How Rain Sensors work
Rain Sensors are a wonderful tool for many irrigation systems. Most people think that a rain sensor will “sense” that it is rainy and automatically shut off the irrigation system. In actuality a rain sensor will collect water until it has collected enough water and then will shut off the irrigation until the rain sensor dries out. Both the amount needed to initiate the rain sensor and the drying time is adjustable.
Rain Sensor Pros
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- Save you water. Rain Sensors will help you water more efficiently and save water. Conserving water is especially useful with city water.
- Save you time. Rain sensors help busy homeowners that don’t have time to think about their irrigation.
- Save you money. Watering less will usually save money.
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Rain Sensor Cons
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- Rain sensors occasionally need to be serviced. Batteries should be changed once per year and occasionally the rain sensor will stop working and need to be checked.
- Sometimes rain sensors will cause the homeowner to under water unless set perfectly.
- At times you will see that the sprinklers are running while it is raining. The rain sensor will not turn on until enough rain has accumulated and then the next sprinkler cycle will be turned off.
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In summary homeowners that like to monitor their landscapes closely will do better without a rain sensor. For the record I took my rain sensor off of my system at home to water more efficiently but I am always checking my controller.
