I have an Orbit Bhyve that I hate. I was hoping for a solution where the controller can do smart watering etc but have issues with it. We can only water on even days which is fine, but only between 6am to 10am and 6pm to 10pm. The Orbit lets me set a time restriction but only one, such as no watering between 9am to 5pm meaning it comes on all the time like all night or during the day. Just curious how Rachio works in this regard.
The main challenge I find is with 16 zones and a large lawn, it usually wants to water 20-30 minutes per zone, meaning it’s too long for the 4 hour window we can water during and instead is on for 6+ hours.
We have an “end by” (only one of these schedules is allowed) setting or “start at”. If your watering times are significant (over your 4 hour budget) not much we can do about that. We would push back your schedule and fall outside the limits.
@Psychobunny83 - I’d probably create two fixed schedules and split the 16 zones in half. I might have the front yard schedule “end by” 10 AM (or it could start at 6 AM) and the back yard schedule start at 6 PM. With 8 zones apiece and 30 minutes a zone it would just make it. Depending on the soil settings, the cycle and soak could cause it to run over if there are soaking periods where another zone is not watering. But the manual cycle and soak could take care of that if needed. The added benefit would be the optional monthly schedule adjustments, rain (forecasted or actual), freeze and wind skips (if desired). Along with the saturation skip.
