Rain Sensors Save in Northwest

 

Rain Sensors, like this Rain Bird product, can dramatically lower water bills, especially in rainy regions like the Pacific Northwest.

A rain sensor is even more a key part of an irrigation system in areas where it rains a lot, reports consumer advocate Herb Weisbaum of KOMO-TV in Seattle.

?EUR??,,????'??Automatic systems,?EUR??,,????'?? he says, ?EUR??,,????'??are at best just over 60 percent efficient. In most cases they waste 40 to 50 percent of the water they use.?EUR??,,????'??

A simple upgrade, such as a rain sensor will turn off the system when it rains more than a preset amount (normally around a half inch). New controllers have various water-saving features (those run about $150).

Don Blackwell, with Advanced Irrigation, says an upgrade can run from $150 to around $800 dollars (depending on how many zones you have). ?EUR??,,????'??It?EUR??,,????'???s a pretty easy retrofit,?EUR??,,????'?? he explains, ?EUR??,,????'??and the payback is probably within a year or two.”

?EUR??,,????'??These kinds of systems in the past were probably $60,000 to $80,000,?EUR??,,????'?? says Don Blackwell. ?EUR??,,????'??You had to buy your own $20,000 weather station and a clock and software package worth $50,000. Now with technology we’ve got this down where it’s $48 a year for the service. You’ll save that the first couple of times it rains.?EUR??,,????'??