With Rachio you have a smart controller but you are still working with dumb valves. Rachio should come out with a Rachio valve to replace your dumb valves. A smart valve would know if it worked or not (was there a short or a break in the line and the valve could not be reached), flow - how much water flowed thru the valve. This information could be communicated back to the rachio controller similar to using Internet over the power line, that is, use the existing copper to transmit this information back to the controller. Rachio, you have a smart controller but you are living with a dumb valve.
Rachio valve
mckynzee
#2
I like it @Pman2016! It would be an interesting add on to our hardware line. How much would you see this costing? Would you want these to be wireless?
Pman2016
#3
A 3/4 inch anti-siphon valve runs around $17. I would be willing to pay double that (maybe more) if the valve measured water volume usage. I would like an actual flow measuring device in the valve such that if the valve was not working you would see the volume drop off. It could be WiFi but I thought it might be possible to run a signal over the existing line similar to powerline Internet. I think it would compliment your hardware line as you would have a smart controller with smart valves.