My wife has picked up an annoying habit of sitting on the steps on the front door a few times a day to smoke.
The steps are in front of the lawn and between two flower patches that were irrigated by an old style Rainbird dial controller. It is a small front yard and the sprinklers overspray the steps and the path to the door. The Rainbird was set up with two zones, but I had enough water pressure to make it into one.
Products needed:
[ul][li]Z-Wave 120 VAC 15-Amp Duplex Wall Outlet (any brand)[/li]
[li]Door sensor (any brand)[/li][/ul]
Installed Apps:
[ul][li]Countdown timer[/li]
[li]Wunderground Weather Plugin[/li]
[li]IPhone Detector Plugin[/li]
[li]MultiSwitch[/li]
[li]Program Logic Event Generator (PLC)[/li][/ul]
I have no need for the outdoor controller so I unwired the AC adaptor from the sprinkler controller panel and wired it directly into the valves.
Plug the adaptor into the Z-Wave outlet. (making sure the outlet turned off first)
Now when the power is switched on, the sprinklers are turned on, when the power is switched off, the sprinklers turn off. Simple.
Using the info from the weather plug-in, create as schedule of a watering schedule as detailed as you like.
I have mine set for once a week unless it rains or about to rain.
I also have it set to water on days when it is expected to be 80 degrees.
I use the countdown timer to easily monitor how much time is left when the lawn is being watered. I have a long timer (3 minutes) and a short timer (20 seconds) when I want to nail my wife.
I use the Mulitswitch as a master control panel
I notice that it takes her about 20 seconds after she opens the door for her to get settled in on the steps and she stays outside for about 3-4 minutes, So I randomize the delay between 30 seconds and 2 minutes so she doesn?t make the connection between her opening the door and the sprinklers going off.
Note: I am not proficient enough with Vera to program a random time for the delay, I just go in and change the delay each time I catch her.
I also set another countdown timer so it takes 10 minutes to reset once I catch her otherwise the water will go off again when she goes back into the house.
To assist me in not to getting myself wet, I put in two safeguards.
I have a little used z-wave light switch near the front door. I can discreetly turn on and off the switch every time she accuses me of rigging the sprinklers.
I demonstrated to her more than once that the water goes off when only she goes out of the front door, and not when I go out even though I am not near a computer or iPhone.
Lastly I use the Present/Away feature on the iPhone detector so I don?t accidentally get wet if I forget to turn it off and I go outside the front door when she is not home.
So the PLG looks like: (FRONT-DOOR AND LIGHT-OFF AND WIFE-HOME AND RESET-DONE)
On a final note, I now always bring my cell phone with the Vera App ready whenever I have an unexpected knock on the door. Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons, annoying neighbors, girls selling Girl Scout cookies beware!
