The recent lack of rain and my fried lawn has pushed me over the edge, and I'm seriously considering an irrigation system.
I don't have the time, patience, or knowledge to install myself, so I'll be looking to hire a local installer.
I know most stock systems allow me to schedule different zones for different times, include rains sensors to avoid watering when it's raining, etc...
However, I'd like to tie it into my home automation system system if there are any clear benefits.
People that automate their irrigation - what advantages are there? What products do you use?
Since my ligthing is all Insteon, I've looked at this unit:
http://www.smarthome.com/31270.html
However, I'm not sure what the advantage of an Insteon controller would be. Why purchase this over another irrigation controller, something that might be controlled via a serial port? Especially since I'm moving towards CQC for my main home automation interface.
Also, is there anything specific I should have my irrigation installer do in preparation for my home automation (that could save me time)? Or should I just let him do his thing, and worry about tying it in to my system later?
Sorry for the dopey questions, but I've never owned an irrigation system, so I'm fairly ignorant on this topic.
I don't have the time, patience, or knowledge to install myself, so I'll be looking to hire a local installer.
I know most stock systems allow me to schedule different zones for different times, include rains sensors to avoid watering when it's raining, etc...
However, I'd like to tie it into my home automation system system if there are any clear benefits.
People that automate their irrigation - what advantages are there? What products do you use?
Since my ligthing is all Insteon, I've looked at this unit:
http://www.smarthome.com/31270.html
However, I'm not sure what the advantage of an Insteon controller would be. Why purchase this over another irrigation controller, something that might be controlled via a serial port? Especially since I'm moving towards CQC for my main home automation interface.
Also, is there anything specific I should have my irrigation installer do in preparation for my home automation (that could save me time)? Or should I just let him do his thing, and worry about tying it in to my system later?
Sorry for the dopey questions, but I've never owned an irrigation system, so I'm fairly ignorant on this topic.