I received the RainMachine HD-12 today from Amazon. I've had several controller in the past... I started originally with a stock Rain Bird unit that was installed with my system. I immediately knew that it was not going to do the job, so a couple years back I moved to OpenSprinkler, a controller I built from a kit. This unit served me well, but the one feature I really wanted was the weather integration, which by the time it was available on OpenSprinkler my hardware was obsolete, which meant I was going have to upgrade hardware to take advantage of it. Since an upgrade was inevitable, I decided to take a look at what else was on the market. For better or worse (worse as it turned out) I decide to go with a Blossom controller. Blossom is fairly new to the market and I though they had a solid product. As it turned out, the hardware was great, but the software was riddled with issues. I sold the Blossom and today, after much research, I received the RainMachine HD-12. What drew me to this unit was the long track record, the open API, weather integration, the fact the unit could be totally controlled from the unit's touch screen (important if you have folks come to maintain your system) and most importantly the unit does not rely on a cloud service to run. If you are reading this review and trying to decide on a controller, in my opinion, this one single point should weigh heavy in your decision. If there is a problem with the service, the internet or the company just plain goes out of business-- where does that leave you? It leaves you with not so smart of a controller.
So, if I love the RainMachine so much way only four stars you may ask. Well, my brand new controller arrived with a defective zone. One of the 12 zones will not activate. I know that things are going to happen, so I'm not so concerned about this one issue. What is more important to me is how a company stands behind their products-- I think that says a lot. I have sent an email to their support and I'm waiting to see how they handle my problem. From everything I've read in other reviews about Green Electronics I have no reason to believe that I will get anything less then stealer service. Once I know more I will update my review.
UPDATE: I was contacted by support within a couple hours and they informed me that I needed to do a firmware upgrade to fix my issue. The upgrade was a simple process that I completed from the Rainmachine app on my phone and only took a few minutes. After the upgrade my issue was resolved. I'm impressed with the quick response from support and my HD-12 is working great now. I'll update my review again once I've used the HD-12 for a while.
UPDATE (9-25-16):
I've been using the Rain Machine for a while now and it still works as well as the day I purchased, no issues. Green Electronics has update the firmware a few times and has added additional features. One I really like is the ability to choose other weather data providers, such as Weather Underground. Weather Underground is a whole weather eco system on it's own, which allows me to get weather data from other user's stations, one as close as a mile from my home. If you pick multiple providers then it averages the data from all your choices. Using weather data to help control the amount of water I'm using has saved me 80% over a conventinal "set and forget" stock controller... and that is a good return on my investment.
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Climate Pledge FriendlyProducts with trusted sustainability certification(s). Learn morePRODUCT CERTIFICATION (1)
WaterSense is a voluntary label from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which identifies products that meet criteria from the EPA for water-efficiency and performance.
From the manufacturer
RainMachine
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Easy to InstallNo expensive contractors needed for the job. Simple step by step DIY instructions. Live phone support available seven days a week! RainMachine installation is guaranteed to be easier than your old device! Need to say more? Welcome to the future! |
Weather Data SourcesThe RainMachine gets weather forecast from NOAA.GOV, Metno, Forecast.io, NetAtmo, or Wunderground Personal Weather Station for precise, realtime weather information. The RainMachine updates weather data several times per day just to calculate the right amount of water for your plants! |
Start Saving Now!Depending on your climate, and if weather permitting, record water savings of up to 80% (per week or even per month!) can be achieved with the RainMachine. Because of substantial savings on your water bill, the RainMachine will pay itself in less than two years, fastest payback of any green IOT appliance! |
WaterSense CertificationOur RainMachine is WaterSense Certified for efficiency and performance. (Certificate number 9291, by IAPMO R&T authority, 2019). Check for rebates with your local water agency and start saving now! Rebates up to the full cost of your RainMachine can be obtained from your Water Agency. Start saving now! |
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iOS and Android apps: RealTime MonitoringOur Dashboard displays everything needed to know about your garden and weather! Obsessing about details? Rotate the phone into landscape mode and dive into panoramic weekly/monthly/yearly graphs! Look for the free rainmachine app on Apple Store or Google Play Store and start controlling your RainMachine. |
Connect from anywhereGarden from any screen or web browser. PC and Laptops equipped with any kind of modern browser (Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Safari, Edge, IE). The RainMachine can be accessed from anywhere in the world. Enjoy your RainMachine from home, work or when away in vacation! |
Local interfaceUnique touch interface on the device itself provides ultimate control experience. Starting or stopping a zone or a program are available from a simple splash-proof capacitive touch interface. Dark garage?: no problem! Our white LED illuminated touch keys to the rescue! Simplicity Perfected: When not in use, the RainMachine will display only one piece of information: a brightly lit Wi-Fi icon, visible from up to 20ft away. |
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| RainMachine Mini-8 2nd gen | RainMachine HD-12 2nd gen | RainMachine HD-16 | RainMachine Pro-8 | RainMachine Pro-16 | Other IoT Controller | |
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| Number of zones | 8 (7 when using Master Valve) | 12 (11 when using Master Valve) | 16 (15 when using Master Valve) | 8 (separate Master Valve) | 16 (separate Master Valve) | 8 to 16 |
| Cloud independent | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | No |
| Touch interface | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | No |
| Color TFT | No | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | No |
| Multiple Weather Services | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | No |
| Rain and Wind Sensitivity | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | No |
| Forecast and Measured Data | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | No |
| Local Web Interface | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | No |
| Android & iOS app | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Ethernet (LAN) | No | No | No | ✓ | ✓ | No |
Compare with similar items
This Item  RainMachine Touch HD-12, Cloud Independent Smart Wi-Fi Irrigation Controller, Compatible with Alexa, 12 Zones |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | Currently unavailable. | -34% $99.00 List: $149.99 | $279.20 | $166.41 | $149.99 | -15% $61.18 List: $71.99 |
| Delivery | — | Get it as soon as Thursday, Apr 25 | Get it as soon as Thursday, Apr 25 | Get it as soon as Thursday, Apr 25 | Get it as soon as Thursday, Apr 25 | Get it as soon as Thursday, Apr 25 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| User interface | ||||||
| Easy to install | ||||||
| Smart Features | ||||||
| Alexa integration | ||||||
| WiFi signal | ||||||
| Sold By | — | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Aeon Matrix | Amazon.com |
Reviews with images
HUGE upgrade to our yard! Easy to use and great customer service!
We have a 9 zone lawn and garden complete with grass front and back, trees, flower beds, raspberry bushes and a vertical vegetable garden. Before, it was really annoying to make sure everything was getting the right amount of water all the time depending on the weather (requiring more on super hot days and less on rainy days etc.). This rain machine has solved all our issues and made keeping our yard and plants thriving is a cinch, even when we're away from home. We had a professional install it for us while he was fixing a broken sprinkler head and he said it was very simple and straight forward. I did run into a few snags setting up the app for remote access on my iPhone, but customer service was SUPER helpful! I was connected to someone right away and he solved my problem in minutes. The other issue I ran into which is something to be aware of, is that the earlier version of this unit has an SD card that is not capable of detecting weather and location and automatically adjusting. That's a feature I wanted and I didn't realize I had ordered an older model, but the customer service rep I spoke with offered for me to send it in for them to install the card themselves or he would mail me a new card and provide me with instructions to install it myself - which is what I opted for. It was shipped out the very next day.I LOVE the ability to name and customize each zone according to what type of vegetation it is and easily run just one zone at any given time for as long as I want if I feel like a spot of grass needs some extra love. It really is a dream to use now that it's all set up! I can't compare with other similar products as this is our first "smart" sprinkler controller, but it has a bright and beautiful and responsive touch screen, works exactly like we hoped it would and takes up very little space. The app is easy to use and we've been able to integrate with Alexa (though to be honest I haven't tried that functionality yet).So far I'm very happy and can definitely recommend! Father's Day is coming up and I think I'm going to get one for my dad who is hard to shop for.I sincerely hope this review has been helpful to someone else! And yes, I paid full price for it. Feel free to ask any questions!
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2015
So, if I love the RainMachine so much way only four stars you may ask. Well, my brand new controller arrived with a defective zone. One of the 12 zones will not activate. I know that things are going to happen, so I'm not so concerned about this one issue. What is more important to me is how a company stands behind their products-- I think that says a lot. I have sent an email to their support and I'm waiting to see how they handle my problem. From everything I've read in other reviews about Green Electronics I have no reason to believe that I will get anything less then stealer service. Once I know more I will update my review.
UPDATE: I was contacted by support within a couple hours and they informed me that I needed to do a firmware upgrade to fix my issue. The upgrade was a simple process that I completed from the Rainmachine app on my phone and only took a few minutes. After the upgrade my issue was resolved. I'm impressed with the quick response from support and my HD-12 is working great now. I'll update my review again once I've used the HD-12 for a while.
UPDATE (9-25-16):
I've been using the Rain Machine for a while now and it still works as well as the day I purchased, no issues. Green Electronics has update the firmware a few times and has added additional features. One I really like is the ability to choose other weather data providers, such as Weather Underground. Weather Underground is a whole weather eco system on it's own, which allows me to get weather data from other user's stations, one as close as a mile from my home. If you pick multiple providers then it averages the data from all your choices. Using weather data to help control the amount of water I'm using has saved me 80% over a conventinal "set and forget" stock controller... and that is a good return on my investment.
I think I finally found a smart irragation controller I like... only one little issue to resolve
Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2015
I received the RainMachine HD-12 today from Amazon. I've had several controller in the past... I started originally with a stock Rain Bird unit that was installed with my system. I immediately knew that it was not going to do the job, so a couple years back I moved to OpenSprinkler, a controller I built from a kit. This unit served me well, but the one feature I really wanted was the weather integration, which by the time it was available on OpenSprinkler my hardware was obsolete, which meant I was going have to upgrade hardware to take advantage of it. Since an upgrade was inevitable, I decided to take a look at what else was on the market. For better or worse (worse as it turned out) I decide to go with a Blossom controller. Blossom is fairly new to the market and I though they had a solid product. As it turned out, the hardware was great, but the software was riddled with issues. I sold the Blossom and today, after much research, I received the RainMachine HD-12. What drew me to this unit was the long track record, the open API, weather integration, the fact the unit could be totally controlled from the unit's touch screen (important if you have folks come to maintain your system) and most importantly the unit does not rely on a cloud service to run. If you are reading this review and trying to decide on a controller, in my opinion, this one single point should weigh heavy in your decision. If there is a problem with the service, the internet or the company just plain goes out of business-- where does that leave you? It leaves you with not so smart of a controller.Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2015
So, if I love the RainMachine so much way only four stars you may ask. Well, my brand new controller arrived with a defective zone. One of the 12 zones will not activate. I know that things are going to happen, so I'm not so concerned about this one issue. What is more important to me is how a company stands behind their products-- I think that says a lot. I have sent an email to their support and I'm waiting to see how they handle my problem. From everything I've read in other reviews about Green Electronics I have no reason to believe that I will get anything less then stealer service. Once I know more I will update my review.
UPDATE: I was contacted by support within a couple hours and they informed me that I needed to do a firmware upgrade to fix my issue. The upgrade was a simple process that I completed from the Rainmachine app on my phone and only took a few minutes. After the upgrade my issue was resolved. I'm impressed with the quick response from support and my HD-12 is working great now. I'll update my review again once I've used the HD-12 for a while.
UPDATE (9-25-16):
I've been using the Rain Machine for a while now and it still works as well as the day I purchased, no issues. Green Electronics has update the firmware a few times and has added additional features. One I really like is the ability to choose other weather data providers, such as Weather Underground. Weather Underground is a whole weather eco system on it's own, which allows me to get weather data from other user's stations, one as close as a mile from my home. If you pick multiple providers then it averages the data from all your choices. Using weather data to help control the amount of water I'm using has saved me 80% over a conventinal "set and forget" stock controller... and that is a good return on my investment.
Images in this review
Reviewed in the United States on June 17, 2014
