How many industries feature products that improve while the price comes down? Not enough, right?
Fortunately for irrigation contractors, system controllers seem to be one area where performance and price are moving in opposite directions as manufacturers take advantage of technology to allow contractors to keep up with the growing number of water use restrictions enacted by various municipalities.
WHERE’S THE REMOTE? One controller trend that has been embraced by a number of manufacturers has been the use of remote controllers. In fact, aggressive product development efforts are making these units more affordable for residential applications now as well as commercial uses.
“The use of remotes is a smaller market right now, but they’re becoming more popular in residential systems because they’re more affordable to install as system upgrades,” observed Jeff Carowitz, marketing manager, Hunter Industries, San Marcos, Calif. “Now the contractor can sell Mrs. Smith a system for $2,000 and for just $250 extra a remote unit can be added that lets her or her husband turn the system on or off from anywhere in the yard.”
The simplified system interface on the remotes allows users to move through various stations simply by pressing one button and then activate a station by pressing one another button.
“These systems have historically been cost prohibitive for residential applications, but now they’ve been scaled down to the size of garage door openers that are much more affordable,” agreed Gary Hilton, product manager, Weather-matic, Dallas, Texas. “While these are easier for homeowners to use, contractors can also use them so they don’t have to have access to the controller in the garage or the house when servicing a system.”
“Remote control functions are only going to become more significant in the future, and contractors should install controllers that can adapt to use remotes eventually even if the remotes won’t be used immediately,” recommended Dirk Lenie, residential/commercial marketing manager for Toro Irrigation, Riverside, Calif.
“I really like the idea of remote control capability, as long as it’s available for systems up to 12 stations,” related Mike Mayberry, owner, Regency Landscape Services, Manchester, Mo. “Some remotes only handle nine stations, so that would be a limiting factor for the systems we install.”
For commercial applications, the remote units need to be able to communicate with valves over greater distances, which requires more sophisticated transmitters and use of radio frequencies. Irrigation manufacturers noted they generally don’t produce such technology, and the cost for a commercial remote control system could easily go as high as $3,000.
| Calculating Irrigation Frequencies |
F = MAD/ETA (0.42/0.13 = 3.23 or every three days) Irrigation scheduling must also take into consideration those days where watering may not be desirable, such as high usage periods during the day or week, prior to mowing, daily periods of high wind, when water is available and special events. Take the daily ET and multiply by seven days to determine the weekly requirements (0.13 x 7 = 0.91 inches). Then divide the answer by three watering days (0.91/3 = 0.30 inches per irrigation). Run time is determined by the irrigation water requirement divided by the application rate times 60 minutes (0.30/1.71 inches x 60 = 10.5 minutes). Two cycles at five or six minutes each works well. This does not include system efficiency. Reprinted from The Complete Irrigation Workbook by Larry Keesen. |
SAFETY SURGE. How often do contractors consider the effects of lightning strikes and various electrical surges on controllers?
Until now, these were issues that were of importance to contractors because of what such power variations could do to a controller, such as leave it burned up and smoking badly, but there wasn’t a great deal that a contractor could do to protect the system. Manufacturers, however, have brought new developments to market and made significant strides with nonvolatile memory so that controllers are better protected against such potential damage.
“One of the big problems we’ve been addressing in the last few years has been the mystery of power surges that would damage controllers,” noted Hilton. “Large surges would cause controllers to lock up completely, and we saw a lot of incidents of this controller failure among all manufacturers’ products in areas like Florida that have a lot of lightning strikes.”
In addition to lightning strikes, Hilton observed that such power surges could be caused when controllers are plugged in to the same outlets as pumps for swimming pools, electric garage door openers or other electronically operated home devices.
“This is an issue that a lot of contractors don’t know much about, but manufacturers are working to raise the level of reliability in the controller’s microprocessors to a whole new level,” Hilton commented.
“Nonvolatile memory is offered in a lot more controllers now,” agreed Carowitz. “In addition to protecting the controller, it means that the controller retains its program after a power outage even without a battery or power source so the contractor doesn’t have to reprogram it.
“If a controller doesn’t have nonvolatile memory, the contractor has to rely on a battery to keep the program stored, but if the battery is dead, then the controller will revert to its default program, and that won’t meet the needs of the particular landscape it is irrigating,” Carowitz continued, adding that nonvolatile memory generally adds about $50 to the price of a controller. “And the contractor may not know that the schedule changed until plants start dying.”
STAYING FLEXIBLE. In the end, however, it’s still water management issues that drive controller development.
“Some municipalities are proposing watering programs that no controller on earth could operate with odd/even scheduling and then throwing in a blackout day on top of that,” noted Hilton. “We’re making changes to keep pace with the radical concepts for water conservation mandated by the agencies.”
“Contractors should look for a controller with advanced features that do more than just turn the system on and off,” Carowitz recommended. “As time passes, systems will have to do more to conserve water with features like multiple cycles, cycle and soak and odd/even programming.”
Manufacturers were in agreement that contractors should try to anticipate a system’s needs a few years down the road when installing a controller.
“There are also a lot of ‘phase-type’ projects being installed that go in over a couple of years, so the controllers have to adapt to handling more stations, which is where modular systems could be valuable, but the controller also has to be able to handle the watering restrictions that may be in place when the system is complete,” Hilton remarked.
At the same time, efforts are also being focused on making controllers easier for contractors and homeowners to work with.
“What we’re trying to do is help out the contractor by minimizing costly callbacks for programming assistance,” noted Mario Larach, product manager, controllers, Rain Bird, Azusa, Calif.
“I think some of the dial-type controllers are more difficult for the homeowner to program because these controllers require people to remember the increments of programming, such as the days and times for the system to operate,” added Mayberry. “People get intimidated by the dial and having to click around to see what the settings are. The controllers with the electronic displays eliminate the problem.”
“I’m a fan of the user-friendly digital controllers that make it easy for any homeowner to set the clock,” agreed David Coleman, owner, Coleman Lawn Care, Twin City, Ga. “If the controller is too complicated, then the homeowner is just going to make mistakes.”
| Internet Irrigation? |
Computerized central control systems for irrigation applications are enough, at least in theory, to make contractors smile wistfully as they think of the possibilities. After all, imagine being able to manage all of your irrigation systems and even update the program without ever having to leave your desk? What could be better? How about not having to update the program at all because the system does so itself automatically? Obviously, although such a system would have tremendous timesavings value to contractors, it is little more than a dream right now. But how long will that be the case? “I’m guessing that remote control applications will continue to expand for manual operations of controllers, but we’ll see more remote troubleshooting of controllers done over the Internet,” predicted Dirk Lenie, residential/commercial marketing manager, Toro Irrigation, Riverside, Calif. “We’ll eventually see wall controllers go away and there will be more PC-based irrigation as part of a complete home management system.” Such systems, when combined with Internet technology and weather sensors, could have even great applications. “Evapotranspiration information could then be downloaded from the Internet and automatically adjust the irrigation system,” added Lenie, noting that contractors may also one day see more wireless systems where their computers communicate directly to controllers attached to valves. “We’re at the point as an industry where we have to catch up with technology and take advantage of a lot of the benefits that we can offer for residential and commercial applications,” added Mario Larach, product manager, controllers, Rain Bird, Azusa, Calif., who envisioned a controller that could communicate specific system problems to a contractor before the contractor headed out to the jobsite. “I think the big question is whether such developments will be ET-driven or weather sensor-driven,” Lenie commented. Regardless, water management demands are sure to drive manufacturers to take advantage of the available technology in entirely new fashions. |
The author is Editor of Lawn & Landscape magazine.
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