Any Cool Smart Sprinkler System Use-cases?

Hello
I purchased a Rachio last summer, and have hooked up the Rachio Integration to HE (chose the community version over the default).

However, I'm struggling with "why" I wanted to connect it last summer, now that I did, with this summer top of mind as it's coming up. I want to be ready :slight_smile: .

Wanted to ask the community, even if you aren't using Rachio, what kind of "smart" automations you have step with your sprinkler that could help inspire me and future owners?

Thank you!

Late night motion activates sprinklers (keeps people and rabbits out of your yard)

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My first thought was exactly as @rlithgow1 stated. Other ideas:

  1. Custom water feature effects (possibly paired with laminar flow and lighting)
  2. Making kids time dashing through the sprinklers much more interactive
  3. Special effects for Halloween (giant spitting monster or "splash zone" effect)
  4. "Put out the campfire" mode once you go to bed

If you still have unconnected zones you could make much more custom water-controlled features or things you might want.
5) Refill the bird bath(es) or outdoor water dishes
6) Rinse the car/driveway off
7) Make a cooling misting booth (or swamp cooler)

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Didn't @lewis.heidrick have an automation to spray the neighbors when they let their dogs pee or poop in his yard!? Love that

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Yup, they walk their dogs on the opposite side of the street now.

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I use Rainmachine that is integrated with Hubitat.
Although, I do not Hubitat to operate RainMachine I am using Hubitat to let me know when the sprinklers are starting and I have a rule which is opening all the sprinklers ( without opening the main valve) in order to discharge any water from from the plumbing when the leak sensors are detecting any water leakage in the house. That will take away all the water pressure which helps in limiting further any accidental water damage. If you have a multi level house and your water leaks is on ground floor or basement is even more effective.

Did you at least get footage of when they got sprayed? And if so you should post it

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I have a Rachio and love the flex scheduling. One thing I am going to look into for this summer is ensuring that watering is skipped on Friday mowing day. I should be able to do that with Hubitat and webCoRE (where I write all my rules).

Also, I like the Rachio Community integration on Hubitat simply for the weather display on the dashboard. It will also indicate watering days. It's nice to see that stuff at a glance. (Plus, I designed the weather icons. :slight_smile: )

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Ooo. If you figure this out, would love to see how you do it. As I'm a bit nervous to muck with the Flex days (love those too) with manual overrides on my own.

I think Rachio iPhone people already have a flex schedule where you can pick your days. I don't have that option on the website or Android, though.

I am SO tired of the asymmetrical feature roll out that some companies follow - available on this phone, but not on that phone or the web site. I have both iPhones and Android phones so I can get to whatever I need, but tiresome when I have to remember where I can do something...

I'm another person who has integrated my irrigation control (Rain Machine) but I allow Rain Machine to do it's thing - I have it tied into my local Ambent weather station for weather-based scheduling, and it does a very nice job of watering when it should, and skipping or reducing when it should. Very happy.

I would like to set up a dashboard at some point so I have the "at a glance" view as well, but time to do so just isn't there at the moment.

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Don't water some zones if wind is 10+ mph (it just blows the water on the driveway).
Stop schedule based on rain and chance of rain.
Change schedule based on seasons of the year.

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I probably do but I'd have to go digging for it. A funny side note, the neighbor across the street put up some no pooping signs along the sidewalk :joy:.

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Wouldn't be so bad if people just picked it up. I have a giant GSD and I always have bags. Frigging common courtesy

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I have a neighbor that walks two huge German Shepards, and I've seen him a few times carrying the giant black Glad trashbags...huge blobs of "treasure" rolling around inside. :wink:

I have tiny dogs (required by tiny wife) and I carry equally tiny little bags. One of the few benefits of small dogs. :slight_smile:

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I have these two idiots... I should be carrying around contractor bags....

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Those are some seriously goofy looking doggies...I already love them. :smiley:

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Hi Danabw
Why don’t you use the weather forecast sync function from RainMachine ? It’s working quite good in saving water.

I have actual rain sensing connected directly to my ambient weather station I have in my backyard. So I get an actual measurement of rainfall where I live and then that is fed into the rain machine for it to adjust watering.

I also have a couple weather services tied into the rain machine so it also will look at forecasted weather and adjust for that as well.

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I have implemented a simple rule that when the main house water valve is closing (due to any of the leak sensor detecting an water leak) then the sprinklers will open for 5 minutes. This will drain most of the water from the house since we have a double storey house. In the end any remaining water in the pipes will not be any longer under pressure. Thus limiting further the volume of water lost at the point of fault inside the house.

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