Wireless irrigation technology and devices are here to stay, there\u2019s little doubt about that. Smart controllers that receive weather data wirelessly have been around for years. We have wireless rain, soil moisture and sun sensors, and more recently, wireless flow sensors have been added. Wireless, battery-powered valves appeared in the last couple of years. Both homeowners and caretakers of commercial irrigation sites have become accustomed to using their smartphones to change settings and receive alerts from controllers even when thousands of miles away.<\/p>\n
Because of the challenges still facing the industry with COVID-19 and labor issues, it\u2019s looking more and more as if this will be the year that wireless irrigation technology really takes off.<\/p>\n
The year 2020 was not normal in any way, with the pandemic affecting virtually every person and business on Earth. Contact-free communications, delivery and control became not merely matters of convenience, but imperatives. All of this has served to push the wireless irrigation revolution forward.<\/p>\n
John Crossley, product group manager, residential and commercial irrigation and lighting at The Toro Company\u2019s irrigation division, Riverside, California, sees that as a silver lining.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis horrible situation we\u2019re in is going to slowly push people into using wireless,\u201d Crossley says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you can get all your diagnostics without physically going to a controller that\u2019s been touched by other people who may not have washed their hands, that\u2019s a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The intensity of the past year accelerated people\u2019s needs for more wireless technologies, just like how Zoom and other videoconferencing tools became a part of daily life, says Joe Porazzo, senior product manager of controllers and connected devices at Rain Bird, Azusa, California. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen significant growth in our remote customer usage, either for our Wi-Fi or our cellular-connected products. These connected devices are becoming more commonplace as a result of what\u2019s happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ongoing green industry labor shortage is another log adding fuel to this fire. Wireless technologies have made it easier to manage properties from a distance, meaning fewer field personnel are needed.<\/p>\n
Wireless technology is definitely becoming more popular, especially in the realm of large, highend central control systems, says Steven Sadler, assistant service manager at Nature Unlimited Irrigation and Lighting Solutions, Finksburg, Maryland.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a large number of commercial clients, and it\u2019s practically become a requirement to have something that can control the valves remotely, where we don\u2019t have to physically be in front of the controller 100% of the time or need to run back and forth across a large job site.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s easy to see the benefit of wireless technology for an irrigation contractor, and homeowners are becoming more savvy with it as well, says Porazzo.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a pretty even split between the contractors and the end users requesting these technologies,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing homeowners also asking for more tools that will make their everyday lives more convenient. It could be as basic as having a connected controller or as complex as having more advanced weather-based data programming.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wireless irrigation devices allow for greater efficiency in time management, especially surrounding transit time, says Porazzo. Traveling from site to site takes up a good deal of crew time, and wireless technology can reduce fuel and labor costs there. More contractors are realizing that, accelerating the demand for wireless. \u201cNow we\u2019re seeing contractors that had previously shied away from these technologies, whether they were uncomfortable with them or just didn\u2019t see their value \u2014 they\u2019re starting to see it now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sadler says, \u201cAnytime a system can be smart enough to shut itself down when there\u2019s a problem and give us awareness when there\u2019s a problem, that\u2019s obviously a big time and money saver. If we know that there\u2019s an overflow and it\u2019s not just on one specific zone, then we can identify it as a mainline break. That helps us decrease the time spent looking for the leak and saves hours and hours of labor and gallons and gallons of water.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ben Sacks, product manager for intermediate commercial controllers at Hunter Industries, San Marcos, California, says, \u201cNow you can literally pull up an app, look at the history and troubleshoot from there. There\u2019s a lot of time, money and labor savings in being able to manage multiple controllers and systems remotely.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s important to have a good read of what\u2019s happening with a client\u2019s flow rates, which is an area where wireless flow sensing devices can be helpful.<\/p>\n
Sadler\u2019s company is responsible for a large number of commercial and municipal clients including dozens of systems within the Maryland Department of Motor Vehicles. Wireless flow sensing has become vital to maintaining those systems. \u201cWe\u2019ve been alerted to major overflows by the wireless flow sensors,\u201d says Sadler. \u201cIt\u2019s happened a number of times.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sacks, who used to work in sales, says he assisted with contractors who got yelled at when property managers ran across swamps created by a pipe break or other system malfunction. \u201cNow a contractor can have the ability to catch it when it happens. They can be proactive rather than reactive when a problem occurs, which does a lot for client satisfaction.<\/p>\n
It builds trust on the part of the client, and for a contractor trust is pretty much everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sadler can attest to that. \u201cA lot of those commercial sites are high-traffic areas where a lot of money has been invested in the landscape. Limiting problems on those sites for those clients is key to our relationship with their owners or managers. Wireless has definitely made that a lot easier.\u201d<\/p>\n
For commercial or municipal settings, adding flow sensors isn\u2019t too difficult to work in as an additional cost. But historically, flow sensing has been too expensive for residential users, says Porazzo.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, the costs are starting to come down to where they make sense for a homeowner,\u201d he says. \u201cI would argue that flow sensing is just as important if not more so in the big picture than having a connected product.\u201d<\/p>\n
Every contractor has dealt with situations where existing hardscape hampers installation. \u201cCosts skyrocket, especially with big commercial systems with a lot of obstacles in the way,\u201d says Sacks. \u201cThen there are all the things that adversely affect wires, from ground squirrels to tree roots. There are all sorts of factors that we could improve upon or eliminate if we had a fully wireless solution.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s important to remember that battery life is a consideration with any wireless irrigation technology installation. Sacks says it\u2019s an obstacle as solid as any cement barrier. \u201cEveryone thinks wireless is super easy \u2014 you just put it in the ground and forget about it,\u201d says Sacks. \u201cBut batteries are finite. It\u2019s hard to estimate how long a battery will last in a generic irrigation installation, because it depends on how often the system starts up and the operating conditions. If a battery is in a valve box that\u2019s soaked in water all day, every day, how is that going to affect its life span?\u201d A lot still needs to be sorted out before battery power becomes a better option than copper wire, says Sacks. \u201cThat\u2019s where harvesting solar energy and using inline water-propelled turbines as generators would come into play as a means of recharging those batteries.\u201d<\/p>\n
With anything new comes the need to know how to use it. Implementing these wireless technologies means placing a greater emphasis on training. It\u2019s been that way for the company Sadler works for. \u201cWe\u2019ve had to increase our technicians\u2019 knowledge about how to run these wireless systems and manage the controllers,\u201d says Sadler.<\/p>\n
Whenever new products are unveiled, manufacturers are brought in to give inhouse tutorials, says Sadler. \u201cThe people that are going to be using and installing those new products in the field are sitting in those meetings. The makers make it relatively easy to understand these devices.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crossley says that standardizing one or two brands within the irrigation professional\u2019s company makes training much easier and gives added leverage with suppliers. \u201cIf someone reaches out to us and says, \u2018I\u2019m a contractor, I want to standardize with your products, I need help training my team,\u2019 we\u2019ll hop to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crossley says that there is another aspect of the wireless revolution that is just as important as a wireless flow sensor or a smart controller. \u201cThe biggest trend we\u2019ve seen on the residential side is with the advent of not just Wi-Fi-based communications but cloud-based data storage. The software is becoming more of the product than the hardware hanging in somebody\u2019s garage. Cloud infrastructure is being built into smart homes, whether it be through more of a Zigbee or Z-Wave standard with home automation, like an Amazon Alexa protocol, Apple HomeKit or Google Home. All of that full smart home integration is in the cards now.\u201d<\/p>\n
One thing is for sure: Irrigation manufacturers, large and small, will keep working on the dual problems of broadening the range and robustness of wireless signals and elongating battery life.<\/p>\n
Wireless technology will keep innovating to make the troubleshooting process easier for irrigation contractors, commercial property managers and homeowners alike.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s exciting to think about what the future might bring \u2014 and don\u2019t we all need something to look forward to right now?<\/p>\n
Wireless technology helps irrigation professionals dealing with labor shortages and social distancing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":3334,"parent":0,"template":"","main-categories":[27,36],"class_list":["post-3333","features","type-features","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","main-categories-irrigation","main-categories-technology"],"yoast_head":"\n