Rachio - Iro 16-Zone Wi-Fi-Enabled Sprinkler System Controller - White

I upgraded my Hunter Pro-C controller to the Iro. The Iro is in an entirely different class in terms of ease of use and water efficiency. Anyone with an old, 'dumb' controller should consider upgrading. Instead of relying on just the rain sensor, it knows how much it rained and how much rain is expected and will skip cycles to save water. I found it easy to self-install, but fairly complex to configure the zones. Rachio tech support was responsive and generally helpful, but did not have the technical expertise to advise on zone and nozzle settings. After having my sprinkler guy check the settings, we were able to reduce the watering times from a crazy ~13 hour to a reasonable 3-4 hour cycle.

This thing is great. I use the smart scheduler - it decides which zones to water, when, and how much. It decides based upon local weather stations very near your home. You can also control everything from a smart phone tablet or laptop. The one caution is that there are absolutely no controls on the unit itself. It cannot be controlled manually. This is not a problem, but something buyers should be aware of. Overall an excellent product.

I was tired of my old dial controlled irrigation time and wanted to switch to something a bit smarter. Once I found out that I would get a rebate from my water company, it made the upgrade a no-brainer. This Rachio device installed quickly and easily - I took a picture of the wiring on my old timer and then removed it. Attached this one to the wall, put the wires back in the same order, and I was up and running. The longest part was programming the zones, but once those were done, the Rachio took over. It has worked flawlessly ever since. One thing - I would recommend going with the 2nd generation version of this timer...it has some improvements that make the operation of the device even easier!

Unlike the reviewer that had a lot of issues not related to the IRO, I check my WIFI at the location (added a hub to get great WIFI there) and had a power line ran. The setup was just as easy as the instruction video showed. Well thought out design on the unit and the wiring connectors. The "flash-up" to link it was pretty cool and fast. After the link up it walked through setting up all the zones, naming them and picking out the grass, water heads, soil type, and hill topography if any. Then it set up an auto schedule based on the weather for my zip code. Not sure if I will join this with my WINK system as it appears to work very well on its own and WINK is still working their development. So for an early review I would say that it is a home run!

My irrigation used to run 4 days a week for 30 mins each for 5 zones. This product works exactly as it should. Due to all of the rain we have had this month so far my irrigation has only run 1 day. That is going to save me huge on my water bill. It only took me about 10 min to install and another 10 to set up. Easy simple and effective. If your like me I don't want to have to think about my irrigation. Most of the time I forget I even have it.

I replaced the old controller that came with the house and was counter-intuitive when it came to programming. The Rachio was truly easy to set up, and has not failed me when it comes to adjusting watering schedules based on the weather. I pretty much don't have to monitor it, and only use the app when I want to show off that I can turn sprinklers on from my phone.... or when I want to spook a dog about to go on my lawn.

So I ended up returning my 16 and installed the next generation 8 zone. The next gen was pretty much the same but they added some manual controls incase you wanted to turn on your system without a phone (maybe your gardener...). The 8 zone was only $199 and my city water provider actually paid me in full for the controller as part of a conservation initiative. Works awesome!

Has not failed since setting up. Great to Control irrigation via web. It even adjusts watering times and schedule to correspond to local weather conditions.