How is this intelligent sheduling?
it has been 80-90 for the last week, not a drop of rain, but RainMachine waters ~1/2 the scheduled amount.
What?
Why?
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The machine uses many metrics for determining how much water to use. It calculates the evapo-transpiration rate and uses that to make those decisions. It uses; solar radiation, wind, humidity, dew point, rainfall to figure out how much water is leaving the soil. In the zone settings you can set the soil type and vegetation type. These are important because they effect how much water the ground can hold. This can also affect watering times. If the machine thinks the ground holds an inch of water, and you have an inch of rain, the machine will then assume you are saturated and not water. Depending on the weather conditions determines how many inches of water is leaving the ground. Lets say that it sees .2 inches of water leave normally. It would take 5 days for that water to evaporate completely. The machine wants to reduce you bill if possible so rather then let the machine dry out for 5 days it will add a little water to maintain a level of moisture. With the temp being 80 - 90 during the day you might think it is leaving faster then that. During the day it may be. This time of year you should be reaching the dew point at night. The machine knows that and is calculating approximately what it thinks is going back in and offsets that water in its watering calculations. Lastly, when you give a time to the machine it should not be what you think it needs to run during this season. It should be how long would you run the zone during the summer if that zone was completely dry. The machine adjusts that number as we go through the season based on your areas historical weather data. If you are still concerned about the machines performance I would call in and speak to one of our technicians. They can log into the machine and take a look at the data and ask a few questions about your zones and help you dial your machine in. I hope this helps you understand the RainMachines decision making and if you have any further questions you can call in and ask for Jarrod. I would be more then happy to help you personally. Our number is 844-498-8707.
Jarrod S.
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