Rachio - 16-zone 3rd Generation Smart Sprinkler Controller - White
Model: 16ZULW-C
SKU: 6259929
This item is no longer available in new condition. See similar items below
The vast majority of our reviews come from verified purchases. Reviews from customers may include My Best Buy members, employees, and Tech Insider Network members (as tagged). Select reviewers may receive discounted products, promotional considerations or entries into drawings for honest, helpful reviews.
I bought this controller to replace a 13-year-old Hunter 15 zone. The Rachio controller is quite easy to install. I had to cut back some of the existing wires which were all the same length. I had to make a fan shape out of them. I also had to press them down to fit under the magnetic cover. That took the longest part. But inserting wires and turning on the controller was minutes. Attaching to the wall was simple too. I installed the app and it found the controller. Then configuring the app was a bit fun. I created a few schedules and added the zones to them. I do have an extra 16th zone. I enjoyed taking pictures of my yard and adding them to each zone. This makes it easy to remember zones 11-13 in my yard which always confused me as the sprinkler guy spread the spray heads everywhere. Anyway, the controller works well. At first, I missed my hunter remote control, but using the Rachio app is easier I suppose as I always have my phone on me. Besides, I can turn on the schedule or zone from anywhere. I did some research and I was pleased to find out that I could attach my hunter rain click sensor to the Rachio controller. It worked in the first rain. The outside of the controller allows a scroll through zones and the ability to start/pause/stop a zone. It is possible to turn off the horizontal status light on the controller. I like it turned on as it adds a night light to that corner of the garage. The smart wifi weather checking appears to be connected. I did see (in history too) that it delayed a zone as the weather was coming. This will be interesting to see how it works in the future as we have specific hours that we are allowed to water. So if I water at 6 am, I can't delay to the 11 am-6 pm no water window. An improvement on this controller would be a latch on the cover. The magnets hold, but I have tools nearby and hope they don't knock off the cover. Overall, great product. BTW, still waiting for rebate from our city of $100 for a smart controller install.
Posted by texasStrong
Comparing this to the 25yr old controller it replaced, it's sleeker, easier to program, the history and stats the app provides, and being able to control it from an app makes this a no-brainer purchase. First the install - super simple. Label wires and take pictures of everything before you yank the old controller. Because many old controllers the wires wrap around a screw terminal (so the stripped wire is bent and longer than you'll need for the Rachio), simply cut the wires just below the where the lead insulation starts (leave enough behind to see the wire color). That way if (when) a label falls off, you can look at the old controller and match where that color wire was connected. Strip the wires a 1/4" or so, easy push to connect. When I compare to what I was expecting it to be able to do, some of it fails short, but every issue is software related, and it appears some of my main concerns may be fixed hopefully in the next couple quarters. My primary purpose (justification) was to be able to fix/adjust sprinkler/drip line heads in the yard using Siri to turn on and off zones as needed. Almost a year later I've not achieved that. While the Rachio HomeKit connection worked the first time I set it up, after about month it stopped responding in the Home app, and after deleting the item from the Home app attempts to add it consistently fail. Chatting with Rachio support (last time in August 2021), they were aware 'some' units weren't connecting, but they had new firmware they were about to beta that implemented the HomeKit ADK directly, and once that was done and tested they'd update the WiFi firmware and retest everything, and roll that out. As of December I'm still limited to protecting my phone from getting wet and turning zones on manually through the app. A bit disappointed, but that's still way better than running back-n-forth to the garage to turn zones on and off. The second goal I hoped to accomplish was saving water/lowering my bill. That I have accomplished, though not as much through the 'intelligence' of the software as I expected. Most of the savings has been it using local forecast and deciding not to run because rain appeared likely soon. That's works most of the time, but I still find I have to manually override it's decision to run or not some of the time - fortunately it's all done in the app, so it's a useful feature. Yes, it can automatically adjust the watering time per zone depending on season and adjust for past/predicted weather, but it makes a couple assumptions that prevent me from using much of what I thought would be killer features. The smartest schedule mode assumes it can adjust when (what days) to apply water. I live in an area almost always under water restrictions - so for the main yard zones I have 1 day and only certain hours within that I'm suppose to water - the software can't deal with that. The other intelligent mode adjust the time per zone based on the season, but there is little to no tweaking/settings you can control for that, it just picks a new monthly value on blackbox logic, so you really have to examine the adjustments it makes monthly. Instead of a fantastic advantage, my old controller was actually better at this. While it didn't have a clue of impending rain, adjusting the watering times for season was incredibly easy (though manual) with a global 'budget' value I'd tweak monthly from 40% in the winter to 150% in the summer. The most unexpected limitation in the software I discovered is with 2 of my 11 zones which are drip zones. The software's logic and inputs don't get that these run for very brief times, sometimes multiple times per day. Multiple times per day you can manually create by creating multiple schedules, but it only supports watering intervals rounded in minutes. So 2 minutes or 3, 3 or 4, but not 150 or 210 seconds. Other useful features I didn't expect is an option that overlaps starting and stopping zones - so instead of closing a zone and then starting the next, it can do that in reverse: start the next zone and close the previous, which results in a softer/quieter operation on the whole system. Overall great addition. Would be a full five stars if the 'intelligence' could better deal with water restrictions, watering times could deal with fractions of a minute, and HomeKit actually worked.
Posted by Steve
I love this thing! It saves so much time and hassle when testing a particular sprinkler section. It is so much easier to turn it on while I am testing each zone, cleaning out sprinkler heads etc. I recommend this without reservation. I already had a sprinkler box and all I had to do was unplug the old cables and plug in these new cables. Very easy.
Posted by carlthewinner
Customers express satisfaction with the easy setup process and the smart features of the 16-zone 3rd Generation Smart Sprinkler Controller. They appreciate the convenience of controlling the sprinkler system from their phones and the potential for water savings. The rebate offered by some water agencies is also seen as a positive aspect.