Flow Sensors for Electric Showers in Care Facilities
February 26, 2019
Electric showers are a safety feature used in care facilities to assist elderly and disabled patients or residents with showering. With these showers, accuracy is crucial to ensure they are operating at the set temperatures. Additional safeguards are also implemented on these that can sense unsafe temperatures and automatically shut down the heating element if detected.
Challenge
Accurate flow rate, reliable and stable shower output
Accuracy is critical, as even a small change in flow rate (less than one gallon per minute) can result in a 1-2 degree change in water temperature. This is especially necessary in care facilities, where caregivers rely on this technology to safeguard patients or residents and prevent or mitigate adverse temperature changes before they cause harm.
Solution
FT-110 Series Turbine Flow Sensor
Gems Sensors’ FT-110 is used on the water inlet assembly to monitor the flow rate and feed the information to a microcontroller and a proportional valve, maintaining an even water temperature. The FT-110 also boasts long-life performance, a compact size, and a wide flow range, making it an attractive solution for this application.
Features
- Low-cost solution
- High accuracy ±3% of reading
- Measures low liquid flow rates of 0.13 to 9.2 GPM (0.5 to 35 LPM)
- Lightweight plastic design enables mounting in any position
- O-ring design for manifold mounting