Thoughts?

Have seen Rachio in the wild. Reviews on Amazon seem okay, but some of the negative once raised concerns.

I don't really need to to be a fully capable ai, but want easier usage and flexibility of programing and phone access. Current unit is not upgradable for phone.

I have an Orbit B-Hyve and like it a lot. I primarily went with it because I wanted to be able to control the system from my phone.

Pros:
1. Orbit is a big player in the landscape irrigation business so I expect them to be around.
2. Easy to use app
3. Physical controls on controller if Orbit decides to shut down servers. If Rachio shuts down, you'll have to buy a new controller.
4. Cheaper than competitors


Cons:
1. Smart watering isn't perfect. Only tried it for a bit, but it watered more than necessary. Haven't tried Rachio so don't know how it compares.
4. Weather isn't as localized as Rachio


If you want smart watering, I'd likely go Rachio. If you want wifi controlled sprinkler controller, I'd go Orbit.

Rachio ftw!
I have the gen 1 and it's still working great.
The 16zone is on sale; the 8zone may be as well
https://slickdeals.net/f/15099172-rachio-16-zone-smart-sprinkler-controller-3rd-generation-180-free-s-h

Awesome price on 16 zone

Only have 6 zones......

How I'd the app and weather stuff on Rachio? Really only care that it turns off when raining. Don't want it over thinking things. Can I set different schedules for different zones?

Rachio or Hunter PHC according to my father who is a licensed irrigator.

About time Hunter came to party with something better than their add-on WiFi module!

They probably lost a lot of residential sales being 2-3 years late.

Absolute said:

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Only have 6 zones......

How I'd the app and weather stuff on Rachio? Really only care that it turns off when raining. Don't want it over thinking things. Can I set different schedules for different zones?

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It's pretty good, but one minor annoyance is that lately it seems like I've been getting a lot of "the weather has changed... watering will be performed on schedule!" even if multiple inches have fallen in the last 1-2 days. Their interface has a lot of knobs to turn regarding past/future precipitation and soil saturation... I probably just need to play with it more.

Bought a Rachio gen 2 for like $100 three months ago and have loved it. Wasn't sure about it but needed a new rain sensor and those are like $60 and barely work for me anyway so I figured I would give it a try.

I think it may pay for itself this year.

I thought I would really get into it but I don't understand half the yard settings so I just forced it to the duration and frequency I want and it has been managing around the rain for me.

I really like my Rain Machine. I have no experience with other smart controllers, so I can't compare, but Rain Machine is excellent.

Have the B-Hyve as well and have been happy with it

n_touch said:

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Have the B-Hyve as well and have been happy with it

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Same here, able to control 2 houses from my phone easily as both have them.

One thing I like about the B-Hyve is I can set thresholds for % chance of precipitation and expected total precipitation. For example I can set it to only rain delay if there is a greater than 50% chance of getting .5 inches of rain.

Rachio may have that too.

I very much want one of these but as I'm on a well with a larger lot, I have 20 zones.

Mine runs 12 zones. No reason you could not use 2

aggie_wes said:

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I very much want one of these but as I'm on a well with a larger lot, I have 20 zones.

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Hunter Pro HC 24 zone is your answer. They also make one that's expandable to 54 zones (HCC). It's better than rachio, orbit, rainbird, and rain machine anyways

mAgnoliAg said:

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aggie_wes said:

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I very much want one of these but as I'm on a well with a larger lot, I have 20 zones.

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Hunter Pro HC 24 zone is your answer. They also make one that's expandable to 54 zones (HCC). It's better than rachio, orbit, rainbird, and rain machine anyways

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Agree. Go with the ProHC24. Unless you're REALLY good with programming and need a bunch of custom programs the HCC will be overkill for a home owner. That being said, the HCC is a beast of a machine.

Been very happy with bhyve.
Had a Rainbird (not connected) that died and just wanted something to replace it that wasn't wildly expensive. BHyve fit the bill and added an app. I was up and running in minutes.
The app has been great. Some misses with smart watering but nothing egregious, and admittedly I have not invested the time to tune and figure it out.

does ercot have access to control it?

Cramp00 said:

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does ercot have access to control it?

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I actually got asked this last week by one of our customers

Picked up the Rachio. Will see how it goes.

Make sure to see if your water utility has a rebate for buying one of these. I got a $100 bill credit when I put mine in.

Had a Racchio at our old house and loved it. We just moved to an older house that doesn't have built in irrigation, otherwise I'd buy another one without hesitation.

I have a Hunter and I love it. Being able to control zones with your phone is very convenient when walking around looking for issues. Used to take me some time walking each portion of a zone, and then back to the controller to enable the next one. Now I just walk from spot to spot in the yard and turn them on and off. I also like the settings that allow you to tell it not to water when there is more than a 50% chance of precip in your area in the next 24 hours.

Ive had a B Hyve for three years and have no big complaints.

I did notice a bug recently in the app where it would not save a new program while the manual watering cycle was running.

Rachio. That is what was recommended by the irrigation people I use.

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Absolute said:
Only have 6 zones......

How I'd the app and weather stuff on Rachio? Really only care that it turns off when raining. Don't want it over thinking things. Can I set different schedules for different zones?

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It's pretty good, but one minor annoyance is that lately it seems like I've been getting a lot of "the weather has changed... watering will be performed on schedule!" even if multiple inches have fallen in the last 1-2 days. Their interface has a lot of knobs to turn regarding past/future precipitation and soil saturation... I probably just need to play with it more.

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Absolute: yes you can set diff scheds for diff zones. Last summer I setup a specific schedule for a specific time window on specific zones:


akaggie: then you need to find a different wether station to tie it to. How far away is the one you are on?

Got it today. Had to do a return and reorder because it was a prime day sale for 40 less. Will put it in and play with it this weekend.