Smart Sprinkler Controllers
2When I bought my house years ago, it came with a stupid sprinkler system. Stupid in the sense that whomever installed it, the zones made no sense. Also stupid in the sense that the controller for it is dumb. I knew there were many smart controllers on the market, but a lot of them either looked horrible or required way too much effort to get working. Then I discovered Rachio through something on Facebook. I think of them as the Nest of sprinkler systems.
Earlier this year I pre-purchased an Iro from Rachio. I've had it for a little over a month now and have watched the folks behind it slowly roll out changes. They've struggled a bit, but it was easy to install, once I spoke with them on my wiring since the rain sensor was wired in oddly.
It's worked nicely so far. I can turn zones on and off from my phone, set schedules, etc. The best feature, however, is the weather intelligence. It looks at the upcoming forecast and determines if it should skip the cycle. It also has budgeting so it'll adjust how much water a zone needs depending on the season. They're pretty active on their forums responding to suggestions/problems/criticism and are continuing to roll out new features, so I imagine over this summer it'll become even more awesomer and less meh.
Do any of you folks have an Iro? Or any other smart controller? Has it saved you money? Are you still reading this and awake?
- 4 comments, 1 reply
- Comment
I have a garden hose...
I'll see your garden hose and raise you one sprinkling can.
I have 2 different sprinkler controllers that are very stupid in their own ways (one of which only goes up to 2010 for some reason which makes setting it fun).
I'd like to get something smarter but have been too lazy to do the research so far.
The nest of sprinkler controllers sounds perfect. I have a nest but also have a family that doesn't believe in thermostats. So having something like it that no one will mess with sounds great.
So nothing useful to say beyond... Your not alone.
I'm so glad that I live in a place where it rains. I don't think I've ever watered my lawn. It looks nice and green too.
That sounds pretty awesome. My landlords have to come by every now and then to change the sprinkler settings. The controller is just a cryptic mess of oddly-shaped buttons to me. I feel like Sandra Bullock in the Russian craft in Gravity.