I’ve just finished my first year with Rachio and walked with the irrigation company employee as he ran compressed air and checked out the different zones before our New England Winter. They sell Hydrawise which I couldn’t use because of a Wi-Fi problem, so installed the Rachio 3 myself with no problems, but need the service for repair and startup/shutdown. I want to try to get the company to take this over, but have several questions. If they get a Rachio account do they have to pay for it? I could give them access personally, but I assume it would be easier for them with a contractor account. Can someone point me to a description of that account? Thanks.
My understanding is that they do not need to pay for the account. Basically, they get the app, sign on, and you share ac ess with them: How to use Complete (formerly Shared) Access . . . pretty simple and easy if they are willing.
For shutdown just set the Rachio to Standby
@rogervon1 Several problems: 1) I need to have the water in the underground pipes cleared out with compressed air as we have nice frozen ground here in New England winters. 2) I do set it to standby but then unplug it for the winter as that will be around 7 months when it won’t be subject to power surges (Even though I do have it in a surge suppressor power strip they are not infallible.)
I understand; I live near Detroit. I’ve already turned off the water for the sprinklers, waiting for them to get blown out this weekend. I’ve also put my Rachio in standby for the winter. That’s all I do for shutdown. This has been my routine since I got the Rachio about 3 years ago.
Here in North Carolina we don’t have to blow out our systems, just shut them down. We do drain any outdoor hoses though. We’ve shared our contractor access to our Rachio3 since we received it. No cost to contractor (or anyone else you choose), gives them limited or full access…your choice. Works well.
For winter (December - March) I just unplug the Rachio3. I then turn off the irrigation line at the street (separate from my home water supply so as to not incur sewer charges), then drain the exposed back flow valve system, then remove the above-ground booster pump and store it in the garage after draining it.
We use a contractor for Spring turn on, even though just doing the reverse of the above is easy to do. But we invariably have to reset or replace several of our 76 heads and I want someone else doing that. Since they have to come anyway, I let them have the whole turn on job.
Thanks all for your comments. I’ll have to contact our Irrigation company and fill them in.