My system announced it was cutting water usage acct change in season. The trouble is the season doesn’t change from summer heat for another 4 to 6 weeks and for now, in September we are in a serious heat wave with triple digit temps predicted for the next week and beyond. The climate is changing due to excess transmission of carbon into the atmosphere regardless and in dismissal of the politics, fantasies and the prognostications of right wing Populists and their political supporters.
I wonder the same as well. Most places are in 90’s-100’s (Im based in Denver metro) and Seasonal Shift feature seems to be off by cutting watering down several mins per zone when we are still very well in the heat of summer. I could see it adjusting down later in Sept but not at the start of it. It seems to me Seasonal Shift is based on some schedule, and not on actual forecasted/observed conditions.
I also doubt if rachio controller correlates evapotranspiration with temperature well. The heat wave is coming, and the controller doesn’t seem to be prepared:
Temp 82 88 90 95 88
Evapo. 0.1 0.12 0.11 0.11 0.11
I would expect much bigger change when temperature goes from 82 to 95.
I did notice when the temperature is high, my bushes and trees seem to be stressed, with dried leaves. I had to adjust schedule to water more often or longer. But if the temperature goes down, will the controller over water? That really bothers me. My old irritrol controller adjusted watering time according to temperature. It had much larger adjustment range, and my plants were doing well. Though I do agree with rachio that adjusting interval is the correct way to go. I hope someone can explain the formula behind evapotranspiration and temperature.
This just happened to me too. The controller announced that watering would be reduced in several zones while we are in the midst of a multi-week heat wave. I’m not sure what to call that but it certainly isn’t “weather intelligent”
Yes I also noticed it has some problems with determining the weather
Are you referring to a flex monthly schedule?
If so, flex monthly schedules are automatically modified by historical data on a monthly basis. So when going from August to September you would see slightly reduced watering frequency, because historically the average temperature is lower in September compared to August (in the northern hemisphere).
A Flex Daily schedule will adjust watering based on actual daily temperatures so perhaps that type of schedule would better suit your needs.
I live in a hot desert, and Flex Daily works well for me.
Flex schedules are not an option for those of use who live in areas with mandated watering days. It seems to me that the people who are doing all these complicated background calculations could build that in as a variable too.
I also live in the Denver area, and my Rachio controller turned on the water yesterday and this morning, even though we had rain all day yesterday. Confusing! I had to skip the cycle once I heard it start up.
Summer in AZ still and my plants are not getting enough water when the days are skipped on the flex monthly. This is not a new thing in AZ. It is always this hot this time of year and the scheduling should correctly adjust.
@Make_It_Rain Have you considered a Flex Daily schedule?
I’m in the Phoenix area, and I find once you get your settings dialed in correctly, Flex Daily works well.
There are others on this forum from Phoenix who are also happy with Flex Daily.
In any case, you can always increase your crop coefficient if you’re not getting enough water.
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