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Burned $300 on a 'smart' irrigation controller that made my lawn worse
Bought one of those Rachio things last spring because the marketing made it sound like it'd save water and keep everything perfect. Hooked it up myself, set the zones right, all that. By August my grass was half dead and my water bill went up $40 a month. Turns out it was overwatering some spots and skipping others because the weather data it pulls from didn't match my microclimate. Swapped back to a dumb timer from Home Depot for like $40 and everything's fine now. Has anyone else had a supposedly 'smart' gadget totally backfire like this?
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jakeb812mo ago
Wait, so you're telling me the future of home automation is just making your yard look worse but charging you an extra $40 for the privilege? Sounds like my brother-in-law's attempt at a smart grill that undercooked the chicken but sent him a nice notification about it. @brianm66 nailed it though - the basic timer is like a reliable old pickup truck, while these gadgets are those electric cars that look cool but leave you stranded when the software crashes. My neighbor's Rachio once decided to water his driveway at 3 AM during a rainstorm, and the app told him it was "optimizing his lawn's hydration schedule." Sometimes the dumbest solution is actually the smartest one.
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