If you’re tired of checking the weather and manually adjusting your in-ground irrigation system, it’s time to get a smart sprinkler controller. These gadgets come with an impressive array of benefits, like automatically adapting to the season so that you never over or under water your lawn.
There are a variety of sprinkler controllers to choose from, so picking one can be confusing. This article will take a deep dive into the Imolaza, covering both the benefits and drawbacks.
Imolaza Smart Sprinkler Controller At a Glance
Pros
- Get real-time weather forecast data
- Customize water schedules for up to eight zones
- Tailor schedules based on plant and soil type, sun exposure, and more
- Use the Imolaza app to control the sprinkler from anywhere
- Install in 30 minutes or less
- Pay zero subscription fees
Cons
- Must purchase outdoor protective box separately
- No voice control, though that’s currently being developed
About the Imolaza Smart Sprinkler Controller
The Imolaza Smart Sprinkler Controller allows you to easily control your sprinkler, whether from the device itself or on the mobile app. The app is available for iPhone via the App Store, or Android via the Google Play Store. You can choose between four and eight-zone systems, depending on your lawn. You don’t have to use all the zones – for example, you can set up just five zones on your eight-zone system – whatever works for your unique landscape.
With this sprinkler controller, you can set up watering schedules for each zone, opt into smart scheduling, adjust the schedules based on weather, and more. The app and sprinkler controller connect to wifi, allowing you to easily adjust your settings from anywhere. Once you choose your settings, they’re automatically stored on the sprinkler controller device. So, even if your phone or the device loses connection to wifi, it will still run as intended.
The sprinkler controller is made for indoor use, such as inside your home or garden shed. You may also opt to purchase a protective, waterproof enclosure in which you can keep the controller if you want to use it outside. While that is an extra cost, it’s standard across most brands that you purchase the protective box separately.
App
The most exciting aspect of the Imolaza sprinkler controller is the app. It’s super user-friendly – quickly add and edit zones, start or stop a sprinkler, and more. You can get as detailed as you want within the zones. You can update the:
- Name
- Photo
- Type of area (planter, trees, etc)
- Plant type
- Sprinkler type
- Soil type
- Sunlight
- Slope
- Size of the area
- Allowed depletion
While that is a standard level of detail, you can go even deeper with the advanced settings. Here, you can include root depth, crop coefficient percentages, sprinkler application rate, efficiency percentage, and available water in the soil. These settings allow you to take complete control over your lawn so that you can ensure the healthiest plants and grass.
The app also sends you notifications, as long as you opt into them. It will let you know when a zone has been watered and if any zones were adjusted manually. It also lets you know if anything goes wrong – for example, if a zone wasn’t watered because of a weather change.
Watering
Of course, the main reason you get a sprinkler controller is to control the watering of each zone. Imolaza makes this very easy – just open the app and click on “Schedule” at the bottom of the main screen. Here, you can set various yard schedules. For example, you might have zones one, two, and three set to water each day at 11:00 a.m. Meanwhile, you can set zones four and five to start watering at 10:00 p.m. daily. This is a key feature since some sprinkler controllers don’t allow you to run multiple zones at the same time.
On the yard schedule page, you can also set a variety of details, including:
- Name
- Interval
- Zone(s)
- Irrigation time
- Duration
- Start/end dates
- Soak settings
- Weather intelligence
- Smart schedule
One of the best features is weather intelligence – the app automatically searches your local weather forecast. In the weather intelligence setting, you can tell the sprinkler controller to skip watering when there’s rain, a freeze, or wind in the forecast. Plus, with smart schedule, you can allow the controller to decide whether or not it needs to change the watering schedule based on a variety of factors.
Another great feature is the soak setting. You can set the system to smart soak, creating a slight delay between waterings to allow the water to sink down before the next watering. Ultimately, all of these features ensure that you never under or overwater your lawn and plants.
Installation
Just about anyone can install the Imolaza Smart Sprinkler Controller – even without prior experience. When you first open the box, you’ll find a mounting template that shows you exactly where to drill holes into your wall to mount the controller.
Then, you simply open the controller and connect the wires from your existing system to the controller. You’ll find directions on how to install the wires based on your existing system in the guidebook. You can level the wires using the included label stickers. Plug the controller into a power source, and you’re ready to go.
The Final Verdict
The Imolaza Smart Sprinkler Controller is effective, intuitive, and budget-friendly. The Imolaza delivers all the tools you could need in the app. Adjust your watering zones, stop or start a watering session, opt into smart scheduling, and more – all in one easy-to-use interface. Plus, you can get a waterproof enclosure to use the device outside.
The team behind Imolaza is always working on improving and upgrading the product, as well. For example, they’re currently working on developing voice control for the sprinkler controller.
Ultimately, the Imolaza delivers in every area – it makes managing your lawn and plant care easy. Work smarter, not harder by using the Imolaza Smart Sprinkler Controller.