Initial Setup

Matrix 2015-04-21 04:47:49 UTC #1

Hi folks,

I’ve been reading up on smart irrigation after getting on the smart thermostat bandwagon recently. I’ve never paid much attention to my sprinklers in the past, I’ve only been living in my current house for a year now, and I don’t really know the answers to the types of questions you are asking people when they have problems in this forum. I figured out today that I have 4 zones in the front yard and 8 in the back (separate controllers, unfortunately), but I couldn’t tell you how many sprinklers are on each zone, the flow rate or type for any of those sprinklers, which ones feed which types of plants, etc. etc… heck, I don’t really even know what type of soil I have.

So, my question is this: do I need to go learn about all that stuff before I bother installing a Rachio, or should I assume that even my uninformed guesses during setup will be better than the current program on my “dumb” irrigation controllers? Is there a user guide or FAQ somewhere that guides you through the setup questions if you don’t know much about your own lawn?

Thanks! FYI, this community forum is the reason I’ve pretty much chosen to go with Rachio. Your willingness to answer questions, and your commitment to innovation and open APIs are great. Way ahead of your competition as far as I can tell.

emil 2015-04-21 05:25:15 UTC #2

Hi @Matrix, good evening. Thanks for reaching out. We’re excited to hear you’re interested in purchasing an Iro!

You ask a great question that isn’t uncommon for others to ask in support calls prior to purchasing one of our controllers. The Iro will walk you through a simple step by step zone setup after the initial WiFi pairing. Questions you’ll need to answer for each zone include vegetation type, soil type, solar exposure, nozzle type and slope (here’s a quick preview of the process). If you have any problems with one of these, a simple call or email to our support team can help with the details. From there, the Iro takes over and will make recommendations (preview) that you can edit at any time and operate from anywhere with any device that has access to the internet. Please note for the initial WiFi pairing process, an iOS or Android device is required (preview).

I hope this helps address your concerns. Let me know if there anything else we can help you with.

Best, Emil

franz 2015-04-21 15:42:00 UTC #3

@Matrix We are here to help you get everything set up if there are any questions on installation, configuration, etc.

We can’t wait to share the 2.0 version of our software being released in May, it is going to be even more automated than what we have today and more customizable.

Stay tuned!

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