Rachio 3 Smart Sprinkler Controller

After nearly four years of use, here are my observations. Things I love about my Rachio watering system: 1. Ease of watering. You can turn on your sprinkler via your phone no matter where you are. Very nice when you are on the go. They will have you enter some basic information on your yard and each zone and you can use their suggested interval schedule, or you can set your own schedule. 2. Pairs with the Tempest Weather system to provide real time weather data to your Rachio system. This allows bypassing watering when rain hits a certain level and during higher winds. I do love my Tempest system for all the data you get. I was an early adopter and have been very pleased with this. 3. Ease of installation. This is really easy to set up. My mother could almost set this up. Well, maybe not. But it is easy. Really, you can have this up and running in just a few minutes if you are replacing an existing system. Things I dislike about this system: 1. Using the Rachio schedule will most likely kill most things in your yard. I live in Texas. We sometimes get up to 110 degrees, and the ground dries out quickly. The standard variable schedule, at the most frequently run schedule, will not run any more than once a week, and as infrequently as once a month during the winter. That may work if you live in the more temperate zones of California, especially in Silicon Valley where this company is based, but that doesn't really work in Texas. 2. Weather Skip reduces watering. I know I stated that I liked the fact that it paired with my Tempest weather station; however, if you have high winds, rain, or even forecasted rain, it skips that prescheduled watering. It doesn't reschedule your interval, it skips it ENTIRELY. If you are down to watering once every 3 or 4 weeks, you now don't get water for a month and a half or two months. If the weather is repeatedly over 100 degrees and the schedule is down to every 7 days, and you hit wind, you now have to wait two weeks until your flowers get water. 3. Upsell for other products. Rachio constantly tries to upsell you on other devices. Timed hose water dispensers, sprinkler heads, root quenchers. They are adding all the time, and you know it. I did try their sprinkler heads, but they dispensed so little water, that they were ineffective in "watering" anything. 4. New subscription patches! I guess Rachio has heard other complaints about items #1 and 2 above, because now they have announced that they understand that you can't simply skip a watering interval entirely, they now have a fix. If you are experiencing 100-degree summer days, and you have a windy day on your watering day, for only $30/year, they will shift your watering day to the next day. No. This is a software patch. It should come free with the product. 5. Rachio's main objective is to save water. If you look at Rachio's website and read the "About Us" page, they pride themselves on the fact that they want to save water. They don't say they want to provide beautiful yards, they want to reduce as much water usage as they can. If you want a green yard, don't use their program. Did I mention that I live in Texas where we have heat and we need water if you have anything in your yard short of rocks and mesquite bushes? To recap, I love the convenience, but this is not designed to give you a beautiful yard. If you buy this, and you live in a warm climate, do yourself a favor and program your own schedule. Rachio, if you are reading this, please take the actual weather and climate into account and give us more interval options as part of the product offering, and not at an additional subscription cost.