WiFi controlled lawn irrigation controllers

[neblinc]

Anyone have one? Brand recommendations? Likes dislikes?
My old manual one has seen better days, plastic is brittle and falling off even being inside the porch.

Randy

 

[radio2000]

I'm planning to go with rachio as it works with nest and Samsung smart things


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[Turfbassert]

I have a Hydrawise/hunter. And love it. I like the controls and being able to fidget with times and zones. Maybe confusing if you don’t understand watering terminology. Would never sell one to anyone over the age of 35 that doesn’t understand or appreciate smartphone technology.

 

[Longtravel05]

Rain machine Mini-8. I love it. I never have to turn my Sprinklers off and back on. And no more adjusting time. Set it and forget it. It does the rest for you. Constantly monitors the weather and adjusts accordingly.

 

[Git]

I just got the Rachio. I have played around with it a bit but won't get a chance to install it for a day or two

My previous controller was from WeatherTrak and cost $$$$ although the water company helped subsidize it. It actually received a signal each day regarding how much water was needed to properly irrigate. A couple of months ago they sent everyone an email that they were discontinuing the system after 5 years because its technology was outdated (they used the 'pager' system) and they recommended the Rachio

The Rachio is considered a 'smart' controller and uses data from local weather stations to calculate how much to water. It actually qualified for a $200 rebate from our water company so it was almost a wash in price. I did have to buy the external enclosure since our controller is mounted outside

You can control it with an app on your phone or through their website on your PC - but if you set it the programming properly, you really shouldn't have to do anything. They don't even recommend a rain sensor because your local weather should forecast rain versus waiting until the sensor gets wet and shuts the system down.

You initially enter what type of vegetation, root depth, sprinkler type, etc and it calculates how much water is needed. It even lets you take a picture of each 'zone' which makes it a lot easier if you just wanted to run one zone (we have the 16 zone version)

So I would say you should definitely check out Rachio
http://www.rachio.com/

 

[BoostAddiction]

I just installed a Rachio about 2 weeks ago and really like it. I hated the UI of the old Hunter unit with a small LCD- it was just too hard to see, and difficult to program. Plus, it was extremely basic- just a timer, really.

The Rachio is much more intelligent, uses internet weather predictions to predict optimum water times, and has a really easy-to-program interface that uses your phone or tablet.

Wish I would have installed one earlier, but thought it was too complex. In fact, it was trivial, and I had it in and working in an hour, taking my time.

 

[pgray007]

I have a RainMachine, and I believe there are at least 2-3 others. I tired my rain machine in with the alarm so if anyone breaks in they’ll get wet as they try to flee.


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[Lelandwelds]

. Would never sell one to anyone over the age of 35 that doesn’t understand or appreciate smartphone technology.

Gee, thanks.

It does **** to break out the flashlight and fumble with the obscure buttons without a manual. But the recent non wifi models are far more obvious than my old dinosaur.

I dont rely on the weather services to decide if I carry an umbrella. Are the enabled ones actually useful or just a cool toy.

Not that anything is wrong with cool toys.

 

[neblinc]

Is the Rachio app easy to use for an iPhone? Can you do manual start and duration?

Randy

 

[JMartel]

If you are handy with electronics/soldering, you can make your own way cheaper.

https://www.mysensors.org/build/irrigation

I'm coming up with $65 with the more expensive of the two options part prices listed at the bottom. There's also soil sensors that will detect how wet or dry it is and you can set it up to only water when it gets dry.

 

[orangeblood]

I have a 12 zone rainmachine and it works great. Really like the way it adjusts watering time based on the rainfall within 1 mile of your exact location. Also like the phone interface that allows you to turn on / off zones while you are in the yard near the zone.

Once you dial in the correct watering amount for each zone, it reduces your involvement with the sprinkler controller to checking to see how much water you have saved.

 

[Eslader]

I've got the Rainbird, which just came out this year. I like it because on some of the wifi controllers, you can *only* control it via wifi. This one is a wifi module that hooks into a regular controller, so you can still program it at the unit if for whatever reason you can't use the wifi interface.

The interface itself is great. You can manually turn on zones, as well as program them. Easy slider-bar controls. You can also take a picture for each program which is nice. So my A program is for the grass, B is for the drips in the flower beds, and C is for the veggie garden. I don't have to remember which letter is which because of the pictures.

The best part is when I'm installing new emitters in the planting beds, I don't have to go all the way back up to the garage to turn the zone on for testing. Just pull out the phone and flip it on from there.

It also lets the installer get into the system via a back door so that he can work the valves while blowing it out or testing it in the spring without having to get into the garage. That's nice.

The one thing I wish it did was better predictive weather-based watering. It's great at not watering when it's raining. It's not so great at not watering when it's going to be raining an hour from now. My installer tells me that feature should be added in the future.

 

[White Shadow]

I've got the Rainbird, which just came out this year.

I just had a landscape contractor install irrigation and sod at my house and they used Rainbird. I'm told it has the "new" control panel & interface, but it didn't come with any WiFi controller. If I purchase the WiFi unit, is it easy to install & set up myself, or is that something that I need to leave to the pros?

 

[Eslader]

Depends on which interface they used. They might have switched entirely over to the wifi capable one, but if not, the "new" non-wifi capable one looks almost identical from the outside to the one that can do it.

If your panel has the wifi symbol below the ABCD button, then you're good to go. The wifi module plugs into a slot behind the control panel. No different than inserting a USB stick. Once it's in, you just follow the pairing instructions and download the app, and you're good to go.

 

[Hifidude]

Have the Orbit B-Hve. Think the app could use some UI work, it's not super intuitive but does what it's supposed to do.....not complaining at all and was super cheap with a local rebate we had in southern cal.

 

[trashmanssd]

Irritrol wifi controller with a handheld wifi controller that you tether to your pc or laptop to make changes in the schedule and set up. handheld controller allows you to turn it off and on and to run individual zones as needed for any amount of time if you have areas that look a little dry. I love it, installed it my self and it was very very easy.




Link to the place I ordered it: http://www.sprinklerwarehouse.com/Irritrol-PC-Control-s/93.htm

lots of other brands carried at this place also and they were a lot cheaper then I expected.