Freezing Temperature Question

I apologize if this has been asked before, but if the temperature is below 32 degrees during a watering cycle, will Rachio delay or cancel the cycle to avoid watering in freezing conditions?

I own a basic Rainbird sprinkler system and am looking into purchasing a temperature/rain gauge for the system to control rain and temperature delays. The installation estimate I was given for those parts is $200 so if Rachio has this functionality, it would seem like a better option.

@Phialpha31‌ The good news is that is a great product suggestion and would be very easy to add to our current rain delay functionality. I am going to put that into our product backlog and see where it sits in our list of priorities. While it would only take a couple of hours to put into our cloud, allowing users the ability to choose whether or not they wanted that feature is harder since the build/test/submit cycle of the mobile apps are much longer so we need to review each feature request that goes through every layer of our system (mobile --> cloud). Thanks for asking! Let us know if you have any other questions.

my guess is if it is near 32deg your system should be flushed already. if your pipes and valves freeze with water in them your done. Running the system wont do anything running water will not freeze in fact that would be preferred to the water freezing in the heads.

Not like that here in Texas. Our systems remain functional all year long. I think that would be a great feature as we often see systems running on the few days where the temperature if below freezing and it can create very dangerous roads as the water runs off and freezes.

@p3pilot‌ Good point, you can now use our IFTTT channel for a freeze delay :slight_smile:

I’m starting to understand scope of what IFTTT can control … Thanks for the link.

  • 1 for auto delay when temp below 32°. I’m not a IFTTT user.

@SHOboat‌ It’s really easy for us to implement, I will build that in this week.

I am also in Texas and this is a must have and reduces the cost of the system by not having to implement a freeze sensor.

@jonpaterson‌ Ok I think it’s a great feature, will implement this weekend :slight_smile: and post back on the forum

@jonpaterson‌ @SHOboat‌ @rgarza28‌ @p3pilot‌ @Phialpha31‌ This is now part of weather intelligence (rain delay). If it is currently freezing or below, the schedule will not run.

Nice!

We need to get a different picture, but here is the text.

This is great! My only feedback (having lived in a cold climate before) is that water can sometimes freeze on surfaces like leaves when ambient temperature reads over 32. I’d suggest setting the threshold to sometime higher (maybe 37… or even 40) to be safe.

@svento‌ Ya I agree, I was going to throw this out and see what the consensus is…easy to change :slight_smile:

Can something be implemented where we can set our own temperature of when not to water?

This feature is being added for our next release targeted for Spring.

:cheers:

To be honest, I would like to do the opposite. I live in a coastal region where we never have to worry about pipes freezing, but we have to worry about trees and plants freezing. One of the most common commercial techniques is run sprinklers when freezing to prevent plants from freezing. I think it would be a great idea to have the option for the controller turn the water on when it hits freezing temperatures.