smokegrub Posted April 21, 2016 Posted April 21, 2016 At the current time I am using an IOLinc to simply turn my old irrigation controller on and off. The controller is set up to begin irrigating the lawn at 0600 hours following activation and will continue irrigating each day unless I turn the controller off using the IOLinc. I would like to move past that level of control to something that will permit me to control individual zones and a variety of programs and irrigation options. I am considering the Blossom controller and the EZFLORA. Is there a site where I can see the control options offered by the ISY for the EZFLORA. I would prefer staying with that device and control using the iSY.
paulbates Posted April 21, 2016 Posted April 21, 2016 (edited) I have had 2 ezfloras since 2011 and they work well for direct connected to insteon / ISY. Reasons for the ezflora: They have advanced irrigation features like the ability to use zone 8 for pump/master valve control, automatically turning the last zone off when selecting the next zone on the controller, and a"deadman" timer for each zone.... regardless of what turns a zone on, that zone will always go off after X minutes - you specify by zone. The ezfloras are from SmartenIT, use a customized insteon messaging interface and are immune to "ALL ON" events, where the iolinc can be affected by "ALL ON". For interface beyond my sprinkler programs, I use the stock version of HAD and a customized one on a tablet... I use this to activate zones from the yard for yearly startup, maintenance and yearly shutdown. New for this year, I am going to start my system up from a android tablet using James Peterson's Agave app that's in beta in the forums... is has a nice control for going forward and backward one zone in addition to touching a control for each zone. I will start my system in a week or two this way. You can customize and integrate with other ISY features and devices directly via programs. My programs look at the climate module for forecast and temp, and I also have a hydreon rain sensor to stop or cancel sprinkling if enough rain falls. Potenital reason against cloud based controllers: If it requires a cloud service to operate, I'm wont use it. It has to have some form of local only control direct to the ISY or node server, so if the company stops supporting its cloud environment, the controller doesn't turn into brick from an HA controller perspective. I'm sure there are some out there that support local control, I think io_ guy has one he supports. I also have no reason to flush $220 in ezfloras as they have worked well for 5 years (knocking on wood) Reasons against ezflora: Some people see them die after a few years like PLMs do.. I haven't, but its a risk. No snazzy cloud / mobile software comes with it.. you'll need to have HAD, Agave, mobilinc, etc. Paul Edited April 21, 2016 by paulbates
smokegrub Posted April 22, 2016 Author Posted April 22, 2016 Thanks for the comprehensive feedback, Paul. Very informative. I appreciate very much your taking the time to put it together.
TomNow2 Posted May 23, 2016 Posted May 23, 2016 Hi Paul, I'm looking into setting something up for my sprinklers as well. I have 10 zones, does that mean I need 2 ezFloras for this? Also are there detailed instructions anywhere of how to put this in and connect to my current system? Thanks!
paulbates Posted May 23, 2016 Posted May 23, 2016 Hi Tom Each EZflora has 8 zones maximum, so yes 2 ezfloras are needed for your application. I wired mine into the existing rainbird controller with a length of sprinkler wire from a sprinkler supply store. That made it a little easier, no wiring changes to the existing system. So I don't have detailed instructions per se... but I wired zone 1 on the old controller to zone 1 on the ezflora with the new length of sprinkler wire, zone 2 to zone 2, etc. Then write programs. Basic programs to run the system are fairly easy: turn a zone on... and wait xx minutes... It gets a little more complicated if your system has a pump or master valve, do you know if that's the case? If you have either one of these, its a little more complicated... I'll wait to see if you report back that you have either one of those to explain how to deal with that further. Paul Hi Paul, I'm looking into setting something up for my sprinklers as well. I have 10 zones, does that mean I need 2 ezFloras for this? Also are there detailed instructions anywhere of how to put this in and connect to my current system? Thanks!
TomNow2 Posted May 23, 2016 Posted May 23, 2016 (edited) Thanks Paul! I'll be back in town Thursday so will check and report back, appreciate the quick response! FYI, saw that you're from Dearborn. I lived there for a year and just moved last August, still own the condo though Edited May 23, 2016 by TomNow2
paulbates Posted May 23, 2016 Posted May 23, 2016 Small world! Next week, it will be 25 years for me.
Recommended Posts