Anyone have any idea how hard this is to install?
I know it says it in the features, but be sure to check with your water provider on those rebates… since this is a non-refurb, brand-new product it could be a freebie for you after rebate.
Even refurb units are eligible for rebates most of the time.
I have the first generation Rachio system and it was super easy. Basically just move the wires from my old controller to the rachio. They have a guide and everything matched up pretty well to what I had previously which was something with plastic dials and stuff from the early 2000’s. Want to say it was hunter brand?
I like mine, it’s kind of neat to turn the water on from your phone anytime you want, which is mostly when I see neighbor kids running through my yard.
Also the app notifies me when it is adjusting my regular schedule due to rainfall which is basically like having a rain sensor which I didn’t have before.
Setting up the zones is a little weird because it can get oddly specific about the type of dirt and plant life you have in that zone. I am weak, horticulturaly so I just guessed, seems to do alright anyway.
Also, and I can’t emphasize this enough: you can water neighborhood children for sport with this thing, which kind of makes it worth it at any price.
[QUOTE=stilesja, post:5, topic:676291]
I have the first generation Rachio system and it was super easy. Basically just move the wires from my old controller to the rachio. They have a guide and everything matched up pretty well to what I had previously which was something with plastic dials and stuff from the early 2000’s. Want to say it was hunter brand?
I like mine, it’s kind of neat to turn the water on from your phone anytime you want, which is mostly when I see neighbor kids running through my yard.
Also the app notifies me when it is adjusting my regular schedule due to rainfall which is basically like having a rain sensor which I didn’t have before.
Setting up the zones is a little weird because it can get oddly specific about the type of dirt and plant life you have in that zone. I am weak, horticulturaly so I just guessed, seems to do alright anyway.
Also, and I can’t emphasize this enough: you can water neighborhood children for sport with this thing, which kind of makes it worth it at any price.
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With the SmartThings Home Automation Hub you could even set this up to turn on when it detects motion in a certain area of your property, thus making the “sport” of watering the neighborhood children much more automated! LOL
It was very easy. The only issue is that if your current controller is outside you have to buy the weatherproof box or move it somewhere inside. Unplug the wires from your current controller, put the common wire in the one marked common and then each zone in the numbered spots. Open the app and it’ll go through the setup. I love mine!
Easy. Just disconnect the wires from your old one and put them on the new one. Takes a bit to program the new stations on your phone, but it’s easy.
And let’s not forget the integration with Amazon Echo… “Alexa, tell Rachio to water the garden for 10 minutes”… voila!
The app is pretty good… a couple things I thought could be improved, and Rachio responded to me saying they would add to list for potential inclusion in next app release… don’t know if they will, but at least they responded quickly and personally.
I really like mine.
It’s a pieces of cake to install. I just installed this exact model in July of this past year and very easy to wire up and program. I own two of these units now, one at our home and one at our church where I work.
One more vote for “couldn’t be much easier to install.” Just transfer all the connections from the old unit to the new - like for like.
Also, I have nine zones in my system, but I was able to use the model for 8 zones. If you have enough water pressure, you can run two at the same time, which I did - so one zone on the controller is hooked up to two zones in the yard, and they run simultaneously.
Second BEST woot EVER(after a bidet)!
My V1 Rachio replaced a Hunter irrigation controller. Every spring I would spend HOURS programming the thing. programming with buttons and dials, menus and submenus with no descriptors of what anything represents. I HATED that Hunter control.
Last year I got the Rachio V1. Simple to connect, five tries to sync with my phone(fixed on V2). Programming took five minutes total. This is the greatest improvement in home tech in a decade. I can program and run single waterings from anywhere. Owners can customize zones and programming almost instantly.
You’re reading the comments because you have an irrigation system with an old school controller, and you’re curious if these are worth investing in…definitely!
[QUOTE=stilesja, post:5, topic:676291]
Also, and I can’t emphasize this enough: you can water neighborhood children for sport with this thing, which kind of makes it worth it at any price.
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And you can freak out pets who like to add a little water to your lawn LOL. My front lawn sprinklers that follow the side walk and the ones that water the right-of-way area always blow air right before they go off. They are up hill a bit so my system has been inspected for leaks, there are none, but there is enough air in a couple of the sprinkler heads to blow like a whale when they start up. Scares the living crap (literally) out of the dog and the person walking them as they YANK fido away and head down the walk to a safe zone.
As far as the system goes, I have the gen 1 16 zone. I use 8 of the 16. I took pictures of each zone so I knew what I was watering. Even though this thing has some cool features and takes the worry out of watering. I liked how it wouldn’t water and for how long based on the weather (rain, wind, etc). The ONLY part that was a little tricky was the initial setting up on the wifi. After reading about it, I just set up a SSID on my wifi router just for the Rachio (I can have 6 SSID’s total), limited it to 2 connections (the SSID) using MAC filtering (security precaution) and no access to the intranet. Setup the software on my phone was a breeze. Took longer to set up each zone to the sprinkler heads, grade, soil and sun/shade then it did doing anything else. So, it might be a fast setup, but tweaking it can take a hour or two to get it right. During the winter, I just shut mine down and disabled the SSID. And if it matters, I paid 99 bucks (woot) for mine.
[QUOTE=hemholtz, post:2, topic:676291]
Anyone have any idea how hard this is to install?
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I replaced an old Toro controller. It was just a wire-for-wire swap. I used the same outdoor, waterproof box. It was one of the easiest jobs ever.
Does anyone know how well it works with satellite internet? We have problems with latency plus a monthly data cap of 20GB. 
We already have an Ecobee thermostat and Amazon Echo and neither one of those seem to use up too much data.
TIA
I’m also agreeing that this is very, very easy to install. Of note, it has connections for an external rain sensor (not included). That’s not really necessary since the Rachio gets weather information from the Internet.
What’s interesting about the app portion of the product is the amount of variation you can select. The type of ground, the slope of the ground, if it’s in the shade or direct sun, what kind of grass, etc. It’s a bit cumbersome to set up initially to select all those options per zone, but once you do, it works beautifully.
If efficient watering is your goal,
and you need to wet the grassy knoll.
Don’t be a back yard tinkler,
buy this controller of your sprinkler.
Then you will be in full control.
Check for rebates!
Unfortunately for me, there are only 2 in the entire state of Texas! 
https://www3.epa.gov/watersense/rebate_finder_saving_money_water.html
My current sprinkler box is hardwired into the only outlet in the garage which is about 25 ft away. Is there any other options for power to this? Can I hardwire this like the old one, if not, it sounds like I need to have a plug installed closer to the panel.