I am in a location where I don’t always need to irrigate. I can go weeks at a time where it rains enough, or even too much. Then I’ll go through several weeks stretch where it barely rains at all.
So I don’t need something that’s necessarily super super high-tech, but something that can turn on and turn off without me having to trudge down my 200’ hill would still be nice.
I’ve been reading various reviews of some of the “smart“ controllers.
The main concern is they’re not always that “smart”. Some people have said that their lawns and gardens turn brown, because it delays watering every time there’s a “Chance” of rain.
If your climate is anything like mine, you can have days in a row in the summer where there is a “50% chance” of rain, but a single drop never actually falls in your backyard. So that would be problematic. Other people have said their systems are watering during a hurricane!
As far as the rain sensors, I wonder how sensitive they are? I’m just looking at the last three weeks, I can’t tell you how many times it “rained” and probably would’ve caused the sensor to kick in, but it ended up being less than 0.05”. So, is there a way to say something like “only shut off if we get more than 0.5” of rain (for example) over XXX number of days”? Or are there systems that basically “top off” your requirements? So if your goal is 1 inch a week, it will water enough to get you to that point, if rainfall didn’t already get you there. So, if you got a quarter of an inch, the system will give you the other 3/4.