Total Landscape Care Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/183921
irrigation healthy landscape with less water use." More advanced smart controllers provide increasingly sophisticated features. For example, some allow users to split the duration of a zone's watering period into smaller units to prevent wasteful water runoff on a slope. Others employ a sensor that notifies the controller to shut down a particular zone that's flowing more than it should, perhaps because of a broken valve. Many timer models allow consumers to add wireless devices that morph them into smart controllers. "But they're only as smart as the installer," warns Craig Borland, senior customer-resource specialist, Toro. "Proper placement and programming is critical." Smart controllers are a pretty easy up-sell, adds John Wascher, product manager for residential controllers, Hunter Industries. "If you have a controller that senses a malfunction and shuts down water flow, it saves you a considerable amount of money on water and electricity, if you rely on a pump," Wascher says. In short, landscapers can choose from a variety of options. Here's a look at some of the more popular models from Hunter Industries, Rain Bird and Toro. Hunter: PRO-C Basic unit accommodates three stations, but it's expandable by three stations at a time for up to 15 total stations, making it most suitable for residential applications. • Three independent programs; four start times per program • Rain-sensor bypass, which overrides a weather-sensor signal when needed • Programmable rain delay • Non-water-days function allows suspension of irrigation on specific days, regardless of program interval schedules • Seasonal-adjust feature that changes irrigation 4 6 To ta l L a n d s cap eCare.c om TLC1013_Irrigation.indd 46 run-times according to weather conditions (only available with addition of Solar Sync ET smart- controller weather-sensor system) Rain Bird: ESP-Me This four-station, professional-grade unit expands in increments of three or six stations at a time, up to 22 stations in all, which makes it suitable for residential and light-commercial applications. The ESP stands for Extra Simple Programming, which helps minimize time spent on installation training. • Delay watering; postpone watering for up to 14 days • A seasonal-adjust feature that can be applied to all programs or individual programs to increase watering up to 200 percent or decrease it as little as 5 percent of scheduled program times • Rain-sensor bypass ensures areas covered by things such as large trees or eaves stil get watered • Cycle and Soak function, which can break loner- watering periods into smaller increments, to allow water to soak down Toro: TMC 212 Series This twostation unit is expandable in increments of two stations at a time, up to a total of 12, which makes it suitable for a variety of residential applications. • Three independent programs • Up to four start times per program o c t o b e r 2 013 9/25/13 2:05 PM