smithlevenson Posted June 9, 2019 Share Posted June 9, 2019 Costco is having a sale on the Rachio 3 for $200 and I have never heard of it. I will probably grab one just because Costcos return policy, but has anyone used one? How does it integrate with ISY? It looked like there was a Rachio Polyglot, but does Rachio offer an Open API? How does it compare to Rain Machine? I have a 3 zone Sprinkler system right on a programmable timer, but water in Atlanta is $$$$. Link to comment
Bumbershoot Posted June 9, 2019 Share Posted June 9, 2019 As I understand it, Rachio has cloud dependencies that RainMachine does not (the RainMachine API is entirely local), which makes RainMachine a popular choice on these forums. RainMachine is actively supported by NodeLink, and the functionality works very well. That said, Rachio appears to be a nice product. Given the close similarities between the products, I chose RainMachine for these reasons: NodeLink integration with the ISY Entirely local API Ability to directly feed weather data from my PWS Open source firmware/software Link to comment
simplextech Posted June 9, 2019 Share Posted June 9, 2019 1 hour ago, smithlevenson said: Costco is having a sale on the Rachio 3 for $200 and I have never heard of it. I will probably grab one just because Costcos return policy, but has anyone used one? How does it integrate with ISY? It looked like there was a Rachio Polyglot, but does Rachio offer an Open API? How does it compare to Rain Machine? I have a 3 zone Sprinkler system right on a programmable timer, but water in Atlanta is $$$$. Rachio does have a public API. I'm not aware of a Rachio Polyglot at this time. Link to comment
simplextech Posted June 9, 2019 Share Posted June 9, 2019 16 minutes ago, io_guy said: Go Rainmachine. Local API. I always have to agree with this!!!! If a local API is available for one device vs another I always choose the local API. Link to comment
Bumbershoot Posted June 9, 2019 Share Posted June 9, 2019 8 hours ago, simplextech said: I'm not aware of a Rachio Polyglot at this time. The Rachio Polyglot is here. They do indeed have a public API, but it's cloud based. https://rachio.readme.io/v1.0/docs Link to comment
smithlevenson Posted June 9, 2019 Author Share Posted June 9, 2019 8 hours ago, simplextech said: I always have to agree with this!!!! If a local API is available for one device vs another I always choose the local API. My only cloud API is my garage door openers, which I didn't get to pick. It isn't the worst thing, but not my preference. Is Rain Machine a supported API? Polyglot? Which is the better controller or app? Link to comment
paulbates Posted June 10, 2019 Share Posted June 10, 2019 I also have the RainMachine HD 16 zone.The app and controller are great. It is limited to an indoor install where the rachio can be installed outside. Its part of the nodelink nodeserver from io_guy, not polyglot. You can find Nodelink on the forum Paul Link to comment
smithlevenson Posted June 10, 2019 Author Share Posted June 10, 2019 48 minutes ago, paulbates said: I also have the RainMachine HD 16 zone.The app and controller are great. It is limited to an indoor install where the rachio can be installed outside. Its part of the nodelink nodeserver from io_guy, not polyglot. You can find Nodelink on the forum Paul Interesting. Outside is preferable, but inside is not impossible. Link to comment
smithlevenson Posted June 25, 2019 Author Share Posted June 25, 2019 So I have had the Rachio 3 for a couple of weeks and it seems good. I haven't gotten into the API because, frankly, I haven't needed it. The weather has been pretty spot on and it tracks without much intervention needed from me (it has rained almost everyday since I got it). It tracks the amount of Rain and the soil moisture % (screenshot below), so you can follow along with the algorithm at least somewhat. I haven't really come up with a use case for automation (shocking, I know). The only thing I can think of is attaching it to a WCV to detect leaks etc. I am interested in the Advanced Settings, but they seem too technical for me to get into currently (screenshot below, It isn't required to input to make it work). I haven't put into an outdoor box yet, but that is because I have it protected from the elements (on the list, but add $29 to the total cost). TL;DR The Rachio 3 is doing it's job well and that is making it one less thing I have to pay attention to. Link to comment
paulbates Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 Great, thanks for the follow up. Out of the years of having HA and things automated, a smart irrigation controller has paid off the most by far. Not only itself, but the rest as well. Our water is pretty expensive. There's a benefit to not having too much dependence on HA. When the house is eventually sold, a stand alone irrigation controller makes more sense if the buyer doesn't want the HA system. I'm hybrid with my rainmachine. There are functions the ISY enhances, but can be "uplugged" and the irrigation system run on its own if needed. Paul Link to comment
smithlevenson Posted June 25, 2019 Author Share Posted June 25, 2019 1 hour ago, paulbates said: Great, thanks for the follow up. Out of the years of having HA and things automated, a smart irrigation controller has paid off the most by far. Not only itself, but the rest as well. Our water is pretty expensive. There's a benefit to not having too much dependence on HA. When the house is eventually sold, a stand alone irrigation controller makes more sense if the buyer doesn't want the HA system. I'm hybrid with my rainmachine. There are functions the ISY enhances, but can be "uplugged" and the irrigation system run on its own if needed. Paul Ha Ha. God Bless the poor sap that buys my house. "Never tell your daughter to 'Turn off the water' around Alexa." What ISY enhancements are you using? Link to comment
paulbates Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 33 minutes ago, smithlevenson said: What ISY enhancements are you using? I have the following ISY enhancements. A hot zones program for areas that get full sun all day. The rainmachine would try to run it every day, I just want it on days that have temp above a certain threshold and it hasn't watered already the day of, or if there's still feild capacity based on my rain gague (next bullet) I have a hydreon rain gage through an iolinc and have it "pause" the rainmachine for 48 hours if enough rain fell. Arguably the rainmachine figures this out on its own, but if I get enough rain, I don't want the RM to think about it I dynamically chage the field capacity of my main RM program (# of days between watering). Spring and fall its 3 days between watering, in the summer its 2 days between I have all of my HA events reported through pushover. If a RM program runs or I get enough rain, I want those notifications all together with my other notifications. (The rainmachine does send its own messages) Paul Link to comment
smithlevenson Posted July 4, 2019 Author Share Posted July 4, 2019 UPDATE: I saw Costco has the Rachio 3 on sale for $179. Link to comment
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