vstolin

I wanted to understand if I can assign each button on a remotelinc to a sprinkler zone and each click on the button adds 5 minutes to the zone run time (up to 1 hour max for example).

Thanks everybody for sharing your experience - your input is very valuable. Is combination of remotelinc/kepadlinc and ISY controller capable of counting the number of button clicks?

Great reply, thanks - you pointed me into a very specific topic. I think it is best to stick with devices that either retain 'real' interface (light switch is still a switch and even thermostat is still a thermostat with up and down buttons) or have intuitive GUI, perhaps unit specific, where user experience should be very close to the real world button click. I'm curious to find what people use to control devices that lost 'real' interface, like irrigation controller for example?

Dear home automation experts, I'm going back and force on a decision to get into home automation project or not. On one side it seems like a nice hobby for a DIYer and with my background in electronics and computer programming this may be an interesting adventure. On another side I have to consider the implications of home automation for other household members. Let's say, I can install irrigation control and perhaps set it to run on some schedule and even check the weather forecast, etc. But then I go on a business trip and my wife just wants to turn on the sprinkler zone 2 for 5 minutes. If i had an Orbit irrigation controller for $50 with remote she could just press a button. With the home automation, if I understand correctly, she would either need to use a KeyPadLink where button 2 corresponds to 'run zone 2 for 5 minutes' or login to the controller using computer or iPad/iPhone and figure how to run the command from there. KeyPadLink may not be a good solution in this case, because she may want to run zone 2 for 10 minutes instead, so it is hard to cover all the combinations. I realize that one of the main points of the automation is not to run things manually, but my question is what is the experience of existing home automation users with non-tech members of the family using the system? I certainly do not want to install the system so my wife has to call me and ask to start sprinkler from 5 thousand miles away. Thanks in advance for your time.