Scheduling water cycles should be easy and efficient, helping you save both time and money in the long run by using a WiFi timer – therefore, it doesn’t make sense to buy one that is loaded with bugs, a clunky experience, or will fail within a short time of buying it.
We researched and came up with these three WiFi water timers top sellers in the current market, although each has their quirks and points of inefficiency.
Melnor’s Raincloud Smart Water Irrigation Timer came in as the most consistent across the board, with the best integration and balance between app and hardware. If you don’t use iOS, or you need multiple zones from the get-go, it’s your best bet.
For a reasonable budget option, or those looking to get into smartphone-controlled irrigation systems for the first time, this WiFi water timer from Flora will do the trick.
Like the Melnor and Orbit, the Flora can be accessed via an app on either iOS or Android.
Unfortunately, the methods in which the Flora controls irrigation can be a little tricky and less than intuitive.
Rather than being able to schedule a time of day for water to turn on or off, it can only be set in intervals – for example, every 1 hour, 8 hours, 12 hours, 24 hours, and so forth. It requires the user to schedule ahead of time each time rather than inputting a command like “water at 1 pm on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday”.
We feel as if the technology is there to do so, as we have mentioned in the other products above, so this can be a major set back if a full-time functionality is what you are after.