I’m currently looking to purchase a smart irrigation controller and have done a lot of research between the Iro and other controllers. Unfortunately, I still can’t decide which controller I should spend my hard earned money on, and which one will actually save me money.
I’m not sure how much you can say in regards to other products out there (one that starts with a B), but can you explain to me what makes the Iro a better option and/or the differences?
Thanks
Andrew
Hi @AJD, good morning. Thanks for reaching out.
While we’ll never discredit a competitor in a side by side comparison, I’d be happy to tell you what makes Rachio a great solution for your landscape watering needs.
The Iro is a smart sprinkler controller by design. Using intelligent algorithms, the Iro will create a recommended watering schedule based off of your systems’ physical location and characteristics of your sprinkler system; including vegetation, soil type, solar exposure, head/nozzle type and slope (if any). From there, it can monitor the weather and automatically issue rain delays, as well as adjust your watering schedules to ensure you never over water. The more data you feed it, the smarter it gets.
Although we’re slightly higher priced than our competitors, we are EPA WaterSense certified, which gives us third party validation of water savings. We’d be happy to double check with your local water municipality for rebate options – some offer rebates up to 100% of retail value. Additionally, we have a team of software developers writing code every day for our apps, making the Iro better and smarter every week. Currently we’re integrated with NEST, Wink, Control4, Crestron, IFTTT and other top tier home automation systems for expanded functionality.
Hopefully this helps you see the value in Rachio. For more information, I’d recommend you review our online reviews to see what our current users think about us. I’d recommend doing the same for the other products you inquired about and purchase the best controller that fits your needs and budget. Please keep in mind we have been in the market for over a year and have thousands of connected, happy users, collectively saving over 57 million gallons of water to date.
Please let me know if you have any additional questions. We would certainly appreciate your business.
Best, Emil
Great rundown @emil.
@AJD I’d also encourage you to check out our support section to get a glimpse of all the features we have built and reviews from real customers.
Also, every part of our controller is made in the USA, specifically Colorado. From the plastic to PCB, everything is manufactured, tested, and assembled here. We are very proud to be creating jobs and bringing back manufacturing to the states.
We have the most vibrant and passionate community out there, and our team’s mission is to conserve and manage water while also saving the customer money.
Take care.
i would like to offer the REASON i bought this irrigation controller.
i think the feature set is comparable to the other smart controllers, but, and this is the most important to me, my personal assesment is that rachio is extremly active in their forums. i felt they were more active than a few of the others that allowed me to lurk the forums anonymously.
i feel that these guys are headed in the right direction based on franz’s and emil’s reactions to user requests.
i also feel (and i could be wrong) that this company is in its early stages but with a well thought out product. their landscapre access shows they are aware of security concerns when providing access to your irrigation controler by a 3rd party. i feel that their flex schedules are a nice feature that will mature into a true fire and forget controller.
i personally hope these guys end up building out some of their own moisture sensors that integrate with their hardware…i personaly feel they will be forced into this market based on their high standards.
i have convienced 2 of my neighbors to switch over to rachio and they both have confessed it was the best thing they have done for their lawn.
they have an api to their cloud interface, im not using it, i personally have not needed a reason to do so, but plan on getting around to a zway integration effort this winter. i personally feel that is shows a great amount of forward thinking because api’s usually show up much later (i would like more reporting interfaces).
and finally, these ppl seem to be highly focused on consumption reduction. actually, ill say obsessed?
for me, i was getting ready to go etherain, but im super stoked that i found this one at the last minute.
so for me, it boils down to the team behind the product. this was the only product that i could get a feel for the team behind it. i dotn want a product run by a bunch of shitbirds.
We all have experience with various cutting edge products and the customer support is non-existent. If there is an issue you send emails, there is not phone number, yet they have a great web page and a great design, just no support. I’m just going through that with a heart rate monitor product that has great potential, but a lot of mystery around it.
With the rachio I had a few issues understanding the concepts, but this team in one of the best I have encountered. They answer question here and directly through support, and they answer quickly, and seem quite passionate that we all get it. These forums are an interactive conversation, and they seem to pay attention as they consider enhancements. Yes it’s a little pricey, but I’m loving it and I feel I now have way more control over my watering. With the new 2.0 which is scheduled to release soon, think that will be enhanced even more.
So get it and don’t look back. IMHO