Many locations have restricted watering schedule and more are going to be enforced as we continue to improve our use of resources.
I live in the Las Vegas area and we have set watering schedules based on season and specific days.
The challenge with the Rachio schedule is the requirement for adding the year. First, I see absolutely no value in the year being a part of the scheduling as most people will set seasonal schedules based on months that would not change year over year.
In Vegas we have four seasons with set amount of days we can water in each season. The problem is that every year I need to make sure I change the year on every scheduled watering. I have two Rachio controllers which means I have to change 16 schedules every year! If I forget to do this can have a dreamy effect on my plants, especially in the warmer season and in violation of laws if I I don’t do it.
So basically, the simple solution is to make the year optional, this way my system will always water the same year over year base on the calendar months.
I.E. December- February: Tuesday only
March-April: Monday-Wednesday-Saturday
And so on.
Right now, if I set a winter schedule I can only use it for the calendar year. The I have to change it next season for that year.
Sorry for the wordy request but I hope it is logical in my ask.
Thanks
A workaround…While yes, there is some hands on needed, you can create multiple schedules for each season, and just enable/disable as needed.
Thanks for the response but as I mentioned, I already have 16 scheduled watering times for my two systems.
Each Rachio has the following: 4 (seasons) x 2 (scheduled waterings per season) = 8 schedules.
This means every year, I need to go and update my schedules to the new year (2023 to 2024, etc). And as we all know their app is not very change friendly. You cannot simple change the year as you need to select the Day, Month and Year each time. That is 2 changes for every scheduled watering. Now we are looking at 32 changes. It would be nice if they would at least show the original date when making the changes but instead it starts with todays date.
Simply removing the year solves all this and no one would have to do this every year. Set it and forget it is a better option.
If others out there are having the same issue you should comment on this. When I brought it up to technical support they agreed that this is a know issue and the only way to get something fix or at least improved is to use this site. The more people that chime in the better chance of change.
Thanks!
Don’t put start/end dates, just leave them forever. Just enable and disable with a check of the box at the top. Create your schedules once and just change it each season with a simple calendar reminder.
Sure, it would be a nice feature for future, but the workaround is VERY simple and takes very little work to change between your seasonal schedules.
Yes, it sounds simple but why not fix a flawed setting? Automation is why you buy this product, yet it is still back to manual if I have to come in and change it every season or every year.
My main point is the year is pointless and does not lend to being automated.
I get it man, but you are talking about 4 times a year. I’m just trying to offer a workaround. Knowing LVWD, they are going to change your restrictions around, so you’ll be in there making adjustments anyway. I don’t work for Rachio, so just offering solutions. Use them, or don’t. The year over year scheduling is probably on the roadmap somewhere as it does pop up from time to time.
I am not looking for a debate about how to do it currently. I know how to do that.
Support asked for me to post the Feature Request here ant that is what I am doing. They base adding feature or improvements on the feedback here.
So, anyone else that would like this feature please comment so we can get this added.
Thanks in advance.