We got our water bill after our first month of watering the lawn. Looks like I won't be able to justify a smart sprinkler system: while our actual usage more than doubled, the bill is made up of so many fixed fees that charge only went up 5%, from $100 to $105. Ugh.
I was fed up enough with taping and painting tonight that I actually thought programming our fiddly old sprinkler timer would be relatively calming prior to bed.
Prior to this, we would manually switch the timer on, wait 50 minutes til all the zones had fired, and then manually turn it off again. If we didn't turn it off, it would cycle back to zone 1 and start over. Another concern is that we're only "allowed" to water on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays in our part of the neighborhood.
Working with this thing certainly made me appreciate the nice web- and app-interface for the Nest Thermostat. Five buttons and a dial make for very tedious programming (Yes, Dad, I know you programmed calculators with a paperclip and static electricity back in the day: I'm very spoiled).
Anyway, I believe I was successful. I won't know for sure until we cycle through an entire week, though.
***Update: Already had a problem - it fired up on Tuesday morning. I think it's fixed now***
Sadly, I almost hope it doesn't work. While I can certainly find other places around the house to spend $250, having a WiFi enabled smart sprinkler system appeals to me on an irrational level. And never mind that they're all first-generation products that are already having manufacturing issues and software bugs. It's shiny and I want it!
Buuuuut for now I'm sticking with the ugly old brown timer.
I was fed up enough with taping and painting tonight that I actually thought programming our fiddly old sprinkler timer would be relatively calming prior to bed.
Prior to this, we would manually switch the timer on, wait 50 minutes til all the zones had fired, and then manually turn it off again. If we didn't turn it off, it would cycle back to zone 1 and start over. Another concern is that we're only "allowed" to water on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays in our part of the neighborhood.
Working with this thing certainly made me appreciate the nice web- and app-interface for the Nest Thermostat. Five buttons and a dial make for very tedious programming (Yes, Dad, I know you programmed calculators with a paperclip and static electricity back in the day: I'm very spoiled).
Anyway, I believe I was successful. I won't know for sure until we cycle through an entire week, though.
***Update: Already had a problem - it fired up on Tuesday morning. I think it's fixed now***
Sadly, I almost hope it doesn't work. While I can certainly find other places around the house to spend $250, having a WiFi enabled smart sprinkler system appeals to me on an irrational level. And never mind that they're all first-generation products that are already having manufacturing issues and software bugs. It's shiny and I want it!
Buuuuut for now I'm sticking with the ugly old brown timer.
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