Rain Bird makes managing multiple controllers incredibly easy, although that does mean you’ll spend at least twice as much time waiting for the app to load.*Please note: Required 2.4GHz WiFi / 4 x 1.5V AA batteries (not included) Some irrigation apps are designed to support only one controller at a time, and if your yard requires two controllers, you must use separate accounts (and separate apps on separate mobile devices) to control them. Of final note, unlike many smart watering systems, the Rain Bird ST8I app is designed to manage multiple controllers from a single phone.
With notifications on, the system does accurately notify you that watering has completed (but not, unfortunately, when it starts).
Turn them all on and the Rain Bird becomes quite chatty-I was soon inundated with notices that seasonal adjustments had been applied (several times each week), and that the Wi-Fi unit attached to the Rain Bird had disconnected and/or reset.
This can be changed by delving into the settings menu, where various notifications can be turned on. None of that is ideal, but it’s at least an improvement.Įach time you launch the Rain Bird app, prepare for a wait….Īlso of note, by default the ST8I does not provide any push updates when watering runs occur. History details older than that are deleted.
Sprinkler smart timer plus#
Now, the app features a more full-featured calendar that looks forward 30 days, plus offers one week of historical watering information. Previously, the app maxed out by showing just a few days of your upcoming calendar and nothing in the way of historical information.
Sprinkler smart timer update#
The ST8I offers limited reporting and calendaring features, though an app update pushed out during my testing improved this considerably. (Note that the integrated weather forecast can take up to a day to show up in the app after initial installation.) The ST8I can be set to skip watering altogether if it’s raining, but only if you have a wired rain sensor installed. This may be handy for some users, but I found the Rain Bird reducing watering times even as the temperature in my neighborhood was soaring to nearly 100 degrees and when watering should have been at its highest. The ST8I does, however, include a limited seasonal adjustment feature, which will reduce watering if the weather forecast is cooler. Rather than making a guess about ideal run times based on your environment, it’s up to you to decide how long you want your various zones to run. Integrated weather reports are handy, but tend to run hotter than reality.Īs well, the ST8I doesn’t include the typical “smart settings” feature that most products in this space offer.
Sprinkler smart timer manual#
This can be time-consuming (up to 15 seconds each time) if all you want to do is check on the watering schedule or start a manual watering run, and it isn’t the “smartest” use of a mobile app we’ve encountered in this space, though certain settings, like the time, are synced from your phone automatically.
Every time you run the app, it has to connect to the ST8I to download the settings stored on the unit. Unlike many smart sprinkler controllers, the ST8I’s mobile app serves primarily as a way to manage its onboard controls remotely. The app isn’t the most responsive, and it took me a few days of using the ST8I to figure out exactly why.
0 kommentar(er)
