There are currently some rebates available in my area for having irrigation controllers connected to soil sensors. In those cases where there are multiple zones on a large enough property, one can get multiple rebates. I see that there is discussion of connectivity to rain sensors, but I don’t see a clear indication of whether soil sensor(s) can be integrated. As there are both wired and wireless soil sensors, I am also curious if it would be possible to integrate with some, but not with others. The brands of sensors that are listed as being eligible for rebates include Acclima, Baseline, Decagon, Irrometer, and Toro. Thanks!
@libido We are currently working on cloud-to-cloud soil moisture integrations. This will create a closed loop system in that the sensors will essentially tell our system when to water.
Expect to see these sometime this year.
Unfortunately all of the products you listed are in some way physically connected to the product and we do not support that level of integration. We are focusing on cloud-to-cloud at the moment.
Does that help? I would think that the rebate would apply to our controller if we did indeed have an integration with moisture sensors, irregardless if it was physically connected or not. It will be exactly the same data.
Thanks!
Franz,
That is great news. Please let me know when you have the first units available. Where I am in Southern California, you might want to also check with water agencies such as the Metropolitan Water District in order to be sure that your units are eligible for rebates–that would more than likely stimulate further sales and perhaps offset some of your R&D costs
@libido We do have our EPA Watersense Certification and I know many municipalities have significant rebates for that as well. We have had a lot of customers receive those rebates already.
Let us know if you have any questions around Watersense.
Thanks!
Franz,
I am aware of your Rachio irrigation controller having that certification. What I was suggesting was that you try to get similar certifications for the soil sensors once you have them figured out because there are potentially additional rebates that consumers could get using both the sensors and the controller together.
Cheers!
@libido Awesome thanks, this is great information, will definitely followup with municipalities once we have finished our cloud-to-cloud sensor integrations!
I am VERY MUCH looking forward to being able to add soil moisture sensors to the system! The ultimate in sprinkler control is having the water go on only when needed as detected in the soil. If you are having a beta program here feel free to include me. Thank you for introducing such incredible technology!
I would definitely be interested in a BETA test as well. This is something I am incredibly excited about.
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Can you share what type of cloud-cloud integration’s might you be working on for this? Kuobachi? GardenBot? Looking forward to this also!
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@wbhartmanii Sure thing.
No promises on dates but something we will deliver hopefully this year.
The short list is:
- http://myplantlink.com/
- http://edyn.com
- http://www.koubachi.com/
- http://www.parrot.com/usa/products/flower-power
I’d love to be working on this full time but we are working on a full rewrite of the mobile and webapp (2.0) among other integrations and top-secret projects 
So, when it makes sense we will build and deliver this integration. Should be very straight forward.
Thanks and let us know if you have any other questions or other moisture sensors not on our radar.
To be honest there doesn’t seem to be a clear leader in this space.
I agree on the lack of a clear leader here. I own 3 of the 4 sensors that you have listed and they each have their idiosyncrasies.
PlantLink is a great product but the manufacturer has basically gone under. I have 18 of them and still use them. They are WiFi and quite functional. But we cannot count on further support or development.
I like the Parrot product (have 10 of them) but it uses Bluetooth connectivity to a mobile device and you need to be in range for results. So, walking around your yard to collect moisture data might not be a fun thing.
The Koubachi is interesting and works reasonably well. This is probably your best area of focus as it is WiFi and can report the sensor data that you need. And the company is still in business :-). Not the least expensive solution though but reasonable.
I have not used Edyn.
Hope that helps! Look forward to heading about this upcoming integration!!
John
@keoni8888 Once we build one integration the rest should be fairly simple. Definitely on the short term road map but other priorities first. We have everything in place to make it happen 
Will let ya know when we start to build this out.
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Really looking forward to this integration. Any other news on this since 2.0 is close?
@smw006007 To be fully transparent I hope to have this by end of year. No promises. Still on our road map, but without a clear leader it’s hard to commit to this work at the moment. We are very much focusing on our own apps and smart watering algorithms at the moment
As soon as we start this integration I’ll post our progress.
Thanks!
@franz Thanks for all that you guys continue to do with innovation and integration on this product. Can’t wait to see who you integrate with for soil sensors as I am looking to rollout a couple for both a better understanding of my lawn and also other areas.
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Quick question @Wildcatz_1…
Would you be looking to install a sensor in every zone, some zones, or move one between zones?
Best, Emil
I’m really looking forward to http://edyn.com . Hopefully once the API is opened up, and the android app is released I might start looking at diving into sensors.
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@smw006007 Theoretically, once they open the API, you can build your own glue layer until we officially integrate with sensors 