Review: Pani Smart Water Monitor – making my dumb home smarter

I just bought a home. I thought it was going to be like the eureka moment where my life came together and everything made sense going forward. I was very wrong. I live in a town of 1,500 people that I don’t understand and restaurants that close at 6pm on Sunday. There is no food delivery. I still work for Kevin.

Also, the house needs a lot of work – something else I thought I’d enjoy, but boy was I wrong. The point I’m trying to (and not so eloquently) make is that one of the things I wanted to do with this house was bring it into the 21st century. I’m talking smart features, a microwave that doesn’t flip my breakers when the living room television is on, a kick-ass office, and other quality-of-life improvements.

The Pani Smart Water Monitor is my first step towards making my home smarter

This is a stock image, but my setup looks basically the same – but in a prison shower instead of a nice one (Image: Pani)

This little device easily connects to most of the water applications in your home. Some might require a little more work than others, but it comes with all the braided line, adapters, and plumber’s tape that you’ll need to get the job done. I’m not handy, but even I was able to get one of these water monitors up and running in a little under 30 minutes.

I currently only have one installed in my secondary shower, but definitely plan on adding the other to my main shower and switching this one over to the kitchen to get a holistic view of my water usage. Pani also notes that like a trillion gallons of water is wasted through toilet leaks each year, so that might be a contender for the second unit, as well.

The Pani Smart Water Monitor provides data through an easy-to-use app

Image: Josiah Motley / KnowTechie

Setting up your Pani smart monitors within the app is easy and pairing takes no time. You just need a Wi-Fi connection and the Pani app and it will guide you through the rest. It offers some solid directions depending on the fixture you are installing the Pani to, but I would have liked to see maybe some well-made YouTube guides as well. But again, I’m not handy and need my hand held through most things. Yes, I work for a tech blog. No, I don’t feel like I have to explain myself to you.

The information provided tells you basically everything you’d like to know about your water fixture, and because it is always on, it can also double as a way to check for minor leaks that you may miss otherwise.

When you install the smart monitor, it will begin to analyze your data (takes about a week) to give you even more insight over your water usage. You can then set goals to lower your water footprint and Pani will donate money to various projects if you meet those goals. Currently, Pani is partnering with WellAware to bring clean, reliable water to people in Sikizana, Kenya.

Overall, the Pani Smart Water Monitors have been a great addition to my dumb home. Between easy installation and easy-to-understand data, I really have no complaints. Also, the price is very reasonable, you can currently snag a two-pack from their website for $80 or if you prefer the Amazon route, you can snag one for $50.

Editors’ Recommendations:

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• Review: Kospet Prime smartwatch – a smartwatch for any aspiring spy

Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. Click here for more. A sample unit was provided for the purpose of this review.

Josiah Motley

Former KnowTechie editor.