Costco is the exclusive carrier of the 12-zone version of the Rachio 3 sprinkler controller . Normally, it a good deal as it's closer in price to the 8-zone than the 16-zone. However, now it's a fantastic price with the the $50 off (it's $30 less than an 8-zone).

I've been eyeballing them for months and just bought. With the advanced, automatic schedule adjusting I bet it'll pay for itself in a year.

Anyone who is even thinking of a sprinkler controller should run not walk and grab this deal. Great controller at a great price.

Never heard of them. Chicom made I suppose?

I have 2-16 zone version one controllers. I have had them since May 2016. One controller runs my front 12 zones while the other runs my back 12 zones. I couldn’t ask for a better controller. I have multiple routines on each depending on time of year, including a blowout routine for fall.

I believe they are built in Colorado.
Mike

Oh, and I failed to mention, the last UPS guy asked me what it was like to live on a golf course.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mcrimm,

This is the ideal controller for anyone, regardless of number of zones at hand. Amazing app, and completely smart. Changed my yard from average to good this season.

As many of you know, I run a lawn care business. Everyone wants a golf course lawn but for some reason 99% of my customers, no matter how much my services cost, refuse to water their lawns. The main argument is the cost of water. *shrug* A lawn that is watered will look better in the hot summer months, when you enjoy a lawn, than a dry lawn that’s fertilized. The fertilizer lawn will have less weeds (because I spray at the same time) but it just won’t thrive.

My preaching is lost. I’ve got to find a way to educate them more effectively.

What I’m saying is get an irrigation system for your lawn if you want it to be it’s best. These look like really good systems and I’m going to look into it more.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mark123,

Well I ordered one. Our new place has an irrigation well, but consequently I feel like most of the neighbors water to excess as a result. I don’t really want a sopping wet lawn. Hopefully this will help with watering at an appropriate rate and frequency.

Have one, works great, connects to the weather, knows when to adjust times for time of year, no pins, wheels, levers, doo dads to mess with.

Easy to run zones manually when you are working or checking them from your phone.

We have one. Put it in to replace the Orbit B-Hyve I put in the year before. (The B-Hyve worked well, except for its annoying [non-]interaction with the rain sensor.)

If you're willing to put in the time, do some experimentation, and your zones are set up right, "Flex Daily" is the best programming to use.

In our case I had to back off to a fixed schedule with Weather Intelligence. Flex Daily wouldn't work for us because half-or-better of the zones covered both turf and gardens--the two of which have vastly different soil and plant profiles. Thus Flex Daily resulted in either greatly over-watering the lawn or greatly under-watering the gardens. (I nearly destroyed both, trying to make Flex Daily work.)

A fixed schedule, coupled with Weather Intelligence, Seasonal Shift, and the Hunter Mini-Clik rain sensor worked beautifully

I may have our irrigation system people over here next spring to add 2-4 more zones, so the gardens and lawn are on separate zones.

I installed the Rachio 3 last weekend.

Initial thoughts:

Very easy DIY installation. Only thing I had to look-up was 3 wires that turned out to be for the old unit's Hunter remote (let a sprinkler contractor work on your unit without going in garage).

Very easy to program. Only thing I had to look-up was basis of time (it was how long to get 1" from the zone).

I'm set to flex-monthly. It's Gulf Coast Texas so the lawn, landscaping, and garden are still growing albeit slower. Right now it's 1" every 14 days, then switches to 17 days, then switches to 28 days, early spring switches to 14 days, and by summer is 6 to 7 days.

Pretty interesting that it's cycling through the program 4x to allow soak-in time so 1" doesn't run-off.

My old rain gauge actually works. I like that the Rachio notifies when it engages.

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Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.