New WI+ Coming Soon!

Schedules & Zones
1

Just got this email. I’m thinking this might fix a number of complaints of the current WI+ not really being helpful with the 30 year averages. I’ll end up keeping my local PWS, but hopefully this will be a welcome change!

FREE weather service upgrade coming soon

We’re reaching out to let you know that an improved version of our Weather Intelligence Plus service will be released to all users in early October.

This free upgrade will be deployed to all users and there is no action needed by you.

In fact, some of you are already using this updated service if you activated your controller after February 2022. We wanted you to be included in this email to learn more about what we’re doing to provide the best watering schedules possible.

Features of the updated service

The previous service uses 30-year historical weather data, but Rachio recognizes that the climate is changing; the weather of 20-30 years ago may not accurately predict what the weather will be like today. The Weather Intelligence Plus service provides you with more relevant and accurate weather information to create and modify smart watering schedules. This means that you will get more accurate weather skips and seasonal shifts.

Q&A

I’ve never selected a weather station, how will this affect me?

Your weather data will be greatly improved with this upgrade! If you never selected a weather station, then you will continue using our Weather Intelligence Plus Network with better data.

I want to try a single weather station, how can I do that?

When you upgrade, your weather source will be set to our highly accurate and improved Weather Intelligence Plus Network that uses interpolated weather data for observed and forecasted weather conditions.

If you want to use a single station after upgrading, you can select from a list of single stations from Weather Underground. To choose a single station from the mobile app select the “More” tab, select “Controller Settings”, then choose “Weather Intelligence Plus” and then select “Weather Source” to choose from a list of single stations.

To get the most out of a single station, we recommend using a Tempest Weather System which fully integrates with the Rachio App and does not require a third-party service.

Can I use the same weather station that I am using now?

Yes, your weather station will not change.

How do I upgrade on my own before October?

This will occur automatically in early October for all users who activated after February 2022. There is no way to update before then.

What if I have more questions?

Simply respond to this email and our support team will get back to you.

2

Sounds great, I only wish they abstained from using the seemingly retired “plus” designator.
I’ve seen questions come up due to the app no longer showing the “plus” designator, now I expect more of the confusion with people getting a similar email and not seeing a “plus” in december…

1 Like
3

Agree. Especially when other areas of the app use the plus to add users, functions, schedules, or even more controllers. by the way, they never said if the update is part of the phone controller app, or part of the controllers own firmware. Might be nice for them to test their own announcements for clarity.

4

@ripfree not sure I’m following you here…While the app will most likely get an update to show a new setting, the weather update is all part of the backend workings of Rachio. The app is just a user interface interacting with that backend software, and the controller is just the hardware receiving the information from that backend.

5

The announcement said a couple of things that made me wonder where the update physically resides. First, it said it will be deployed to users. And it said some users might already be using it. So that implies the update could be some sort of internet driven firmware update doled out to each controller. Similar to an iPhone Ios update. But I guess not, the WI+ update all resides on your servers. Thanks,

6

Yes, they can isolate certain features to certain serial numbers. That is how they work the Beta programs too.

7

I will get this just before my irrigation water gets turned off in mid-October. I’ll have to wait until next spring to see how it works for me.

Every time I see something released as a “plus”, it makes me think that it’s a new video streaming platform. :rofl:

8

The email appears to imply that forecasting could be selected to come from your PWS

9

Hi folks!

I appreciate the discussion around our communication on this update. Just to clarify that this is a server update and users who onboarded their controller after February 2022 should already have this updated service.

We helped some folks on the Community earlier in the year get this update. Specifically our international users as this update not only updates the 30 year historicals but provides ET outside of the US and Canada (and some areas in Canada were we were not previously able to get ET).

2 Likes
10

If you select a weather station and it goes down or is taken down by the user, how does that affect scheduling?

11

Great question! We will automatically switch you to the next closest single station. As long as you have email notifications turned on in the app you will get notified of this change.

12

It used to be a consensus that a nearby PWS was more accurate than WI+. Is that still true? Is the new WI+ good enough that I can rely on it? I do have a PWS less than half a mile away.

Thanks.