Finally, a way you can control your sprinklers with your smartphone. It’s also one hundred times easier than running out to the garage, getting into your sprinkler box and having to change the time and make sure it’s AM, not PM, hope it’s still on the right time zone, and that it’s still working on the set days of the week. I don’t know why, but my sprinkler box is so complicated! The Lono Sprinkler Controller lets you control your sprinklers from anywhere with your smartphone saving you all those annoying trips out to the garage.
It also helps you save money by conserving water. For instance, if it’s a rainy day outside, you can tell your sprinklers not to turn on all with the tap of your finger.
We reached out to Lono in American Fork, Utah to find out some of the behind the scenes information. Creative Director, Bryant Robertson, told us the idea for the project came from creator, Andrew Howlett, who had a rather large yard so it had always been a major issue when he wanted to repair a broken sprinkler head or make an adjustment. “If he’s alone, he ends up running to the garage multiple times to turn zones on and off.
We like to call these the ‘sprinkler sprints.’ Andrew put together a small team and we have each added our own ideas. The result is Lono.” I’ve done a few sprinkler sprints myself and it never ends well. Even though I get my recommended dosage of cardio, I usually end up giving up on my lawn.
Backyard Sleepover? Put the pause on your sprinklers
Just a few of the functions and benefits this app is able to provide versus a regular garage sprinkler box set up is snooze, easy scheduling, and water savings. Bryant from Lono tell us, “What really sets us apart is the software and user experience. Our controller box is basically a Wifi and Bluetooth station that controls your sprinkler valves. Most of the smarts happen in the app on your phone.
The app auto-schedules your watering, adjusts for long and short term weather changes, and allows you to easily and remotely make incremental tweaks to your watering levels. These are all missing from mainstream sprinkler controllers today.” Plus, how many folks do you know that can control their sprinklers with an iPhone? One stellar feature on both the smartphone app and the Lono hardware is the snooze. It allows you to pause or delay watering for a day in case you want to have a sleepover in the backyard or if it happens to rain that day. After 24 hours, Lono will pick up watering right where it left off.
Dry spots becoming a problem? Not anymore.
Instead of scheduling each yard zone for specific times each week, you can tell Lono when it can water. For instance, if you tell Lono it’s OK to water from midnight to 6AM on weekdays, Lono gets it and can figure out the rest of the schedule and then schedules each zone depending on what it needs. You can use it with a drip system too in case something may need to be watered longer.
Also, if you notice dry spots and need to make a quick adjustment, pull up the app on your iPhone and tap up that zone a couple more notches on the water level. The app will also send you notifications and educational tips and tricks every now and then to help you increase your watering efficiency.
Save your money and conserve water.
And the benefit you’re all waiting to hear about, cutting the cost of your water bill. Bryant says, “Our primary focus was ease of use. We just wanted something that would take the headache out of setting up and controlling your sprinklers. At the same time, it can drastically cut water use and therefore your water bill.” Even though water is becoming a precious resource, especially if you live in drier parts of the U.S., most folks still over water their lawns.
Lono comes with great water saving features like seasonal adjustment, weather and temperature monitoring, and automated scheduling to guarantee your lawn gets the right amount of water all year. The estimated savings when using Lono is 22% depending on your location and existing water usage.
Lono is planning on releasing the sprinkler controller the first day of spring next year, March 20, 2014. The estimated cost of one of these brilliant water systems is $199, but right now you can get them on Kickstarter for only $150. If you want to save money, have healthy plants, conserve water and have no headache when it comes to your sprinkling system, I would suggest the Lono sprinkler controller.
Make sure to checkout their kickstarter project: Lono Sprinkler Controller
Featured images:
- License: Image author owned
- License: Image author owned
Breann Jensen a tech blogger for ZAGG.com. When shes not catching up on the lastest tech on her iPad mini, shes out running a 5k marathon and kickboxing.