3/23/2021 0 Comments Smart Water Irrigation
The second issue is that the Sprite is fully controlled by the app.Thankfully, these days even a hardcore couch potato can keep up with the demands of home ownership thanks to smart home devices like smart outdoor security cameras and smart sprinkler controllers.Yes, a smart sprinkler controller will help keep your plants watered, but they do so much more.They have mobile apps and support zoning, and they help conserve wateran especially vital skill if you live in a drought-ridden area.
After many hours of testing, the Rachio 3 ( available at Amazon for 193.59 ) ended up being our top pick. Not only is it easy to use, but it also uses a physical button and LED indicators so that you dont have to fuss around with the app unless youre setting up a custom schedule. Purchases you make through our links may earn us a commission. The model we tested offers control over eight zones (sometimes called stations), though theres an additional model that supports up to twice that. Smart home junkies will appreciate the integrations with Nest, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Samsung SmartThings, and Apple HomeKit. Theres even a host of IFTTT recipes available to customize your sprinkler even further. The Rachio app has a busy interface, but its easy to navigate. By uploading photos and entering details about things like soils and sunlight, you can then set a custom schedule, or have the Rachio app figure one out based on the details you entered. When we let the Rachio 3 set the watering schedule, we chose the Flexible Daily schedule option, which uses public weather data to determine soil moisture depending on the questions you answered. There are additional features like Weather Intelligence, which enables the ability to automatically skip a session if rain or excessive wind is underway; and Smart Cycle, which splits watering times into shorter, more frequent cycles to prevent runoff. For more accurate results, you can choose to sync the Rachio 3 with a personal weather station, like the Netatmo. The Rachio 3 isnt the most affordable smart irrigation controller, but it does offer the most features while still being easy enough for anyone to use. Pros Easy installation process Smart home integration Impressive list of features Cons More expensive than other options 193.59 from Amazon. This little gem was far and away the easiest to install and use. The Sprite doesnt require you use up one of the included six or 12 stations (control zones) to be dedicated to a master valve like most others. Using one of your stations for the master valve leaves you with one less station to use for watering, so we appreciated the inclusion of an extra station for this purpose. The yard data combined with the local weather information make it a very smart little controller that will create a custom schedule based on recent rain as well as forecast precipitation. The app walks you through most of the setup, and both Android and iOS apps worked flawlessly both over WiFi and via remote access. Two things kept it from being our top pick: It is intended for indoor installation, so if your control box is outside, you will need to move wiring from the previous controller to a new location inside.
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