When our washer hose burst, and the adjuster said it's the most common insurance claim, I asked why the insurance company doesn't just send out new washer hoses every five years. Seems like it be more cost-effective than a $250 device that I'm sure doesn't work as well as the maker claims.
And yeah, I previously never gave washer hoses much thought, either. Go change yours this weekend. They're cheap, and a hell of a lot less trouble than the alternative.
Yeah, with respect to water, the simplest solution is probably to have valves that you shutoff. I have them on both washing machine and [EDIT] dishwasher but don't routinely close them. It probably should be part of my routine at least when I go on trips.
The problem is that as soon as you introduce control systems, you also introduce new failure modes. What happens when the smart thermostat crashes in winter which probably happens more frequently than a really dumb mechanical one? Of course, it's not like your heating system can't shut down for other reasons as well.
It's hard to figure out how to plan for rare failures. Ultimately you probably want someone who checks in on your house because smart systems can only handle so many eventualities. But that's may be costly.
And yeah, I previously never gave washer hoses much thought, either. Go change yours this weekend. They're cheap, and a hell of a lot less trouble than the alternative.