Welcome to the resource page for all things related to smart, wifi and sensor based sprinkle controllers. In this page, I have compile all the content related to sprinkle controllers including news, reviews, company profile. Currently, the content covers mainly smart sprinkle controllers including both wifi as well as sprinklers with rain and other sensors. Basically, the aim is to make the life of a gardener easier by leveraging on the technology that is available in the market.
Contents
Types of smart sprinkle controllers
By smart sprinklers, it is referring to devices that can auto sprinkle the amount of water for our garden or lawn according what is needed. Smart sprinklers are not necessarily wifi connected, which is where some confusion can take place as consumers may assume no internet connectivity means no intelligence. Specifically, these are some of the functions that will differ between types of sprinkler controllers
- Wifi connectivity: the latest craze is all things to be connected to the Internet so wifi connectivity has become a dimension that separates between the different types of controllers. However, as noted above, not having wifi does not equal to no intelligence. The biggest benefit of having wifi smart watering controller is that you can control your sprinkler via your phone and is able to update your software pretty much seamlessly.
- Sensor based: this function is where a lot of debate has been centering. Specifically, many of the current wifi sprinkler controllers rely on weather forecast data, which unfortunately, can be a hit or miss, especially when it comes to exact rainfall amounts. Sprinklers with rain sensor, on the other hand, uses sensors to correctly measure what is the rainfall and adjust the amount to be sprinkled according.
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Leading brands to watch out for
The smart sprinkler market has really bloomed in recent years. Here is a rundown of some of the bigger brands currently in this space.
- Rain machine: I would venture rainmachine is probably the leader in the wifi smart sprinkler controller market at this point. This company started in 2010 and its users are mostly concentrated in the Western cost of US. Besides being a consumer product company, it is also a supporter for open data and has opened its API for other developers to add functionality to its current system. It is a smart move and one that should payoff for both the company and the consumers in the longer run. Its latest model is the RainMachine Touch HD-16 which was introduced in 2015.
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Rachio: Another company doing well is probably Rachio. I know this simply by looking at the amount of reviews this company had in Amazon. As of Jan 2016, it has the highest numbers of posted reviews, among all the brands here. Since we know reviews are a function of total sales, it is not a bad guess to say this product is selling pretty well in the market.
- Skydrop: Skydrop is probably the youngest of the company but has quickly gathered a name for its products. Its best selling product, again based on Amazon sales, is probably the Skydrop 8 zone.
- Blossom: Another up and coming company fighting hard to gain brand recognition in this space. Blossom is also based in California and comprise folks who have worked in bigger tech companies before. It raised a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2014 and looks to be building up the initial support they have gathered.