I’m honestly disappointed. When I bought my Rachio system, one of the biggest selling points was that it would automatically adjust based on the weather, you know, smart irrigation. That’s literally the point.
Now suddenly, I’m hit with a $29.99 upsell just to have it check the weather and water accordingly during a heat wave? That functionality isn’t “premium” it’s basic. It’s the core reason I chose Rachio over a cheaper controller.
Instead of improving the experience, Rachio is locking essential features behind a paywall after the fact. This feels like a bait-and-switch. If you’re going to start nickel-and-diming your loyal users, at least be transparent about it from the beginning.
Anyone else feeling burned by this?
At first I felt the same way but after researching it they are NOT removing any automation that was promised"on the box" when we bought the controllers. Flex daily has lost nothing.
The new feature is simply a more frequent analysis of your local weather. This does require more complex computing and someone had t write all the new code on their end, so I think $29 essentially for the lifetime of the controller and any replacements of that same controller is a pretty good deal.
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You still have all the same weather intelligence that Rachio always had, nothing has changed with this new subscription. I still haven’t had a chance to test the new subscription as we just started a major backyard overhaul.
If you take the time to set up your zones correctly, Flex Daily still works AMAZINGLY well without this additional service. Without a chance to really dive into the functionality, I think this “feature” helps those that maybe don’t have their zone settings dialed in quite right, or maybe have a very poorly designed/functioning irrigation system that might need a small boost during the hottest time periods…
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The biggest part that upsets me is that the cost is per zone. Multiple that cost across each sprinkler zone
From the Rachio website:
For a one-time purchase of $29.99 per controller
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