What's all the fuss about WIFI enabled controllers.......? Let me tell you a little more.
What is a WIFI Enabled Reticulation Controller?
WIFI controllers come in various forms, and some resemble a regular non WIFI controller in the sense that they may have a dial to access your retic settings, or may have buttons on the retic control panel that can give you access to your sprinkler times and watering schedule. The main difference is that a WIFI enabled retic controller will connect to your home WIFI network, and from there connects to a proprietary server. Once this connection is established you can access your reticulation controller using an app on your iPhone, Android, or other smart device.
Reticulation controllers that are equipped with wifi capabilities can provide a host of benefits for homeowners with lawns and gardens. These devices allow users to control their irrigation systems remotely, making it easy to adjust watering schedules based on the weather.
Traditionally, homeowners had to manually adjust their reticulation controllers to account for changes in the weather. This could be time-consuming and often resulted in overwatering or underwatering, which can be detrimental to the health of plants and lawns.
Wifi-enabled reticulation controllers solve this problem by automatically adjusting watering schedules based on real-time weather data. This ensures that plants and lawns receive the right amount of water, regardless of the weather conditions.
For example, if it is forecast to rain, the reticulation controller will automatically reduce or halt watering to avoid overwatering. Similarly, if it is expected to be hot and dry, the controller will increase watering to ensure that plants receive enough moisture.
In addition to improving plant health and conserving water, wifi-enabled reticulation controllers can also save homeowners time and money. By automatically adjusting watering schedules, these devices can help reduce water bills and eliminate the need for manual adjustments.
Furthermore, wifi-enabled reticulation controllers can be easily controlled and monitored using a smartphone or other device, making it easy for homeowners to keep track of their irrigation systems from anywhere.
Overall, wifi-enabled reticulation controllers are a convenient and effective way to manage irrigation systems, ensuring that plants and lawns receive the right amount of water, regardless of the weather.
What are the key benefits?
Once your WIFI enabled reticulation controller is connected to the internet there are a host of automated tasks that your controller will be able to access. For instance a WIFI enabled controller will connect to a weather service, usually a local weather station that will report on the likelihood of rain, extreme variations in temperature, and humidy levels. These are all important factors when looking to maximise the watering efficiency of your garden irrigation system. A WIFI enabled retic controller can look at the weather forecast on your watering day, and if it sees rain on the horizon, it can adjust your watering times to allow for this, and in some cases may even cancel the watering altogether, saving you money, and preserving our precious water supply.
There are many other benefits too, including the convenience of being able to program your reticulation controller settings from your smart phone, while sitting in the comfort of your own home, or sitting anywhere in the world for that matter! This can prove invaluable, especially if you are wanting to do some testing, or light maintenance of your sprinklers No more running backward and forward around your property to access your controller every time you want to test it. Just open the app, access the manual settings, and press run - simple as that.
Most WIFI controllers can monitor parts of your reticulation systems wiring circuit too, and provide notifications to you or direct to your preferred retic service team, to let you know there is a fault. Typical faults reported would be a broken wire, or a solenoid that is out of range due to a faulty coil for instance.
Return on investment
WIFI enabled reticulation controllers are a little more expensive that a conventional retic controller, however if professionally installed and set up, you will more than likely save more than the difference in cost in your first year of using it. By utilising features such as seasonal adjustment, and weather service automation you will potentially save thousands of litres of water every year. Add on the benefits of 'ease of use', accessibility, and online functionality, and we think the investment is a 'no-brainer'!
Contact us today to discuss the multiple options we have available to get you set up with your WIFI enabled Smart Controller.