Rachio Smart Sprinkler Controller, 8 Zone 2nd Generation, Works with Amazon Alexa By Innovative smart health home item for gift

★★★★★ So I have to admit that I was struggling to find the necessity for a connected sprinkler system. My entire house is full of IOT devices and I am a huge fan of connected technology. I finally decided to pull the trigger and see what all the fuss was about. First, the Rachio was simple to install. It took about fifteen minutes to get it connected to power, wired to my rain sensor and connected to wifi. Please do yourself a favor and check your wifi signal at the installation site. It's easy enough to do using the Ookla app or any others sped test site. I have a mesh wifi system so my speeds in the garage are very fast. Second, the app assists you with setup and accounts for types of sprinklers as well as soil types and actual weather data for your area. It was very simple to add the zones to the Rachio controller. The app is well thought out and makes installation very simple. So how is it useful?1. I have dropped my water usage tremendously due to this device. Not only does it work with most irrigation systems, it can connect to weather stations in your area to help predict wether or not rain will be coming your way. The weather station closest to me is about six miles away so it has been very accurate. Please note that you will need to pay attention to your system when you first install it and make sure that if the system decides to skip a watering schedule, that the weather station you are tied to is close enough to be accurate. It has been spot on in my experience.2. Having the Rachio controller makes troubleshooting or maintenance of my sprinkler system very easy. I no longer have to run a zone, run back to the controller to switch zones, and then run back to check on the next zone. Switching zones happens right from the palm of my hand from my iPhone.3 Rachio integrates with several home automation platforms including Control4, SmartThings and Wink. This is useful because I can write rules that will delay the watering schedule. For example, if the Sonos for the backyard area is playing, delay the schedule until the speaker stops playing. It's sounds silly but it has saved me several times from total embarrassment during an outdoor gathering.4. I get notifications every time the schedule runs or if watering is skipped due to rain. This allows me to keep an eye on what is happening.Now that I have had the Rachio for several months, I can hinstly say it is one of my favorite connected devices. It is absolutely worth the cost as I have dropped my water bill approximately $30 per month. If you have been thinking about purchasing the Rachio, do yourself s favor and pull the trigger. You'll be happy you did.Pros:Install time: approx 15 minutesApp is intuitive and makes setup easyRachio uses rain sensors and weather station data to predict rain and save from unnecessary water use.Customer service is great!Cons:I honestly have yet to find any. If I come across one, I will update my review.Feel free to send any questions you have about my real world experience with this device to mybigfatconnectedlife@gmail.com

★★★★★ So far so good. Easy setup as long as you have some basic understanding of your network. The app is nifty and responsive.My only complaint is that even though I have renamed the zones to things like “front lawn” or “flower bed” when using Alexa I have to say the zone number rather than the friendly name. I’m hoping they update this as the system matures.Overall I’m very happy and I think it will pay for itself with water savings because it knows when it rains close by. You can also hook up an external rain sensor, but I’ve opted for just using my closed weather station for climate information.

★★★★☆ So far pretty impressed with the product. Setup was very easy and the app was helpful in setting everything up. We have gotten some rain lately and I've been getting push notifications on my phone that watering is being skipped due to rain which is nice to see.I have 2 minor gripes:1) If I want to water some areas manually I can't just select a few zones and start watering, I have to do one at a time, waiting for that zone to finish then go back into the app and start the next area. It lets you do 1 area, or all areas, but I sometimes want to manually water 2-4 areas and the app wont make that easy.2) From what I can tell there isn't a way to set different watering schedules for different areas, I think all zones run the same schedule. For instance, I'd like to do all of my watering at 6am, except a couple zones near my car I would like to water around 10am when the car is no longer parked in the driveway. This would allow me to do my morning watering, but wait to do areas near the driveway until we are at work to prevent water spots on the car. I would have to change ALL zones to water at 10. Bummer.