I would like to have the option to start a watering schedule at Sunrise. The reason being is due to the drought in California my home is now being visited by raccoons to drink from sprinklers prior to sunrise on my watering days (I have specific watering days mandated by our city). I really don’t mind letting the racoons drink a bit of water but they are mischievous and they end up destroying things while they are there waiting for the water. For instance last week they stole a shoe (thong/flip flop) and we can not find it. The next week they stole another thong/flip flop and ripped it to shreds. They have also ripped up various other items.
I have them on video via my security camera. They show up just prior to the sprinkler going off, drink when the sprinkler is on and then wait for the next time the sprinkler turns on again due to ‘smart cycle’ breaking up the watering time with some soak cycles - they seem to know all about smart cycle…
For now I have set my sprinkler to start at a fixed time which is 30 minutes after the current sunrise but sunrise times change so I will likely need to adjust things over time.
I would find that useful as well. My zones have to start at 1am right now if I end by sunrise since I use low-flow MP Rotators everywhere, and I don’t like watering that early when it’s this warm out at night. I wouldn’t mind starting at sunrise and them running through mid-morning. So I’ve just been manually starting my turf zones at 4am, which I don’t think I want year-round.
That said, you should give Jack Jack from The Incredibles a call to deal with your raccoon issue.
“End before sunrise” & “End before a specific time” (and “Start at a specific time”) look correct. “Start after sunrise” might have been an error that should read “Start after sunset”.
Stating that something your cofounder and CTO announced 14 years ago was incorrect doesn’t look good. Especially since it was not challenged/countered/corrected for 14 years in the thread he announced it.
Maybe @franz can confirm, but I’ve been on Rachio for over 8 years and don’t wver recall that option…then again, I personally don’t see a need for it, so maybe I overlooked it.
There is a reason for needing this feature. Per the original post, and my video footage, if the watering happens prior to sunrise, it attracts raccoons to my yard and then they also dig up my yard prior to sunrise. I absolutely have this problem and they dig up my yard BIG TIME. Sometime 30% of my grass has been turned over and it happens weekly. As soon as the sun is up, they disappear because they do not like the light. Thus, a watering schedule that starts at sunrise as was announced previously would be great and would avoid my yard being dug up by raccoons just prior to sunrise. It would also be OK with my city’s watering regulations. I have avoided the problem by manually setting a fixed schedule but I have to adjust regularly due to seasons. If there was a way to set the schedule to be ‘after sunrise’ or ‘30 min after sunrise’ as announced it would certainly be good.
As I mentioned in another threat about the same subject, I found earlier this year that I could use this feature. As to seeing it could be a typo and it does look good saying that about my co-founder, we are users like you (do not work for Rachio). I do not know if it was a typo or not and hopefully it will be confirmed either way. It is possible it is correct and it is possible that nobody noticed it being incorrect. I really do not know, just possibility. I do not think I have seen it either, but was not using a Rachio that far back.
Thomas
I am confused.
I made no ‘Threat”. Maybe you meant ‘thread’? I hope so
You say you may not have been using a Rachio ‘that far back’. I have used it for many years. And I am a fan of Rachio.
You say that you could ‘use this feature’ previously. When was this? I have never seen this feature available. Did it get added and then deleted?
As for this feature as announced I would have loved to use it and still would if it was available. I simply have never seen it to be available. Plus, @tmcgahey stated they saw no need for it so I felt I needed to reply because there is absolutely a need in my opinion.
You co-founder announced this feature so I am not making this up. It may have been completely false and your cofounder was completely incorrect but all I am saying is that this feature was announced by him in 2018 by him and it is still not available.
@cookie I said I didnt see a need for it, which may be why I didn’t notice the option. Just making a point of why I might have overlooked it…if it ever actually existed.
Also, you keep saying your co-founder to @Thomas_Lerman and myself. We arent affiliated with Rachio. We are users just like you.
What @franz announced back then was all the features added to that specific update. Other than the start after sunrise, all those features are still there today. Again, I have been using Rachio for over 8 years, and I personally do not recall that option ever, so maybe he mistyped something. This is a community forum and this isn’t like a state if the union address. I mistype stuff all the time.
Ooops, yes I mentioned in another thread. Definitely no threat.
Yes, recently I said in another thread that I could use starting after sunrise. I never said that “I use this feature” rather “I could use this feature” which means I wish this feature exists. With my lawn being watered before sunrise, I would like my hose to start after sunrise. Since my drip is on the same controller as my lawn, it is scheduled early enough to start after the lawn is done if it waters. Before earlier this year (without the hose), I did not really see a need for this feature.
You say you didn’t see a need for it so I tried to explain why it would be helpful (as another did too way back in 2021 and others asked for it again). You may still think it is not needed but I and others do.
In my opinion it is best to either stay silent on a customer request or counter it with a good reason vs having an announcement saying you have this feature and then never delivering. Then, if announced you cannot deliver on what you promised then you had best explain why. (this is to Rachio @franz not to @tmcgahey or @Thomas_lerman)
You may not be affiliated with the cofounder of Rachio. That is fine. What I am saying that the top executives of Raicho announced this feature and did not deliver and never explained why so that is bad.
The Raichio co-founder announced this feature back in 2018 so that is why I reference him. It’s here! Rachio V3.0 App Update Released
Appreciate the clarification! My hope is that since you’re already tracking sunrise/sunset, adding a “start at Sunrise” feature won’t be a big lift to implement.
<joke> Just how many of these soil tests and Anderson/Sunday fertilizer packs do we need to make this a reality??? </joke>
