10 IFTTT Recipes for Lower Utility Bills

The advent of the connected home has made our lives easier and more efficient. Convenience and ease-of-use aside, these technologies have also changed how we manage resources such as water and energy.

With IFTTT (“if this then that”), the ways in which these devices work with one another and other software applications can be easily specified by the average homeowner. This allows for harmony between these devices, and ultimately, a more efficient home.

Below are 10 IFTTT recipes that lend to a more efficient home, and ultimately, savings on your utility bill!


1. Log your electricity usage
Add the total amount of energy used from a WeMo Plug to a Google Calendar or Google Doc so you can better manage your energy use and find where the biggest opportunities to cut back are.
Required device: WeMo Switch

2. Skip watering if it’s too windy
High winds result in quicker evaporation and water not making down to the plants you’re trying to water. Postpone watering your yard when winds are too high.
Required Device: Rachio Iro

3. Turn a device off after it’s been on for “x” minutes
Forget to turn off that light all the time? Wish you could put it on a timed cycle? Put a time limit on any device’s energy use.
Required Device: WeMo Insight Switch

4. Stop AC from running if it’s cool outside
Weather changing quicker than your thermostat can adjust for? Turn off your Air Conditioning if it’s below a certain temperature outside and let mother nature cool your house for you.
Required Device: Nest Thermostat

5. Turn off the lights when I leave the house
Let this recipe make sure all your lights are off when you leave for the day.
Required Device: WeMo Light Switch

6. When UV index rises above 10, turn off the lights
Let the sunshine in! Let this recipe turn off your lights when the sun is shining bright to save energy and get some vitamin D as a bonus.
Required Device: WeMo Switch

7. Delay watering your garden if it’s going to rain
Make sure any rain at all delays your watering schedules with this recipe.
Required Device: Rachio Iro

8. Cut the AC some slack when it gets too hot
When it’s blazing hot out give your AC a break by adjusting up the target temperature a bit. Even just a degree or two can save a lot of energy.
Required Device: Nest Thermostat

9. Turn off my holiday lights when it reaches 1:00 AM
Set your festive holiday decorations to turn off at 1:00 AM so you don’t waste energy all night long. No confusing nobs or dials required!
Required Device: WeMo Insight Switch

10. Track watering in a Google Spreadsheet
Track every time your sprinklers water in a Google Sheet so you know exactly how often they’ve run and where you might be able to cut back.
Required Device: Rachio Iro

Putting the Smart Sprinkler in the Cloud

When discussing the Rachio smart controller, we often say that we’ve taken the brains of the sprinkler controller and placed them in the cloud. This approach allows us to constantly develop and evolve the controller, with intelligence exceeding commercial offerings costing thousands (or even tens of thousands) of dollars. In addition, this allows our users (you!) to view and manage your device(s) from anywhere in the world.

Software folks like to throw around the term “cloud” pretty loosely, but what does it actually mean? According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology:

Cloud computing is a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.

Ok… how about something a little easier to understand?

...cloud computing means storing and accessing data and programs over the Internet instead of your computer's hard drive (PC Mag).

In other words, the cloud is about remote storage of data versus local storage. A few examples demonstrating this include:

• In real-time, seeing which zones are running, and how much water is being used/saved from your phone or desktop.
• Receiving a notification that a schedule has been skipped versus turning off your controller manually when it rains.
• Switching weather stations on-the-fly via your phone versus installing expensive on-site weather stations or rain gauges.
• Providing your landscaper with shared access to the app versus staying home from work to let them in the garage.

All of this is possible because of the cloud, and we're always looking for ways in which we can develop new features from this functionality.

Rachio at the 2015 CEDIA Expo in Dallas

Rachio will be at the CEDIA 2015 expo, located in Dallas this year.

We will be in booth 8119.

Come see us! We would love to chat.

Rachio Smart Sprinkler Controller Is SWAT Tested

Rachio is proud to announce that the Irrigation Association has completed testing of the Rachio smart sprinkler controller using the Smart Water Application Technology (SWAT) protocol and have released the results. The Rachio controller scored extremely well in the testing.

SWAT is the other major water efficiency program besides the EPA's WaterSense certification.

What's the difference between SWAT and WaterSense? Please see our explanatory article on the differences.

Now that our smart sprinkler controller is SWAT tested, it is available for a wider range of rebates from municipalities. Check with your local water provider to see if your purchase qualifies, or see our list of known SWAT rebate municipalities.

If you have any questions, you can always reach out on the support site.

Rachio Wins the “Vendor To Watch Award” at SWS 2015

Rachio was named Vendor To Watch at the 2015 Smart Water Summit. We are honored!

There were 43 participating smart water technology companies in three award categories: best smart water solution, smart water vendor to watch, and best overall boardroom presentation).

Please see the press release for more information.

The Smart Water Summit is hosted by Smart Grid Summits, and focuses on water municipality issues.

Rachio at WaterSmart Innovations 2015 in Las Vegas

Rachio will be at the WaterSmart Innovations 2015 conference, located in Las Vegas.

We will be at booth 321.

Come see us! We would love to chat.

EPA WaterSense versus SWAT

If you are an irrigation or water nerd like us, you've heard of the two major types of water efficiency programs: WaterSense and SWAT. But what are the differences?

First, a bit of historical context.

SWAT History

SWAT, or Smart Water Application Technologies, an initiative of the Irrigation Association (IA), is a national partnership of water purveyors and irrigation industry representatives that began in 2002. Stakeholders developed SWAT testing protocols to assess and document product performance in order to better promote water-efficient technologies. Testing protocols have been developed for products like weather-based irrigation controllers and rain sensors. Water utilities rely on SWAT testing protocols because they provide credible, independent product testing data that validates the water-saving potential of irrigation technologies. To become SWAT tested, the manufacturer must pay for the testing. When SWAT was created, many municipalities used it as a basis for offering rebates on efficient products.

WaterSense History

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) created WaterSense in 2006 as the water equivalent of EnergyStar, a voluntary program to promote the efficient use of water. WaterSense is also a broader program, as it covers non-irrigation products like toilets and showerheads. Like SWAT, many municipalities offer rebates on water bills for WaterSense certified products.

The Differences

In broad terms, SWAT came first, and WaterSense adopted SWAT's testing protocols with a few minor changes.

• Testing versus certification. A product can be WaterSense certified based upon meeting certain requirements. However, WaterSense does not provide the complete testing results. SWAT, on the other hand, does not provide certification. Instead, SWAT reports performance of products without judgment, releasing results to the public. In other words, WaterSense is a pass/fail certification, while SWAT releases complete testing results for buyers to review themselves. 
• Minimum runtimes. WaterSense added minimum run times so that sprinklers will apply a minimum amount of water that will soak into the soil. 
• Missing data from the reference weather station. Adds requirements to compensate when there is missing weather data. 
• Rainfall requirement. WaterSense added a requirement that there be at least 4 individual days with 0.10 inches or more of gross rainfall. This tests how the controller handles rain. 
• Order of operations in calculating the water balance. Because these programs are for weather-based or evapotranspiration (ET) controllers, calculating when irrigation needs to occur is a major concern. SWAT calculates the water balance in the following order: ET, rainfall, and then irrigation. WaterSense changed the calculation to the following: ET, irrigation, and then rainfall. SWAT’s approach is to maximize the benefit of rainfall first, then add irrigation. 

What does this mean in practice?

The differences between SWAT and WaterSense largely come from the fact that WaterSense was tested in Florida, where it rains regularly. This meant they could not properly test products without removing rainfall largely from the equation, particularly future rainfall. As such, WaterSense controllers do not account for future rain; only how it handles irrigation after a rainfall.

Take the situation where an irrigation schedule is supposed to run at 4pm, but rain is forecasted to occur at 10pm. A controller that irrigated at 4pm would likely pass EPA certification, but receive low scores from SWAT as the controller didn’t account for future rainfall and skip the scheduled irrigation event.

What This Means For You

With competing testing protocols, it can be confusing to know which one to trust. However, here are some guidelines:

• Both programs signal a water efficient product. Because they are based on roughly the same protocols, both programs are excellent. 
• Check with your water provider for available rebates. While saving water by itself is admirable, if you are going to pay for new hardware, make sure to see if you can save money on your purchases as well. 
• Although SWAT came first, WaterSense has overtaken it as the most popular program for testing the validity of manufacturers’ water saving claims. This is likely due to the wider range of products that WaterSense covers, as well as WaterSense being created by the EPA, a well-known government agency. 
• While WaterSense is currently more popular, water municipalities in the west have a higher likelihood of offering rebates based on SWAT.