This provided a nice, cooling shower to the chickens in our coop. If the controller loses its cloud connection, it will still water your garden using the last schedule; if you’re running a flexible schedule, a “backup flex schedule” will kick in. ... GROW SMARTER . Hunter Hydrawise Flow Meter for Touch Screen Smart Wifi Enabled Sprinkler Controller - It will detect, monitor and report critical flow rates in zones individually and the whole system. And though the Sprinkl Sense soil-moisture sensor we tested worked far more reliably, all WaterSense-certified controllers are required to function without the need for rain or soil-moisture sensors. The Remconix Irrigation Controller (RICO 24S) is a standalone wireless irrigation controller, allowing control of up to 24 zones. According to experts we spoke with, these sensors are also not very effective in a residential setting because topsoil isn’t deep enough for accurate readings. At $230 for eight zones and $280 for 16, at the time of writing, this model costs $80 more than the Rachio 3e, which works in exactly the same way (except that it lacks the hyperlocal weather feature and HomeKit compatibility). These integrations let you use your voice assistant of choice to start or stop watering or to start or stop a specific zone (so you can turn the sprinklers on whenever the neighbor’s dog wanders over to wee in your garden). The Blossom 7 can control up to seven sprinkler zones independently. Although we really liked this set-it-and-forget-it approach, it does require a fair amount of blind trust, since you can’t tweak or change the autonomous schedule at all. With years of irrigation remote experience, they manufacture and sell the highest quality irrigation remotes in the industry. (The app also has a tab for Rachio’s new lawn-care subscription service, Thrive. Based on this, we evaluated how each controller responded to changes in weather during testing and whether it allowed us to select a weather station versus a data source chosen by the controller. Remote Control Technology has all of your irrigation wireless remote control needs taken care of. (The Gardena system is also not WaterSense-certified and works only with soil sensors. Model# 8ZUWLC-S $ 229 99. If your town or city has a program like this, it could be an option over a smart controller—assuming that the only reason you want a smart controller is for water savings, not for the added convenience and smart-home integrations these devices also offer. It works with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa but no smart hubs. The app also tells you when it’s offline; this is key because with a device that’s so easy to set and forget, if it lost power, you might not know until your garden suffered damage. The Orbit 6 Station Indoor Irrigation Control system is a smart sprinkler controller that is straightforward and does a great job of combining simplicity and efficiency. And even though you can override these times, that defeats the purpose of a smart schedule. The Rachio 3 used less water than we would have with our old system (which was set to run every other day, for a total of 180 minutes a week, regardless of weather). We installed each device in the covered porch of a 1960s home in Charleston, South Carolina. SMS Controlled Wireless Irrigation System: UPDATE 02/13/11 : Voting has started for the Sparkfun Microcontroller Contest. We let the Rachio 3 set our schedule, choosing Flexible Daily, which updates every day based on estimated soil moisture. And without a separate rain sensor, it doesn’t have a rain delay. The A, B, C, D system it uses may be familiar to irrigation experts, but it’s just a confusing holdover from basic clocks and not useful for the average homeowner. I’ve been a writer and editor for 20 years and have spent the past decade trying to live a greener lifestyle (and writing about it). The RainMachine’s app is less polished than the Rachio’s, however, with a lot of confusing, deep-dive menus (ideal for master gardeners, but a bit daunting for the average user). In all other cases, we would recommend the Rachio 3 because of its simplicity, ease of use, and more-precise forecasting. The Orbit B-hyve XR is a slick, higher-end version of our budget pick that should offer a greater wireless range for bigger yards. Netro’s Spark is a new model, with full touchscreen controls and support for 16 zones. We selected the best smart-home devices to work with your Alexa speaker, based on our extensive testing and real-world use. If every home in the US that had a sprinkler system followed suit, that could save 120 billion gallons each year, not to mention $435 million in water costs. WaterMe- Wireless Irrigation controller(1"Flow Sensor Included)+ 1 x Rain Sensor $ 290.00 $ 275.00 Inc. GST Proudly Australian, ValvesDirect is a one-stop solution that sells irrigation and air-conditioning products to customers at the best possible prices. At the expense of predictability, this choice offers the highest potential water savings. These irrigation controllers use cellular technology to transmit each zone's soil temperature & moisture metrics to a cloud … We also looked at any software or hardware updates on devices in the Competition. The downside is that your sprinklers might still run in the rain if the RainMachine thinks they need to. Plus, because Control’s soil-moisture sensor works over a radio frequency, it had excellent range in our test garden and continued to dictate the watering schedule even if the internet went down. © 1996-2020, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates, Rachio 8ZULWC-L R3e Generation: Smart, 8 Zone Sprinkler Controller, Works with Alexa, Gen, Gray, Rachio 3 Smart Sprinkler Controller, 8 Zone 3rd Generation, Alexa and Apple HomeKit Compatible with Hyperlocal Weather Intelligence Plus and Rain, Freeze and Wind Skip, Orbit 57946 B-hyve Smart Indoor/Outdoor 6-Station WiFi Sprinkler System Controller, Hunter PRO-HC PHC-600 Residential Outdoor Professional Grade Wi-Fi Controller with Hydrawise Web-Based Software - 6 Station, Rain Bird ST8I-2.0 Smart Indoor WiFi Sprinkler/Irrigation System Timer/Controller, WaterSense Certified, 8-Zone/Station, Compatible with Amazon Alexa (2.0 replaces Obsolete ST8I-WIFI), Orbit B-hyve 4-Zone Smart Indoor Sprinkler Controller, Rain-Bird Lnk Link WiFi Module Mobile Wireless Irrigation Controller Upgrade for Indoor Outdoor ESP-TM2 and ESP-Me Series Controller Sprinkler Systems, LinkTap G2 Wireless Water Timer & Gateway & Flow Meter - Remote Hose Timer for Lawns & Gardens - Easy-Install Cloud Controlled Watering with Smart Assistant & Real-Time Fault Detection & Notifications, Orbit B-hyve 12-Zone Smart Indoor/Outdoor Sprinkler Controller, Sprinkl Control - The Smart Sprinkler Hub - 16 Zone WiFi Smart Irrigation Controller - Weather Intelligence, Remote Access, Built-in Fault Detection, Wireless Moisture Sensors, Compatible with Alexa, Orbit 21004 B-hyve Smart Hose Faucet Timer with Wi-Fi Hub, Compatible with Alexa, Rain Bird Irrigation ESP-TM2 & ESP-Me Series Controller LNK WiFi Plug in Module, Orbit Battery Operated Sprinkler Timer with Valve (57860), SPW Hunter PRO-HC PHC-1200i 12 Zone Indoor Residential/Professional Grade Wi-Fi Controller With Hydrawise Web-based Software - 12 Station - Internet Android iPhone App, SPW Hunter PRO-HC PHC-2400i 24 Zone Indoor Residential/Professional Grade Wi-Fi Controller With Hydrawise Web-based Software - 24 Station - Internet Android iPhone App, Rain-Bird ESP-TM2 Indoor Outdoor Irrigation WiFi Zone Controller Timer Box and Link Lnk WiFi Mobile Wireless Smartphone Upgrade Module Sprinkler System (12 Zone). Available in eight- or 16-zone models, the WaterSense-certified Rachio 3 is our top pick because it was the most accurate controller in our testing. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Their software algorithms use this data, combined with predicted and actual rainfall and information you input about your yard (soil type, vegetation type, slope, shade, types of sprinkler heads) to create and adjust watering schedules tailored to your garden’s needs. Since we first started testing Yardian devices, the company has improved its hardware and software substantially. You can also set an optional delay between zones (say, to allow a well to refill), select a different weather station, or connect to a personal one, such as a Netatmo. Accurately predicting and responding to weather in your immediate area. We also tested the company’s soil-moisture sensors, but two of the three failed (the third was eaten by our lawnmower). Maybe, maybe not.”. Your irrigation system is literally at your fingertips as RainBee16 can easily be added to a home automation network controlled by any of our Harmony gateways, making it accessible through … The RainMachine Touch HD-12 is a better choice if you want full on-device controls, have an unreliable internet connection, or don’t want to rely on the cloud. The RainMachine Touch HD-12 (available in versions for 12 or 16 zones) can be controlled by an onboard touchscreen, a smartphone app, or a web interface. It does lack some alerts, though, and its app isn’t as good as the Rachio 3’s. This is the least predictable option: You don’t control which days the sprinklers will turn on or for how long, but you can choose to start or end at a specific time or at sunset/sunrise. Both options let you input watering restrictions, if you have them, and both can tie in to the Weather Intelligence Plus feature, so the system will adapt its watering to local conditions. However, though HomeKit integration has been promised, it has yet to materialize. Still, the RainMachine is an excellent device. (For a deeper dive on the science behind these sprinklers, see How smart sprinklers work). We turned on all of the offered smart features, including Smart Cycle, a cycle-and-soak feature that splits watering into multiple shorter cycles to prevent runoff, and Weather Intelligence, which includes climate skip (watering times skipped based on recent, past, and future weather conditions), rain skip (which skips watering before or after rain), and freeze skip (which prevents watering when a ground freeze is expected, so your plants don’t freeze). In a few cases, the sprinklers didn’t turn on for an entire week due to rain. Rachio has a habit of rolling out new hardware with features not available to the previous generation. RainMachine has almost as many smart-home integrations as Rachio, including Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant, SmartThings (using a device handler), and IFTTT (If This Then That), and it has an API for control on a local network. Unlike all of the other models we tested, the RainMachine doesn’t need to connect to the cloud to function, and it depends on the internet only for weather updates. Rachio 3 Smart Sprinkler Controller, 8 Zone 3rd Generation, Alexa and Apple HomeKit Compatible with Hyperlocal Weather Intelligence Plus and Rain, Freeze and Wind Skip. You can share access through the app, with or without time restrictions, so a landscaper could maintain the system via their smartphone without you having to be there. Please VOTE for me! Rachio 3 works with Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, HomeKit, IFTTT, SmartThings, Wink, Xfinity, Control4, and Nexia—far more integrations than any other device offered. The company says HomeKit compatibility is coming soon—we’ll revisit this device when that’s available. Basic onboard controls—to trigger each zone for three minutes—are accessible on the outside of the device, and a magnetic cover provides easy access to the wiring. I’ve spent many hours testing smart-home products—including smart thermostats, smart garage-door controllers, and smart smoke alarms—for Wirecutter. For example, HomeKit is available only on the Rachio 3. All of the models we tested are WaterSense-certified; similar to the Energy Star program for home appliances, WaterSense products are tested to the EPA’s specifications for water efficiency and performance. We’ve added details on the new Wyze Sprinkler Controller to What to look forward to. It basically ran every day, unless rain was in the forecast, in which case it would skip waterings for two to three days around the rain event. Although the RainMachine will continue to operate while offline, and we could still control it from the device, remote access is a key feature. Alibaba.com offers 1,182 wireless irrigation controller products. Another issue with accurate ET calculation is how much specific data the controller has about your yard. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service has a Water My Yard program in a number of cities in the state, and it sends out weekly emails and text messages that tell people how many minutes to run their irrigation systems. With the next-generation X2 controller from Hunter Industries, you don’t have to choose between Wi-Fi and dial-based management. If user enables optional remote access, RainMachine stores only a factory set device ID and a mapping with the user email. The WaterMe Wireless Irrigation Controller is capable of up to 10 programmable watering zones that can be controlled remotely through any device that has internet connectivity. Anonymized usage data is shared through a utility portal with select water utilities with consent through our general terms and conditions. (If your Wi-Fi goes down, they will continue to operate based on a preprogrammed schedule.) For example, one day it told us, “Your device is in auto rain delay for 24 hours” and “Your next watering will be in 12 days.”.