When I read about Weather Adjust, it sounded like this was an adjustment for fixed schedules. However, as I read further, I read that it works on all schedules including Flex Daily. My first thought is that Flex Daily already takes into account heat/cool waves due to how much water is lost/held onto from evapotranspiration. So, I not sure what difference it makes. I have seen Flex Daily spread out as it is cool (less evapotranspiration) and go more frequent as it is warm (more evapotranspiration).
Well, I now have this feature and will find out more when I see a heat/cool wave. The ad says “Automatically boost your watering during heat waves and save water during cool spells. This premium feature checks your weather forecast more frequently and suggests schedule adjustments to adapt to short-term weather trends.”
I see a new widget just under the weather & schedule widget (today +/- 2 days) as shown below:
This shows me several things:
- Pending: You have no pending weather adjustments
- Applied: You have not applied any weather adjustments
- Ignored: You have not ignored any weather adjustments
It also allows me to add/edit/delete rules for the following. By default these are disabled, so they probably should be turned on for EACH zone you want to enable them for:
- Heat Wave Rule
- Increases schedule run duration when hotter weather is detected
- Default when enabled: If temperature is about 105°F for at least 2 days, increase zone run durations by 20%
- Bold values may be changed
- Additional options (default is disabled)
- Water every day during a heat wave
- When triggered, apply the adjusted durations to my schedule automatically
- Restore Default
- Cool Wave Rule
- Decreases schedule run duration when cooler weather is detected
- Default when enabled: If temperature is below 61°F for at least 3 days, decrease zone run durations by 20%
- Bold values may be changed
- Additional options (default is disabled)
- When triggered, apply the adjusted durations to my schedule automatically
- Restore Default
This is what I have learned so far. I am sure more will be coming especially once I see a heat/cool wave.
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I need to get this on my controllers to play with it. While I think some of our AZ heat waves are just too much for some plants, regardless of water, I am curious how this will function.
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P.S. 1 days later: Just so nobody has to infer anything, I have enabled this only on my lawn so far and use Flex Daily schedules. I got last night “Cool Wave Detected” and more details is:
Cool adjustment: 4/27 - 4/29
Schedule: Grass
Apply or ignore adjustment?
From here, it of course allows me to apply or ignore. It also gives me the option to “Automatically apply in the future”. Looking at the forecasted weather, I am seeing those three days as cooler with rain already (the fourth day is still cool without rain). Some watering is currently scheduled for the 1st & 4th day.
I tried “Ignore” and it of course went from “Pending” to “Ignored”. I looked at the calendar and it now seems to be watering fewer days (Fri, Tue. 1 zone on Thu, rest of zones on Sat). Maybe that triggered a recalculation. I found I could change it from “Ignore” to “Apply” which changed it to “Applied”. I am now seeing what appears to be the same schedule, but the Tue time is reduced 20%. I think I will put it as Ignored this time.
I would imagine this is the same if I had a heat wave.
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I guess I’m just stuck on how this is going to differ from a properly set up Flex Daily. I’m retiring one of my old G1’s and putting in a G3. I need to get that done and test this functionality out so I can better understand it.
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I know what you are saying @tmcgahey. It seems like it should not make that much difference, unless the evapotranspiration ends up being so high that it needs the extra watering to keep it hydrated (in other words, cannot keep up with the water loss) OR it is so low that it stays goes way above 100% saturation which registers at 100%. Just some guesses. Will have to see what happens when it gets too warm for a few days at the beginning of Aug. A little later seems to be the biggest problem when the PI pressure drops and I do not notice it early enough.
I assume most people water in early morning to prevent diseases, but if its really hot wouldn’t it make sense to add an evening watering? I would think that makes more sense than making the 1 watering longer.
That is a good question @RPostWVU that I do not know the answer.
Next update, I got a message yesterday that I think is the same as one today.
Weather Adjust Alert
Weather adjustment modified due to changes to the forecast
It still starts on the 27th, now ends on the 30th, and has maintained the same Ignored state.
