1-Day Offer - Santa Margarita Water District + Home Depot

1-Day Offer for SMWD Customers at Home Depot

Rachio is working with the Santa Margarita Water District and Home Depot to increase water conservation in the Mission Viejo area. Santa Margarita Water District customers are eligible for a $195 rebate, and the Mission Viejo Home Depot is putting Rachio controllers on sale for $195 for 1 day only. This combination makes a Rachio Smart Sprinkler Controller free (except sales tax) when purchased from the Mission Viejo Home Depot on Saturday April 30th only.

Come down to the Mission Viejo Home Depot this Saturday to grab your Rachio controller and representatives from SMWD will help you fill out the rebate form on the spot. A few folks from the Rachio team will be there as well to help answer any questions, so come say hello.

See you Saturday!!

Using Greywater for Your Sprinkler System

You may not realize it, but greywater is one of your household’s most valuable resources. However, in most homes it’s sent into the sewage system where it immediately becomes useless—even dangerous—for both humans and the environment. From there, it undergoes expensive and energy-intensive treatment at a sewage plant. That’s unfortunate as Americans use 80 to 100 gallons of fresh water per person each day, or nearly 4,000 gallons per person every year - much of which becomes greywater.

Fortunately, you can solve the problem by recycling greywater for your own needs. Doing so saves money and waste, especially when you use greywater for irrigation.

What Is a Greywater System?

Greywater is any water that’s been used in your home without coming into contact with human waste. Showers, laundry machines and bathroom sinks are typical sources of greywater. Water from a kitchen sink often contains high levels of food and other organic matter, so its runoff is often labeled “dark greywater” or even “blackwater” by many local regulations, though it’s considered appropriate for greywater systems by many experts.

Because it’s filled with biomaterials and certain plant-safe household chemicals, greywater can be a fantastic source of fertilizer for plants. While those nutrients would harm the environment (and technically become pollution) if released directly into an ecosystem, they’re a feast for your landscape plants.

How Does a Greywater System Work?

A greywater system is broken down into three main stages: collection, storage and use. At its simplest, you can set up a greywater system by saving your bathwater in buckets and then using it to water your plants. Similar principles work for rudimentary greywater systems that divert laundry machine runoff into a barrel, where it’s stored temporarily before exiting via a hose or bucket into the backyard.

However, nobody expects you to get excited about a lifetime of hauling water buckets around, so most greywater systems rely on simple, tried-and-true plumbing technology to keep everything running safely, smoothly and automatically.

Using a Greywater System for Irrigation

One of the easiest ways to recycle your greywater is to use it for irrigation. Even better, setting up greywater irrigation is relatively simple, and should require very little maintenance if it’s done correctly.

One of the most common types of greywater irrigation systems uses a three-way valve to connect your laundry machine to existing irrigation pipes. Simply turn the valve to send your greywater into the irrigation system, then turn it back to send greywater into the sewer system when it’s not required. This type of system is an especially good fit for our smart sprinkler controllers, since they help ensure you're being as efficient as you can be with your water. Runoff from all the greywater sources in your house can also be added into the system with a bit of additional plumbing.

If you’re planning a greywater irrigation system, there are three points to keep in mind:

Plant suitability: Greywater is typically alkaline, so it’s not always a good fit for plants that prefer acidic conditions, like lily of the valleys or pine shrubs. Additionally, greywater may not provide all of the nutrients present in your local soils, so some plant species will require supplemental fertilizers.

Water management: Greywater should never be stored for more than 24 hours to avoid nutrient decomposition and bacterial overgrowth. Accordingly, you’ll need to find a solution for those times when you produce more greywater than you require for irrigation. Fortunately, a smart sprinkler controller can handle the excess for you.

Water usage: To keep your family and landscape plants safe, greywater should never contain human waste (including runoff from rinsing diapers), chlorine bleach or harsh detergents to prevent dangerous bacteria and salt levels in the soil.

While there’s no limit to how complicated and high-tech greywater systems can be, a simple three-way valve, a smart sprinkler controller and a bit of plumbing is usually all that’s required to start irrigating with greywater. Once you realize you’ll save money and conserve water while reducing your environmental footprint, the math does itself!

Want to learn more? Visit our sources below.

Sources:
http://oasisdesign.net/greywater/
http://greywateraction.org/contentabout-greywater-reuse/
http://www.treehugger.com/green-home/how-reuse-grey-water-home-and-yard.html
http://www.doh.wa.gov/CommunityandEnvironment/WastewaterManagement/GreywaterReuse/PlantIrrigation
http://water.usgs.gov/edu/qa-home-percapita.html
http://www.almanac.com/content/ph-preferences

Introducing Our Generation 2 Smart Sprinkler Controller

We’re excited to launch the Rachio Smart Sprinkler Controller, Generation 2. Rachio already makes running your sprinklers easy and convenient while saving you water and money. Generation 2 makes it even easier and more affordable. Plus, Rachio now directly integrates with Amazon Echo and Alexa.

Our Generation 1 controller is currently the highest rated and reviewed smart sprinkler controller on the market. It accesses the latest local weather patterns through your Wi-Fi, and automatically optimizes a watering schedule to the specific needs of your yard. The only smart controller that’s both EPA WaterSense certified and SWAT tested, the Generation 1 controller can save users over 50% of their outdoor water use. Plus, the mobile app gives you access to your sprinkler system from anywhere.

This newest version improves on the Generation 1 controller by incorporating customer feedback from our tens of thousands of users. Highlights include:

• Smaller, easier-to-install design. It takes up less space on your wall while allowing more space for wiring in the controller.
• Easier Wi-Fi setup. Simpler connection process that no longer requires the ‘blinkup’ protocol.
• Run zones directly from the controller. Manual access on the box for local control for you or your landscape professional, and LED lights that give a visual indication of what’s happening.
• Additional sensor ports. You can now connect rain and freeze sensors for additional data while we provide a flow sensor connection for future functionality.
• Easier diagnostics and troubleshooting. Auto-detect wiring will automatically detect when wiring for zones is connected to the controller for better diagnostics and troubleshooting. (Coming soon)
• New custom outdoor enclosure option. Custom-designed weatherproof enclosure that protects your controller in all weather situations. Hardwire option included.

New Amazon Echo Integration

We are also announcing our direct integration with Amazon’s Alexa cloud-based voice service to allow for weather delay and zone control commands, simply by using their voice. This is the first direct integration of a smart sprinkler with Alexa and complements our partnership with Amazon’s IoT platform for simple and secure integration with the Alexa platform.

This adds to our list of connected home integrations including Nest, Xfinity, IFTTT, Nexia, Control4, iControl and more. It’s also compatible with our Generation 1 Smart Sprinkler Controller and demonstrates our continued dedication and upgrades for our current Rachio customers.

Available Today for only $249.99

The Rachio Smart Sprinkler Controller, Generation 2 is now available for only $249.99 and available today on rachio.com as well as Amazon and at Home Depot.

The customer outdoor enclosure for the Generation 2 is also available for only $29.99 on Rachio.com and Amazon.

Buy Now

Interested in learning more about why we created a Generation 2, check out our community post by CTO Franz Garsombke.

Home Automation for the Holidays

Bing Crosby sings about a happy holiday season with white snow falling and people happily shopping for presents, but the truth is when it begins to look a lot like Christmas stress levels can hit an all time high. Shopping, decorating, preparing for family visits, cooking, cleaning; the list seems to go on and on. In order to remove some items from your to-do list this season we put together a list of 7 holiday IFTTT (“if this then that”) recipes that let home automation do some of the work for you this year.

Set up these 7 holiday recipes, pour yourself a glass of eggnog, relax by the fire and let your smart home do the work this season. Maybe, just maybe, this year will feel a bit more like those Bing Crosby songs.

1. Turn on your holiday lights at sunset
Don’t worry about having to turn on your holiday lights every evening - now you can come home to a lit up house every evening.

2. Turn off your holiday lights at 1am
Save some energy and head to bed knowing your holiday lights will turn off for you every night.

3. Keep your inflatable decorations from flying away
When the wind goes above 10 mph this recipe will turn off your inflatable decorations to keep them from turning into balloons.

4. Celebrate Christmas day with Red & Green Lights
Make sure everyone knows it’s Christmas day by automatically turning your hue lights red and green.

5. Get in the holiday spirit with a festive phone wallpaper
On Christmas Day let everyone know you’re in the holiday spirit with a Christmas wallpaper on your phone.

6. Make sure your tree lights are turned off when you leave
Every time you leave the house this recipe will ensure that the lights on your tree have been turned off.

7. Wish a Merry Christmas to all your friends
Be the first of your friends to post a holiday message to your Facebook page with this recipe.

How To Water Your Christmas Tree (aka, don’t make your tree experience a drought)

Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, or so a song has told me. And nothing says Christmas like a beautifully decorated tree. When I was a youngster my family believed in using a fake tree. It was a sad little tree, relegated to spending most of its life folded up in a box. Then a Christmas miracle occurred one year, my Dad decided no more, and he bought a live tree. This truly was a seminal moment of my childhood.

Of course, with a live tree comes some steps for preservation. If not followed, your tree will begin to resemble something out of a Charlie Brown Christmas Special. What is the magical tree elixir from the Gods? It is quite simple: clean water. If you do this, a well cared for tree should last for 3-4 weeks.

Here are just a few Christmas tree Do’s and Dont’s for any non-Scrooge to follow.

Do

Cut the tree down yourself if possible.

Not only will channeling your inner Paul Bunyan impress your wife and kids, you will know when it was cut, and how it looked when cut.

Use a tree stand with a water basin.

The rule of thumb is that a tree needs 1 quart of water per inch of stem. Therefore, a 4-inch stem needs to be in a gallon of water. Less than that, and you run the risk of the tree running out of water. This could make the tree unhappy, which might result in your tree taking itself and your presents over to the Jones's house. They have a top of the line tree stand with a 1-gallon water basin.

Put your tree into water within 6-8 hours of cutting.

After you keep up with the Jones and get that deluxe water basin, it’s imperative that the tree is placed into it within 8 hours. Once cut, the sap at the tree base will start to crystalize and make it impossible for the tree to take up water, which happens after about 8 hours.

Ensure your tree has water at all times.

When you wake up after having a few eggnog drinks at your office party you’re probably a little parched. A tree is no different, except for maybe the eggnog it needs to quench its thirst. Remember a Christmas tree is just as important to the season as Santa, so make sure your green friend has plenty to drink.

Recut the base if not freshly cut within the past 12 hours.

If you weren’t the one who cut the tree down make sure you ask Mearl at the lot when it was cut. If Mearl can’t remember, or you do not speak lumberjack, then cutting a 1/4” section from the base perpendicular to the trunk - no diagonal cuts - will allow the tree to absorb water again.

Keep your tree away from heat sources.

Nothing says Christmas cheer like a five-alarm fire at your house. But seriously, heat will dry out your tree, so keep it a safe distance from the fireplace.

Don't

Don’t drill a hole into the base of your tree.

This is often referred to as the IV method. Don’t try to further evolution. Trees have got the water intake process down. This doesn't help your tree.

Don’t spray your tree with antitranspirants.

Antitranspirants are just like antiperspirants, they attempt to prevent water loss. A plant can lose moisture just as fast as Santa when he is under all of those bright lights in the mall. However, they don't work on cut trees and they can make the leaves dry out faster.

Don’t add water-holding gels to your water basin.

Once again clean water is important. Not water that contains some strange gel made from who knows what, and who knows where. You don’t want your tree to sprout a second trunk because of the chemicals in the gel. Next thing you know the tree is alive and talking about moving in with your family once the holiday is over.

Don’t spray flame retardants on your tree.

In an ironic twist of fate that no one saw coming, flame retardants dry your tree out, making it a greater fire hazard.

Don’t whittle the sides of the trunk to make it fit.

The sides of the tree are the most efficient water uptake areas of a tree base. Would you like it if someone tried to whittle you down so you could fit into that ugly Christmas sweater?

Don't worry about the temperature of the water in the base.

I get it. No one wants to spend all day with their feet in cold water. I assure you 100% that your Christmas tree will not care about the temperature of the water. The only thing your tree will be concerned with is the simple fact that there is water.

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.