Confused....to sensor or not to sensor?

I'm only using a sprinkler system to water St. Augustine grass on a .2 acres in South Florida. The entire area is flat and has the same soil make-up (loam). Direct sunlight shines mostly all day on every area other than a small 10'x40' strip on the west side of the house that is shaded part of the day. I have no trees and no plants. I have a Sprite controller and 1 whisperer sensor which is connected to the 3 zones that get the most sunlight. The learned % is at 55%

I don't see any benefit in using the whisperer. Thoughts?


Answer From Netro Inc

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Netro Inc
 Updated at 2021-06-15 02:24:52 UTC

Hi Kevin,


We checked and we found you have enabled the self-learning feature and currently the learning is 70%. Is the moisture data not proper?


Thanks,

Netro Support

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23
Kevin Westling
2021-06-18 01:43:42 UTC  
I'm not concerned about the learned percentage or moisture levels. Since all 4 of the zones are the same terrain, soil, slope (St. Augustine grass), is using a sensor on 3 areas beneficial at all? Wouldn't the controller still send the data and water scheduling by itself?
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Netro Inc
 2021-06-18 04:33:13 UTC  
The whisperer sensor measures soil moistures, which are sent to our cloud and are used for accurate watering schedules. Without the sensor, our cloud can only estimate the soil moisture which may not be perfect. Currently, each sensor can support three zones. For your case, three zones will use the sensor data and optimize their smart schedules, the forth zone without sensor data uses estimated moisture level.

23
Kevin Westling
2021-06-20 22:09:20 UTC  
Based on your reply, it seems like the Sprite alone isn't that accurate. You could advertise "Buy our Sprite but it only works best if you add the Whisperer. The Sprite alone in smart mode will not produce the best wagering schedule even though we've tired it to a weather station to get accurate rainfall, temperature and sunlight that's not enough. If you want your grass and plants to look their best, then you must purchase a sensor which only works for 3 zones. Although it may be weird that the smallest Sprite we sell is a 4 zone, but this will force you to buy an additional sensor! We get more money!" That's the image you portray so you might want to reconsider using a accuracy disclaimer on using the Sprite alone that it is not a "smart" without a sensor connected to it. And the 4 zone Sprite should specifically state that you must buy 2 sensors in order to get the best watering. Otherwise, the lower price than your competitors appearance is not true at all because you actually have to pay 109 for the Sprite and another 180 for the 2 needed sensor which makes your product close to 300 bucks to perform at peak levels. You are deceiving the public and they need to know. And why would you only sell a sensor that covers only 3 zones? Makes no sense.
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Netro Inc
 2021-06-21 07:58:44 UTC  
Sprite and the AI model is pretty accurate. In fact, most sprinkler controllers work without a sensor, including Netro. Many of our customers use Sprite without sensors and they are satisfied.

Of course, Sprite with sensor is more accurate under some scenarios. For example, the rainfall amount from weather provider may not be very accurate as it could be very different in a small area (e.g. in the same zipcode). With a sensor, we have the real moisture; without it, Netro has to rely on the data from weather provider. This is true for all Sprinkler controllers without a sensor.

In summary, Sprite works for most customers. For people who wants more accurate, they can pair Sprite with sensors.