Gen3 controller with wireless flow sensor

post by Chairman001 on Mar 20, 2018

Can someone provide a compelling reason to buy the new Gen3 with the wireless flow? Weather within 40’ vs. a couple of miles away coupled with a rain sensor … that big of a difference? How about the wireless flow … besides the leak detection, how can it be used to improve the lawn watering capabilities?

post by plainsane on Mar 20, 2018

If they expose the telemetry, you can use it to detect clogged heads. You can also use it to verify your pr.

post by emil on Mar 21, 2018

@Chairman001 – you had me sold at wireless flow! If you haven’t already, check out our side by side comparison chart.

Hope this helps!

post by Chairman001 on Mar 21, 2018

Thanks! Besides leak detection, it’s indicating precise outdoor water usage monitoring. How will that itself help over Gen2 or the std. Gen3? Does it eliminate a variable that needs to be manually input today? It does nothing to monitor the existing moisture level of the property, right? How does knowing the precise amount of water used help over what’s known in Gen2?

post by imolazhp on Mar 21, 2018

I don’t see a compelling reason to upgrade from the first generation.

If they could report data from the flow sensor to my utility company and have the utility company then be able to deduct water used on my lawn from my sewage bill then maybe that would be compelling as it would eventually pay for itself.

I don’t ever see that happening and with a smart water meter, the utility company can tell me if my usage is off, which might indicate a leak.

But congrats to Rachio for continuing to improve their product, I am sure some will find the new features useful. I love that our Rachio runs in the background of our lives, set it and forget it, as smart devices should be. They should make life easier, not more complicated. I still do not understand why people think it needs HomeKit support, it runs at 4am on its own. The very few times per year I need to run it manually it really takes all of about 5 seconds to open the app and start watering manually. Sometimes it takes longer than that for Siri to first hear me and then process what I said.

post by Miles267 on Mar 21, 2018

Fair question. I too wondered the benefit of Gen 3 over Gen 2. Seems 5 ghz radio and wireless flow sensor. 2.4 ghz is sufficient for a home irrigation controller for wifi range. Also doesn’t seem the higher throughput offers much benefit for this type of IoT device.

Was hoping the flow sensor could be used to determine how much water is actually flowing and utilize this data to dynamically adjust water times. Doesn’t appear that will happen upon release.