Wireless Rain Sensors Now Supported!

Thanks to our in-house magician @emil for testing these and figuring out ultimately how to do it.

We now support wireless rain sensors, check it out!

Orbit Wireless Rain Sensor
Toro Wireless Rain Sensor
Irritrol Wireless Rain Sensor
Rainbird WR2 Wireless Rain Sensor
Hunter Rain-Clik Wireless Rain Sensor

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awesome. Just hooked up my Hunter Rain-Clik.

Strangely the Rain-Clik is showing ā€˜Sensor is wetā€™, but itā€™s been dry the last few days.

Is there anyway for the Iro to show the rain sensors status?

nevermind, must have been a startup/initialization thing, itā€™s green now and in Iroā€™s history itā€™s saying ā€˜Rain sensor has detected rain falseā€™.

All is good, thanks for the write up!

Iā€™ve connected my old Toro wireless rain sensor. Thereā€™s no power light on,however, I keep getting true and false readings from it going off randomly. Iā€™ve got the same model as in your examples. Should it be lighting up?

Also,do you think that instead of having the notifications state, ā€œRain sensor has dented Rain False/Trueā€, it can simply state something like, "Rain has been detected, or IIthas started to rain. And then Rain has stopped or something to the effect?

Hi @jeremyshultz

Thanks for reaching out. Iā€™m sure we can figure things out :smile:

Sounds like weā€™re getting some feedback from the Iro, but maybe have the wiring configured wrong. Could you send us a photo of your wiring to support@rachio.com for review?

I think we can do this :wink: Will discuss with the software team.

Ok. Iā€™ve sent the photo of my wiring configuration and the Toro.

@jeremyshultz Yes, that sounds too robotic. Will change the messaging :smile:

If I have a compatible PWS and it has a rain sensor on it, will it work the same way as if I had a just a regular rain sensor and cut off the watering if itā€™s raining and eventually use the amount it rained to reconfigure the amount of watering?

@jeremyshultz The physical rain sensor, when activated, will disallow any schedules from running.

The data from a PWS (or national weather station) acts like a virtual rain sensor. Before your schedule is supposed to run we will check yesterdayā€™s observed precipitation with todayā€™s precipitation (observed or forecasted) and skip based on your threshold. This is a lot more sophisticated than a physical rain sensor that doesnā€™t know about the past or future :smile:

Here is some more information on the topic:

http://support.rachio.com/article/284-weather-intelligence-watersmart

I do get that. I guess Iā€™m trying to decide If itā€™s better to have a rain sensor or a weather station with a rain sensor thingy.

@jeremyshultz I think ultimately, the more localized the better.

One word of caution is that our systems are only as good as the data being fed into them.

So, if you opt-in for a PWS, and you are using our new flex schedules being rolled out next month which rely heavily on evapotranspiration (ET) data (min/max temps, humidity, wind, solar radiation), just be aware that the data from that PWS will be used for calculating ET.

Iā€™m actually still debating if we do allow PWS for ET data. One example is we have a PWS at our office, and last week it was reporting 20 degrees warmer than the actual outside temperature because of its placement.

Iā€™m pretty sure we will be using PWS for individualized ET data (if a user has opted in) since it will be too hard to mix/match weather data.

Hope that helps and didnā€™t add more confusion.

So if it was raining, the rain sensor on the PWS would not turn of the watering and Id need a seperate connected rain sensor, correct? Can you recommend a PWS the that would have all the measurements needed for the ET data?

@jeremyshultz The rain sensor on the PWS would be used in calculating if you received enough rain to skip the schedule, but does not act like a typical rain sensor which is either enabled/disabled. That is a much more binary approach :slight_smile: but is very effective if it is raining at the moment the schedule should run, especially if the data hasnā€™t been reported to the PWS servers.

We purchased this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00N1XCA9M/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and this:

I will let @emil comment on which one is better. I do know with the Netatmo we needed to buy a separate rain gauge for $50.

Great thank you! Iā€™ll be interested to know which one works better from his opinion. Thanks again.

Hi @jeremyshultz, sorry for the delayed reply.

At this time, Iā€™d have to recommend the Netatmo PWS if youā€™re looking to get something up and running ASAP. The reason for this recommendation is that I know the API integration works as detailed in this support article.

The AcuRite 5-in-1 looks to be a better PWS for collecting the data points required for the Iro, however, Iā€™ve run into a few road blocks getting it connected to our weather service API as AcuRite sells a number of similar models, however, not all models are supported. Iā€™m waiting for a reply back from MeteoBridge to confirm which models work and which ones do not.

I hope this helps. Iā€™d be happy to keep you posted on the installation of the AcuRite 5-in-1 once we can resolve the supported model issue. :confused:

Best, Emil

Just saw this. I have a ten year old Hunter wireless rain sensor (non-Rain-Clik, but looks remarkably similar except for the graphics and antenna). Wiring looked identical so I hooked it up to the IRO. Works just fine.

@landru Nice! :beers:

Thanks for the input. I noticed that about the AcuRite and was confused. I assumed one was newer than the next. I donā€™t need anything ASAP - Id rather go with something that works better. Iā€™m very interested in finding out which models are compatible. Iā€™d then also purchase the upgraded top portion that looks like it has an additional solar sensor, internal fan and whatever else it lists. Hopefully they get back to you soon!

Hi @jeremyshultz, no reply yet from MeteoBridge :pensive:

Will keep you posted.

The AcuRite 5-in-1 Pro model includes two solar panels and can be monitored from your favorite PED when you purchase their AcuLink Internet Bridge. The ā€œnon-proā€ doesnā€™t have these features evidently. Emil, which one was causing installation issues? Hopeful that either one makes the supported list. Thanks.