odhrean Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 So I know all about the Rachio but we have a roof deck at a condo with potted shrubs, potted flowers, 2 raised garden beds, a few planters and a few potted herbs. Everything is on casters so my wife tends to move things around. The roof deck only has a hose faucet and given issues with getting things approved through the board, it would be difficult changing this source. It looks like a few systems have come a long ways the last few years (Orbit B-Hyve for instance) but I've not aware of any Control4 integration. Has anyone has any luck with hose faucet based systems for irrigation and any Control4 integration or suggestions based on experiences? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pounce Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 This isn't answering your direct question, but I had a huge roof deck in the city a while back. I used the Blumat system. https://www.blumat.com/en https://new.sustainablevillage.com/blumat You might want to check it out. It would not need valve control and it ensures that plants are always at their tuned moisture level. Roof decks can be unforgiving. I highly recommend the system. I also suggest fabric bag pots over large raised beds. They work a lot better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odhrean Posted July 10, 2020 Author Share Posted July 10, 2020 Thank you. I had a look at the system and it is interesting vs. the standard irrigation concept. My only concern would be trying to put a longer term water source in a higher spot for the gravity feed. Currently we are at our second home out of the city due to Covid-19 and I need to drive to the condo twice a week to water things so I'm looking for something that would give me the option of a longer term 'away'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pounce Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 You don't need gravity feed. You can hook it to the faucet. https://new.sustainablevillage.com/blumat-pressure-reducer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Africa C4 user Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 Ive got 2 drip feeding irrigation zones linked directly into an IO extender for this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAV Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 When I researched, I wanted a simple timer that I could over ride when it's forecast to rain. What I found was the simple mechanical timers have no smart way to over ride them, you have to push a button on the faucet timer unit. The smart timers on the other head were trying to be too smart, and were prone to communication failures and over/under watering because they offloaded everything to the cloud rather than a program being self contained like a thermostat does. So I stuck with the mechanical timer which allows me to easily adjust when and how long at the timer without programming in Control4, and added a LV controllable ball valve ahead of it. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XN5TZX7/ref=twister_B06XCYY5RZ?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 Through Control4 I can elect to skip watering for a day, the Control4 schedule auto reopens the valve for me for the next day so I don't have to remember to turn it back on. So I'm the smarts in when to skip, otherwise it waters on schedule. And if I mess up, the worst it does is water my vegetables in the rain. JR2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odhrean Posted July 21, 2020 Author Share Posted July 21, 2020 On 7/10/2020 at 1:08 PM, Pounce said: You don't need gravity feed. You can hook it to the faucet. https://new.sustainablevillage.com/blumat-pressure-reducer This looks like a great system. Given the faucet feed and the plastic 8mm lines, did you put anything on it for a leak detection/faucet turnoff that is outdoor rated? It looks as though sustainable village has a UV 8mm piping so that definitely helps on the UV breakdown but the elbows and connectors on a larger system can always pop out or leak over time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pounce Posted July 21, 2020 Share Posted July 21, 2020 2 hours ago, odhrean said: This looks like a great system. Given the faucet feed and the plastic 8mm lines, did you put anything on it for a leak detection/faucet turnoff that is outdoor rated? It looks as though sustainable village has a UV 8mm piping so that definitely helps on the UV breakdown but the elbows and connectors on a larger system can always pop out or leak over time. Nope. I didn't have anything extra. I didn't open the hosebib more than just a little. My roof deck had massive drainage (because it was a roof) so I wasn't worried about anything getting wet. I don't think you need to over think the connectors. The system is designed to live in the sun. Nothing is permanent though. These are used in commercial settings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted July 21, 2020 Share Posted July 21, 2020 On 7/10/2020 at 1:08 PM, Pounce said: You don't need gravity feed. You can hook it to the faucet. https://new.sustainablevillage.com/blumat-pressure-reducer That is expensive ($39) for what looks like a moulded piece of plastic? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DLite Posted July 21, 2020 Share Posted July 21, 2020 On 7/10/2020 at 9:31 AM, odhrean said: So I know all about the Rachio but we have a roof deck at a condo with potted shrubs, potted flowers, 2 raised garden beds, a few planters and a few potted herbs. Everything is on casters so my wife tends to move things around. The roof deck only has a hose faucet and given issues with getting things approved through the board, it would be difficult changing this source. It looks like a few systems have come a long ways the last few years (Orbit B-Hyve for instance) but I've not aware of any Control4 integration. Has anyone has any luck with hose faucet based systems for irrigation and any Control4 integration or suggestions based on experiences? Yes, we have a hose faucet based system that is controlled by a Rachio. It waters potted plants on our deck, so I suspect it is a similar setup to yours. The Rachio controls the system without a hitch. (We have a different Rachio controller that handles irrigation of our front and back yards, because it was too cumbersome to connect a single controller to both areas.) As an aside, I find that IFTTT is a very simple way to automate the Rachio. Clearly, it's not as flexible as C4, but it is much simpler and still very reliable. For instance, I use IFTT to trigger the Rachio based on temperature readings from our Netatmo weather station, and it works like a charm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pounce Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 4 hours ago, zaphod said: That is expensive ($39) for what looks like a moulded piece of plastic? It's a pressure reducer. More than a simple molded piece of plastic. It's a relatively small amount of money to be honest. You don't need one if you operate using gravity feed. Instead of a pressure reducer you can use a bucket or barrel and a float operated filling valve attached to the hose bib. This kind of setup can be fed from rainwater capture so the barrel only fills from the hose bib when needed. A float filler can be had for under 20 bucks. The value of the blumat system is that it automatically regulates moisture levels for your plants so you do not over water or under water. Valve schedules will over or under water due to environmental changes unless you have moisture sensors in each planter. That's possible, but passive systems are less complex and can be run without power or schedulers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.