Smart home technology is rapidly advancing and can be found just about everywhere these days. Pretty much any appliance can be linked into a popular platform like Google Home or Amazon Alexa, and this gives you the ability to control everything from your lights to your heating and cooling, to even the locks on your door. Now, this same technology can even be integrated into helping you take care of your lawn and garden as well by giving you the ability to even more precisely control your irrigation system.
Is one of these cutting-edge devices the right choice for your lawn? There’s a good chance it is. For one, they can be retrofitted to nearly any pre-existing irrigation network without any major overhauls or remodels. On the other hand, they can save you an abundance of water, energy, and other resources that could reduce your utility bills. In fact, most people who install these smart controllers see them pay for themselves in savings in as little as a year or two.
Here are four of the largest benefits of switching over to a wi-fi smart controller for your irrigation system.
SET YOUR TIMER FROM YOUR PHONE
Are you tired of fiddling with complicated menus, dealing with instruction manuals, and twisting dials and hitting buttons to try and figure out how to set or adjust your sprinkler timers? Are you tired of being limited to just one week of programming? With modern smart controllers, these concerns are both a thing of the past. The software to control these systems is usually available for smartphones and tablets, and gives you a much broader range of control methods, programs, and more.
TURN YOUR SPRINKLERS ON OR OFF FROM ANYWHERE
Need to turn your sprinklers on, but aren’t home to do it? No worries! Pull out your smart phone, open up the app that controls your sprinkler system, and simply hit the button to turn them on. From anywhere in the world, you’ll be able to turn your sprinklers on and make sure your lawn gets watered. The opposite is true as well—if you leave for vacation but forget to adjust or turn off your sprinkler system, you can do so from your smartphone from anywhere in the world!
AUTOMATIC WEATHER ADJUSTMENTS
One of the biggest problems that homeowners find themselves dealing with on occasion is that they forget to shut off their sprinklers when it rains, and suddenly they’re dealing with an over-watered or even flooded lawn that essentially drowns when the soil can’t absorb all of the water. This not only wastes water, but could actually damage or even kill your lawn.
Some smart thermostats have the ability to actually adjust themselves based on real-time weather data they pull from the internet. When it starts to rain, your system will automatically shut the sprinklers off or adjust their running time to take advantage of the rain and take better care of your lawn. On particularly hot days, they can change to run longer and provide more water.
SELF-DIAGNOSIS ABILITIES
Is something wrong with your irrigation system? Your controller may be able to tell you! If you’ve got a jammed or broken valve, faulty control line, or any other issue, some of these systems are smart enough to sense the issue and tell you about it straight away! You’ll receive notifications when your system detects everything from a faulty signal line to a broken sprinkler head that’s wasting water!*
Outfit your home with one of these smart controllers! Call Advanced Home Services at 208-784-7314 today and let our Idaho Falls plumbers install one for you.
*Self-diagnosis features and leak detection are only available on some smart controller models, and may require supplemental hardware. Make sure you carefully research any controllers you’re considering in order to find out if they have this capability before purchasing.