Hydrawise, Hunter Tek Geek, User Experiences

Mike Leary said:

Most commercial sites used 14g and it blew my mind how "busy" the wiring was in the clocks. It was dealing with those sites that got me into splice boxes with 18g "shunt wire" to the clock. :clapping:

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That is great. Wish I could justify doing it on the dinky 3-4 zone systems I do. No need.

Love the Green Biz said:

Hunter only just took over Hydrawise-controller design and all. I'm sure in the near future they will improve the mechanical irrigation side of the unit.

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New pro-c should be out any day now
It's a outdoor pro-c with hydrawise built-in.

Nashville Irrigation said:

Installed a Hydrawise unit the other day. Yes, my hands had trouble wiring it up but the programming part was very simple. Customer absolutely loved being able to operate the system from their iPhone. I heard Rainbird is in the process of coming out with a converter that plugs into the back of the existing outlet on the back of the esp controller. I feel as if this is a very smart move from rainbird since there are millions of esp controllers out there. If a customer wants to make the switch simply just plug in the converter to their esp controller and boom they can operate their system from their phone rather than installing a completely new controller.

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Who said it was a great idea to have your customer operate a system via their phone? Next they'll try to "design" their own program (based on what-their "feelings"?)

I got help from one of our Level II techs with this. His name is Manny and y'all can talk to him in more detail, Monday through Friday, 6 am to 2:30 pm, Pacific. 800-733-2823

I apologize for the lengthy response, but we (Manny) tried to answer three main questions from your posts. Here goes:

Question #1) Hydrawise Software -

You can access the Hydrawise software through the website (https://www.hydrawise.com/) or through our FREE APP that you can download for iPhones and Android devices. Contractors can sign up for a FREE Starter Contractor plan that will allow you to manage up to 5 controllers and have up to 5 different users added to the account. If you need to access more than 5 controllers we have plans you can sign up for (Contractor, Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum) that will allow you to access more controllers. The software allows you to manage the system, manually run individual zones or program from whereever you are located. As long as the controller is connected to WIFI, it will communicate to the Cloud and that's how you can access and manage the controller. You can also access a reports tab that will give you reports on the schedules, watering history, weather and water usage (if you have a flow meter).

Question #2) Local Weather -

This is not based on a zip code per se. It is based on a local Weather Station. We use the Weather Underground award-winning forecasting and airport weather stations for this. With the Free homeowner plan you can select 1 free airport weather station near you. With the Enthusiast plan ($60 per year) you can select up to 5 weather stations near you. We still recommend you install a Rain Sensor at the location itself so when it rains at the location the system can shut down. The weather station is going to work in hand with your watering triggers and the SMART ET Schedule if that's selected. You can buy and register your own weather station with Weather Underground if you wish. Whole other topic there, but you can do it.

Question #3) HC VS Rachio-

You cannot program a Rachio at the controller.

The HC Is backed by Hunter and sold through Hunter Irrigation Distributors. It is not sold online from Amazon or other retail online non-irrigation stores.

Below are our key features, for Homeowners and Contractors. Rachio, cannot do most of these things, to our knowledge.

Key Features for Home Owners

1. Significant water savings (typically around 50 percent) We do this with our daily adjustment of watering schedules. We call it Predictive Watering adjustment or SMART ET Schedule. It is much easier to use than traditional ET-based systems.

2. Remote access and the ability to view, manage and monitor controller

3. Extensive reporting provides better information when, how and why something happened

4. Ability to monitor water use with an optional flow meter

5. Ability to detect solenoid or wiring issues on the 12-zone residential model and all Pro-HC controllers: https://www.hydrawise.com/meet-new-pro-hc-controller-hydrawise-web-based-software

6. User-friendly mobile active, apps and web interface.

7. Ability for the landscape contractor to manage the system

Key Features for Landscape Maintenance and Install Contractors.

1. Provide remote management services and access to customers irrigation controllers

2. Easy-to-use controllers

3. Alerts and alarms to signify problems, we monitor; internet connection, electrical amps, and flow

4. Ability to show customers water savings, water use, problems, and fixes

5. Ability to have pictures or plans of customers' systems for easy recall when on site.
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I hope this answers some questions and we appreciate the discussion on Cloud-based control.

The only 2 things the HC does that the Rachio doesn't is 1) solenoid/wiring test and 2) ability to average data from multiple weather stations.

#1 is a nice to have feature

#2 is absolutely crucial, but unfortunately it's a recurring cost to enable that function. While Weather Underground may be award winning as a weather app/system for people, it certainly isn't a stable platform for ET management. There is no regulation of how well or often these weather stations are maintained. Even the "official" airport stations have unreliable data. You can be getting good rain data one day and nothing the next. Which is why averaging multiple stations is crucial.

If there was a way to setup a private weather station in my area I would consider it. But I wouldn't want local competitors piggybacking on my effort.

The Pro-HC is a welcome addition with the more professional wiring setup. Look forward to installing one.

erp2863 said:

The only 2 things the HC does that the Rachio doesn't is 1) solenoid/wiring test and 2) ability to average data from multiple weather stations.

#1 is a nice to have feature

#2 is absolutely crucial, but unfortunately it's a recurring cost to enable that function. While Weather Underground may be award winning as a weather app/system for people, it certainly isn't a stable platform for ET management. There is no regulation of how well or often these weather stations are maintained. Even the "official" airport stations have unreliable data. You can be getting good rain data one day and nothing the next. Which is why averaging multiple stations is crucial.

If there was a way to setup a private weather station in my area I would consider it. But I wouldn't want local competitors piggybacking on my effort.

The Pro-HC is a welcome addition with the more professional wiring setup. Look forward to installing one.

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#1 - It has the mA reading on the screen when you operate that zone and alerts, plus the Zone Tester feature under the Status screen.

#2 - You can set-up your own PWS and I believe have the option to hide it from others if it is a big deal. The cost is up to you on it (anywhere from $150 and up). WeatherUnderground does do QC checks on all their data and if you believe there is an issue, you can email them off their site. Even NWS quality at time is off, but that is what every other ET vendor uses for their data (or where it is pulled from). Install a local rain sensor and your the averaged data from them and you should be fine. If your properties are so sensitive that a difference in 3-5% in weather data affects it that much, you shouldn't be using a residential \ Lt commercial controller for it in the first place.

As for the yearly costs, WeatherUnderground charges Hunter a good deal of money for their API access so just like anything else, it rolls downhill to the user.