I have two of the orbit, beehive timers, and they have been set up outside for the last four years, including staying outside in the Chicago winters. I do turn off the water service outside, but have left the timers out there. I have never had an issue with them. I love the fact that I can set up my garden to water every morning and every evening but it won't if there's rain forecasted. I know there have been some problems with orbit, but I have had none and I'm more than happy!
They dont have the same intelligence as the Rachio irrigation controllers. There I can select the type of sod, whether its a shaded area or sunny, sloped or flat, all sorts of additional options thats not carried over to the timer. It is just water for X amount of time unless theres rain, thats it. My hope is that they will add these features later, but currently they're just expensive... and the only real option for this type of tool.
The Orbit Bhyve reviews are horrendous and I wasn't impressed with Orbit's irrigation controller so I never tried their timers. The best feature in my mind for the Rachio timer is that I can use one controller for all the timers because the signal range is great. Orbit's reviews appear to be plagued by the usb controller with limited range.
Ah makes sense now, thanks for elaborating. I was going to purchase a single controller with hub since they're doing a 20% off spring sale currently, but I came across a zigbee controller on Ali with decent reviews and it's only $25. Since I already use home assistant, with a bit of work, I'll have a lot more control than what rachio provides. A personal weather station would make it even more useful.
However if rachio did include the additional features you mentioned it would be worth it imo, and a lot less work than programming a zigbee controller within home assistant.
Ah makes sense now, thanks for elaborating. I was going to purchase a single controller with hub since they're doing a 20% off spring sale currently, but I came across a zigbee controller on Ali with decent reviews and it's only $25. Since I already use home assistant, with a bit of work, I'll have a lot more control than what rachio provides. A personal weather station would make it even more useful.
However if rachio did include the additional features you mentioned it would be worth it imo, and a lot less work than programming a zigbee controller within home assistant.
Can you provide the details on that zigbee controller?
I have two of the orbit, beehive timers, and they have been set up outside for the last four years, including staying outside in the Chicago winters. I do turn off the water service outside, but have left the timers out there. I have never had an issue with them. I love the fact that I can set up my garden to water every morning and every evening but it won't if there's rain forecasted. I know there have been some problems with orbit, but I have had none and I'm more than happy!
Love hearing this! Thanks for sharing. Most reviews online are very critical so I was too afraid to give it a shot.
Found this in Humble, TX for $99 at my Costco so I picked it up. Just FYI, when I plugged in the WiFi hub it would not power on. I found that if I pushed really hard on the barrel plug the hub would light up, but if I let go it would turn back off. A quick search online showed others with this problem. I chatted with Rachio and they said it was an issue with the power adapter and they're sending me a new one with expedited shipping. This may be a common problem, but I figured it was easier than returning and trying another unit. Looking forward to trying these though.
Found this in Humble, TX for $99 at my Costco so I picked it up. Just FYI, when I plugged in the WiFi hub it would not power on. I found that if I pushed really hard on the barrel plug the hub would light up, but if I let go it would turn back off. A quick search online showed others with this problem. I chatted with Rachio and they said it was an issue with the power adapter and they're sending me a new one with expedited shipping. This may be a common problem, but I figured it was easier than returning and trying another unit. Looking forward to trying these though.
Did you get new power adapter already? I experience exactly same problem.
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The Orbit Bhyve reviews are horrendous and I wasn't impressed with Orbit's irrigation controller so I never tried their timers. The best feature in my mind for the Rachio timer is that I can use one controller for all the timers because the signal range is great. Orbit's reviews appear to be plagued by the usb controller with limited range.
Ah makes sense now, thanks for elaborating. I was going to purchase a single controller with hub since they're doing a 20% off spring sale currently, but I came across a zigbee controller on Ali with decent reviews and it's only $25. Since I already use home assistant, with a bit of work, I'll have a lot more control than what rachio provides. A personal weather station would make it even more useful.
However if rachio did include the additional features you mentioned it would be worth it imo, and a lot less work than programming a zigbee controller within home assistant.
However if rachio did include the additional features you mentioned it would be worth it imo, and a lot less work than programming a zigbee controller within home assistant.
Can you provide the details on that zigbee controller?
Here is a link for it. I thought it was $25 but I guess it's $32. Still not bad.
https://a.aliexpress.co
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Not sure if these have it, but my main Rachio has the ability to synchronize valves as to eliminate water hammer.
Not yet. It's scheduled for delivery on Wednesday. For reference, I contacted Rachio support on Saturday afternoon, so it was pretty quick.