Smart leak detectors and automatic shut-off valves

What a UK water-leak sensor does, where Wickes says to put one, how that differs from a valve that shuts the supply, and the limits of both.

Affiliate links: Leatmere is an Amazon Associate and earns from qualifying purchases. We also earn from some links to Wickes through the Awin network. You do not pay more. How this works.

A leak that runs all day does more damage than a leak you see. Sensors and automatic shut-off valves are sold to shorten that time. They are not the same thing, and neither replaces a stopcock you can find. A sensor tells you. A shut-off valve, if you have one and it is linked, stops more water coming in. We have not tested either.

A sensor does not close a pipe

A leak sensor sits on the floor or against a pipe and reacts when water reaches it. Some buzz in the room. Some message a phone, but only through the hub or alarm the listing says they work with. None of that closes a pipe unless a separate valve is fitted and connected.

Put a sensor where a leak can run unseen: under a sink, behind a washing machine, beside a dishwasher, or on a loft floor near a cistern. It does nothing for a drip across the room, nothing if the battery is flat, and nothing if you do not know how to turn the water off. Where the stopcock is, and the simple checks for a hidden leak, are in find a leak and the stopcock. The small valves on one fitting are in isolation valves.

The sensor Wickes lists

On 14 November 2026 we did not find an automatic shut-off valve at Wickes: a valve that closes itself when a sensor sees water. We did find an alarm sensor.

We haven't tested this. Figures are as the maker states them (checked 13 November 2026).

Yale water sensor for the Sync alarm range. Wickes says this accessory activates the alarm if a leak is detected, and can send a push notification or ring your phone. It says the sensor is ideal behind washing machines and under sinks, that a battery is included, and that the wireless range is 200 metres. It is compatible with Yale intruder and Sync alarm systems, and not with EF, SR or HSA systems. The listing does not describe it closing a pipe. Without one of the alarm systems Wickes names, do not expect it to call you. The 200 metre figure is Wickes's, not a test in a house with thick walls.

View the Yale water sensor at Wickes

We also opened a JG Speedfit emergency shut-off tap. It is a hand-turned isolating tap, not an automatic valve and not a sensor, so it is not linked. Manual isolation is already on the isolation valves page.

Automatic shut-off, without a model name

An automatic shut-off is a valve on the pipe, often the rising main, that a controller can close. Because we did not open a product page for one, this guide names no model, size or price.

The limits are in the plumbing:

A valve on the rising main stops new mains water entering. It does not empty water already in the pipes. A loft cistern can still empty through a burst on the pipe it feeds. See loft cold water tanks.
The sensor only sees water where it sits. A leak behind a bath is invisible to a sensor under the kitchen sink.
If the valve closes while you are away, heating and hot water may be left without a supply. Follow the boiler's user instructions. If anything on the gas appliance is involved, use a Gas Safe registered engineer. Do not open a boiler casing. See when to call a Gas Safe engineer.
Batteries and wireless links fail. A shut-off you have never tested is a guess. Use the maker's test, not a bucket near electrics.

Fitting a valve on the drinking-water supply is a plumber's job. Regulation 4 of the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999, as made, requires every water fitting to be of an appropriate quality and standard and suitable for how it is used. Check with the water company before work on the rising main, including whether the work has to be notified. Ask the installer which rules apply. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own water fittings rules.

If the valve needs a new electrical circuit, that is a qualified electrician. In England, Approved Document P explains when notification is required. We do not give wiring instructions. A battery sensor the maker says is wireless is a different job from a mains-powered valve.

Wickes's placement for the Yale sensor, behind washing machines and under sinks, matches leaks that run because nobody looks. The hoses are covered in washing machine plumbing. A sensor will not stop a hose splitting. It may tell you sooner, if someone acts. A sensor in a place that freezes may freeze too. See frozen pipes. Do not put one inside a boiler or on a gas pipe.

When it goes off

Treat it as a real leak until you can see that it is not.

If you are at home and it is safe, close the stopcock or the valve to that fitting.
Keep away from wet sockets and lights. The same first steps are in water coming through a ceiling.
Find the water. A sensor under the sink proves water reached that spot, not that the sink is the source.
If you are out, a notification does not stop the leak. Someone has to turn the water off, or a shut-off you have already tested has to close.
Photograph damage before you dry it if you may claim. See leak insurance claims. A sensor is not a policy, and we are not saying an insurer will require one.

A spilled bowl can wet a probe. That is still better than silence, as long as the next alarm is not ignored.

Will a leak sensor turn my water off?

Not by itself. The Yale sensor Wickes lists activates an alarm and can notify you. On that listing it does not close a valve. An automatic shut-off is a separate valve. We did not find one to link.

Where should I put a water sensor?

Where a leak can run unseen, and where the maker says it belongs. Wickes says the Yale sensor is ideal behind washing machines and under sinks. It only helps if water can reach it and someone can act.

Does a mains shut-off stop every leak?

It stops more mains water entering. Water already in the pipes, and water in a loft tank, can still run out. It also depends on the sensor seeing the leak. Have a plumber fit a valve on the supply, and an electrician do any new mains wiring. Keep the stopcock usable either way.