Have a garden fountain, nothing fancy - Home Depot model from 10 years ago: three "buckets" stacked that streams water from the top-most bucket to the next and then the bottom, lather/rinse/repeat.
It's nice but, of course, remembering to turn it on or off was just too much effort so....
...enter automation.
End result, the fountain comes on daily at 08:30 each morning as long as the back slider door is open (or the cat slider door is open), as long as I am in any mode associated with being home, turns off if I'm not at home, and turns off for the night about an hour after sunset.
But... what if the temp should fall overnight below freezing? Doesn't happen often here but it happens. We don't want the pump to try and run if it or the tubing is blocked due to some icing conditions. New condition added: temp must be 45° or higher.
But... noticed if it was breezy out, the stream could blow outside the receiving bucket and drain onto the ground - essentially pumping the fountain dry. Not good, the pump is cheap and has no run-dry protection. After some careful watchfulness it was determined that 2mph was enough wind to blow the stream off-course so.... Condition: wind speed must be =< 2mph.
But... this could drive you crazy if the breeze was right at 2mph, right? On, off, on, off, on, off. So we added a delay of 25 minutes. The =<2mph condition, once restored, must stay restored for 25 minutes - if so, turn the fountain back on.
Seems a lot of work for just a garden decoration but it's maximized enjoyment of it whilst protecting it and not wasting cycles or electricity when no one is home.
