm there.
The Aqara offering is IP67 Dustproof and Waterproof, which makes it ideal for rougher parts of the home such as a basement or anywhere humid. The on-board battery is a replaceable CR2032 that should last two years before you need another one. While the Aqara is much more discrete than the Eve Water Guard, it has a much smaller area of detection due to its size.
Best wireless option
The Fibaro Flood Sensor is very similar to the Aqara. It’s more expensive but offers the same basic concept. It’s a portable, battery-powered flood and water detection unit that can send an alert to your HomeKit network. However, unlike the Aqara it can be used as a standalone device, and it also offers an extra feature, a temperature sensor.
The Fibaro Flood Sensor communicates with Apple HomeKit via Bluetooth, which limits its range somewhat. However, you don’t need a hub because Fibaro has created a special Apple HomeKit version with Bluetooth that can be connected to your iPhone. Otherwise, you’ll need an Apple TV or HomePod to connect it to your HomeKit network, so that you can receive alerts on your iPhone when you’re out of range or even not at home. The Fibaro is very sensitive to changes in temperature or position, with a tamper alert setting should your sensor end up moved or out of place.
Best for range
Meross is a key name in budget smart home tech, and its Smart Water Leak Sensor is relatively inexpensive. Like the Aqara and Fibaro, it’s a small portable sensor with a battery. It requires a smart hub for connectivity, but once online it offers an impressive range of 100m (328 ft) over open air thanks to SubG wireless. While most people won’t need that kind of range, it will provide significantly better connectivity through walls at shorter distances, for example, if you want to use one in the basement.
Meross’ offering supports Apple HomeKit as long as you have the HomeKit Version of the Meross Hub, which is included in some of the online bundles available for the sensor. The only quirk of the Meross is its design, which is decidedly less discrete than either the Fibaro or the Aqara. It’s not as low-profile, so harder to hide away. The Meross’ battery is also only rated for 18 months of use, rather than two years like the other portable options.
Q&A
What to look for in a smart HomeKit water sensor?
The biggest choice you’ll need to make when choosing a HomeKit water sensor is whether to go wired or wireless. There’s only one wired option, the Eve Water Guard, and there are three wireless options as shown. Which is right for you depends on a couple of factors. If you don’t want to spend time replacing batteries (or you don’t want to risk those batteries running out), a sensor that relies on mains power is key. However, if you want to be more flexible in moving your sensors around, or you need a sensor that can be placed somewhere mains power isn’t on offer, then a portable option will suit you better.
Connectivity is another big factor. All of these smart water sensors do broadly the same thing, but how they connect to your HomeKit ecosystem and interact with it varies quite a lot. The Eve Water Guard offers variety with Bluetooth and Thread and doesn’t need a hub to connect. Meanwhile, the Meross offers the best range but does need a hub, as do all of the portable offerings if you want full functionality.
The other biggest difference in these sensors is the way they detect water. As mentioned, the Eve Water Guard uses a long cable to detect water. That gives it an immediate detection zone of 6.5 ft that can be extended up to 500 ft. By contrast, small portable sensors can only detect water exactly where they’re placed. Even positioning it wrong by a few inches or feet could be the difference between stopping a leak before your home gets damaged.
Do I need a smart water sensor?
If you’re looking for a smart water sensor for your HomeKit ecosystem, the chances are you’re already quite invested in smart home technology. As such, why leave something as important as flooding to chance? A smart water sensor can alert you to flooding or a water leak before it has a chance to get out of control and cause damage. Paired with the right smart home devices, these sensors can even be configured to automatically shut off water valves or turn off your central heating, fixing the problem before it becomes a problem. Water ingress and flooding can cause serious damage to a property, or your appliances and other electronics. Smart water sensors are also unique in that, without a smart home application, they probably wouldn’t exist. While security cameras, doorbells, and more have been around for decades, the smart home water sensor is a product that has been enabled by the move to the smart home in recent years. As such, it’s definitely one you should take advantage of. Finally, most of these sensors are relatively cheap compared to other smart home devices.
