RachioWiFi Smart Sprinkler Controller (8-Zone Irrigation Remote Control) – App-Based Scheduling, Local Weather Intelligence, Rain Skips, Easy DIY InstallWaterSense

This controller made me wonder why I didn’t buy it sooner. It works flawlessly, fit in the same foot print as the old controller, was super easy to connect to the WiFi and sooooo easy to program. I love the soak feature where it splits each zone into two cycles to allow the water to absorb and get a more effective watering. I like that it allows you to set to run after sunset or before sunrise so you aren’t having to constantly adjust the schedule. Best part is our water district had a rebate for this controller so it was almost free and I ended up with a far superior controller unit.

I debated for a long time before purchasing this product due to the mix of very strong reviews — both positive and negative. After using this unit for about 2 weeks, and experiencing a lot of weather in the North TX area, I’m writing to speak to both sides and offer my observations in hopes that it will help others who find themselves in the same dilemma that I did.First, let me say that this is an awesome product. Having worked in technology, and specifically software engineering and product development for 15-20 years, I truly appreciate the simplicity of the product. The entire setup process — from opening the box to having water running in our yard — lasted maybe 10-15 minutes max, and it was only that high because I spent about 5 minutes creating a label on our label maker to “mark” the zones on the outside of the unit. Some might call this overkill… my wife calls it particular… but nevertheless. Everything from the design, to engineering, to the magnetic cover, the software in the app (we use iOS)… it was simple and the experience was like opening an Apple product and having it “just work”.Second, let me speak to the setup options, since I think this is where most folks that write negative reviews get hung up. There are basically two paths to choose from, and there doesn’t really seem to be a middle ground. One path is to basically set it up as a “dumb controller” — meaning, think of what your parents probably had 20-30 years ago in their garage. You set a schedule, it is fixed, and it basically runs on certain days and times that you set. If this is your preference, then save your money and buy a different controller. There are way cheaper options on the market, and this product is going to be overkill for a schedule that simple.The other option, which is why I suspect most of you are probably interested or reading this in the first place, is what this system is really designed to do. You can set it up as a “smart controller” — meaning, you set a base schedule, along with some data points specific to your location, and these are fed into an algorithm, along with real-time weather information from your area, and it basically adjusts “on demand”. For example, if it rained more than a certain amount (you can set the threshold), or if rain is even expected in your area in the next 24 hours, it will skip a cycle. Or if it detects winds (again, you can set a threshold), it might adjust the time. Same thing for temperature below freezing, soil moisture, etc. There are a lot of options and you can customize which ones per zone… for example, one of our zones is a dedicated drip hose, so the wind alert doesn’t really matter but the soil moisture does. The neat thing is you can set multiple “schedules” and target different settings for each. The only thing to be aware of, is one of the settings is “time of day”… so if you have multiple schedules for the same day, and they are both set to “finish before sunrise”, for example, you might run into weird situations. We get around this by alternating days (or you can set a “fixed” time of day for one). Just a heads up for anyone running more complex schedules across zones.The “smart controller” setup (as I call it) is a little more work up front, and if you do it wrong, I can totally see how it will mess up your yard. However, it’s not all that difficult, and once it’s setup as intended, it’s totally worth the money. Based on our water usage, and the unpredictability of weather in the North TX area, I think this unit will pay for itself in a matter of a couple months. In the past 14 days alone, it has already saved us from running 4 different cycles for who knows how many hundreds of gallons each time. Again, this means that you actually have to do some work up front to make sure it is setup correctly. It does require a little bit of knowledge of your soil type and the ability not to over-estimate slopes. For example, just because your yard is graded (to get water away from your house) does not mean that the slope is “extreme”. All of the factors go into the algorithm… so if you get it wrong, that is not Rachio’s fault, even though it sounds like that is where most of the negative reviews stem from. It’s just like anything else with data… garbage in = garbage out. If you put good data in, then the results can be remarkable.The only downside, if there was one, is I could not get this to work with our existing rain sensor or HomeKit. The rain sensor threw false positives, and once I figured that out (thanks to Rachio alerting us "why" the system did not run), I just unplugged it and it's one less thing to have to worry about. For HomeKit, with a background in software engineering, I’ve looked into this technically and this appears to be an issue with Apple’s integration rather than Rachio. Practically, all this means is I cannot say “Hey Siri, turn on our sprinklers for 10 minutes". Would that be impressive to show off? Absolutely. But with the intelligence already built into Rachio's software, there’s a good chance I’ll never need to do anything manually ever again.In summary… this is an excellent product, but it is not for everyone. I do wish there was a review like this a few weeks back so I did not have to spend time second guessing myself before we purchased this product. All in all, this is a solid product, and I would highly recommend it… as long as you have some time to set it up correctly. I hope this helps!Justin

So happy with this unit. Replaced a 7 year old Rainbird that wouldn't connect to my wifi anymore. This brand was recommended by a sprinkler company and I am so happy. No connection issues, super easy installation, nice app interface, easy to schedule and change programming, includes automatic adjustments for rain so I have already saved money and saved water.

Rachio 3 is my first experience with a smart controller. The investment for one is well worth the money, whether you choose this product or not. Below are a couple features that I love about this particular smart controller:Pros:1. Controlling Via Smartphone - Being able to control the functions of your irrigation system via smartphone is a game changer. My previous unit had the ability to schedule but was rigid in what it could do. Having this feature available while seeding this spring eliminated following a rigid, programmed, schedule best suited to seeding, as well as potential trips to my garage to correct that programming. This app allows you to set up multiple schedules and label them accordingly. You have the flexibility to set your schedules to a date range, quick start a schedule, or simply initiate a quick run, which is just an option to choose a particular zone and spontaneously run for whatever reason.2. Weather Intelligence Skips - Localized to your immediate area, it will pull data and determine if the conditions are ideal for running your system. You have the option of modifying the thresholds for temperature, wind, and rain. For example, the default-skip for Wind may be 15mph but you have the option to lower to 10mph. A lot of older controllers have the ability to sense for rain.. how accurate those are can be debated (mine ran no matter what so I am biased). I don’t know how many are sensitive to wind, which is, in my opinion, the highlight of this feature.3. How Much Did It Rain? - I didn’t see this on my research on this product before buying and believe it deserves a highlight.. on your Home tab of the app, at the top, it displays the weather projected for the day and a couple in advance, as well as a recorded history of the weather in the previous days/week(s). While the system schedules to run your irrigation system according to rainfall, it’s still very nice to reference this data and correct your schedule, if needed.4. User Interface - the UI on the app makes navigating throughout simple enough for those challenged with operating a smart phone. It’s visually appealing to look at and doesn’t overload you with features/information.5. Smart Cycle/Soaking - Let’s say you have 4 zones. Each is scheduled to run 40 minutes. Zone 1 will run for 20 minutes, then cycle to Zone 2 for 20 minutes, etc etc then circle back to zone 1 to finish the scheduled watering. This is a very simplified explanation of this feature but it allows the water to soak into the ground and eliminates runoff.Disclaimer..This product is marketed as saving you money on your monthly bill and that’s done via the weather intelligence skips. This is, in my opinion, slightly false. While a scheduled run can skip for wind, temperature, or rain… it will be rescheduled. That being said, if you keep pushing your scheduled runs back, there is value saved seen, overall, in the calendar year. The claim to save an average of 30% and up to 50% on your monthly water bill seems misleading.How this SHOULD be marketed, while not as sexy as the message of “saving money,” is increasing the value of your money. The weather intelligence skips work. Running the irrigation system while it’s windy is the equivalent of lighting money on fire. Your lawn doesn’t get what it needs and will not get what it needs until the next scheduled run. You can see how this could be an issue if scheduled runs are stacked on windy days and what your lawn could look like in the summer. If you made it this far in the review, you are likely heavily considering purchasing this product or something like it. Do it. It’s worth the money.

Simple to install. Works great. App is really user friendly. The only minor drawback is that it alters the schedule based on the rain forecast, i.e., it may skip a watering and then it doesn’t rain. Fortunately, if I’m away, I can easily check my cameras to see if it actually rained. If it didn’t, it only takes a couple seconds to access the app in my phone and trigger the sprinklers to come on. Love being able to control it from anyplace. This is very helpful when I’m traveling and my spraying service treats my lawn and it needs an off schedule watering.