My Sprinklers Got This Smart Upgrade, and Yours Should Too

I’ve had friends recommend Rachio’s smart irrigation controls off and on for years. It sounded like a convenient switch, with an app to control sprinklers and scheduling made easy on your phone, but the price — over $100 even for earlier models, and over $200 for the newest, largest models — always put me off. Then my old irrigation controller blew up (almost literally), and it was time to make the switch to to Rachio’s third-generation model.

What I found was a long-overdue smart upgrade that makes saving time and increasingly expensive water so easy compared with my old system. I’m a little annoyed I didn’t switch sooner.

Setup for Rachio products is fully DIY, results are immediate, and app controls are exactly what sprinkler systems need, especially if you have several zones or more to juggle. That $200 price is off-putting to people watching their wallets, but you’re also likely to see savings over time, with some users saying they paid off the smart sprinkler model in a year or two. I’ve only been using the sprinkler for a couple of seasons, but it’s definitely helped me save water too (although with rising water prices in my region, my costs have stayed about even).

If you’ve been looking for an eco-friendly home upgrade or a much easier way to manage your irrigation, Rachio really is the answer this spring — and like me, you may be surprised at just how much it can do.

Rachio’s sprinkler controller needs mostly painless wiring work

Rachio offers a couple of different sizes for its third-generation controller, but the eight-zone option should be sufficient for nearly any residential property. And it looks great, with an LED bar that both indicates power and flickers to show irrigation in progress and other details. The on-board manual controls in the big button are pretty vague, but most of the work takes place in the app, which I’ve covered below.

Installation is about as easy as you can hope for, as long as your old module cooperates. For me, I simply shut off my power, unscrewed and removed my old controller, then mounted Rachio’s in the same spot over the wiring exit. Attaching the zone wiring into Rachio’s tabs was quick work, and the cover magnetically snaps back with minimal fuss. However, you’ll want to choose a sunny day with the garage open (or wherever your irrigation is), as cutting the power also means you won’t have any light to work under.

A quick tip — if you’re using smart irrigation like this, it will need to connect to your Wi-Fi. That’s no problem for me, but if your controller is far from your router, it may need a range extender or something else to help.

The wiring proved slightly tricky, since it depends on your old setup and which wires connect to specific zones versus the primary wires that control all zones at once. As I set up the zones, the controls weren’t exactly what I expected, which required some experimentation and rewiring, but nothing too onerous if you have an afternoon to work on it. Sensor and remote wires may require a bit of extra work — mostly capping them, since Rachio can take care of those details without needing the extra hardware.

The good news is that your central sprinkler controller is the only thing you need to replace. Rachio offers various add-ons, such as outdoor weather sensors or protective covers for outdoor irrigation controls, but they aren’t necessary for the average home setup.

A sprinkler app that does everything (really, everything)

Rachio’s app is packed with features. Some make your irrigation a lot easier, while others can make it more complicated — depending on what you want to do.

Those options include quick-run modes for your zones, as well as schedules and calendars where you can customize how your sprinklers behave from day to day. There’s a heat wave mode that adds extra watering when temperatures soar, and a hibernate mode if you, like me, don’t use sprinklers during freezing winters.

One of the coolest options is the ability to add your location so Rachio can tap into local weather monitors. That lets you set choices like automatically skipping a watering session when the chance for rain is high, avoiding over-watering and saving a little money.

Not all options will be worth your time. For example, when setting up zones, you can specify the type of grass, soil type, lawn angle, photos of the grass and tons of other details. Those may be more useful in complex commercial irrigation, but for the average home, most of those settings are unnecessary unless you want Rachio’s in-depth advice on improving your lawn.

Final thoughts on Rachio’s smart sprinkler controller

Smart irrigation may not seem like an obvious upgrade compared with smart home locks or smart lights in your kitchen. But I found Rachio’s model to be a surprisingly helpful addition, a significant upgrade to home irrigation in every way.

From the ability to set app controls and control sprinklers from the app, to very helpful modes like automatic switching during rainy days or heat waves, it’s “smart” irrigation in every way. Add in the potential savings for your water bill, as well as the DIY installation, and this is an option I can recommend for nearly anyone with a lawn and sprinkler controller.

A couple of things you should know if you’re considering Rachio: You will need a wired sprinkler controller for this smart irrigation, and it may take experimenting to get your zones properly aligned. Expect to do some testing on a sunny afternoon. Also, the app is a lot, so don’t get overwhelmed when first exploring the many options and settings you now have access to.

If you’d like to manage your lawn differently this year, I can’t recommend Rachio’s controller enough. I can’t say how long it will take for the smart irrigation to pay for itself in your yard, but it’s likely you’ll start using less water, too.