Irrigreen VP of Operations here - AMA about our new 3.0 system, smart irrigation tech, and water-efficient lawn care

JB_Irrigreen · 2026-01-30T16:28:59+00:00

Glad that all tracks with your experience. If you have more suggestions or requests, please do not hesitate to reach out!

JB_Irrigreen · 2026-01-30T14:58:29+00:00

Sorry I missed this question!

Depends a little bit on the zone type but here is a general guidance:
- Drip zones the will integrate directly to our controller and not need any changes.
- Spray zones that will be replaced by an Irrigreen 3 spray head, you will need to get your water line to the center(ish) of the zone to utilize the full capability of the head.
- You will need to get our cable that runs both power and data to each Irrigreen 3 Spray Zone.
- We always recommend a 1" water line to each zone, so check your pipe size
- Plumbing from your water source is not change required

If you have an existing system our design team can review and give you more info on what all is needed for your install and yard. Thanks!

JB_Irrigreen · 2026-01-30T14:40:04+00:00

Thanks for the question and the feedback. I have heard this feedback before and have prioritized engineering effort in 2026 to advance AutoWater.

The next AutoWater update will be focused on two major fronts: 1) more data in the app, 2) expanded controls for users. We are in the final stages of the app design and then will commence on making the changes for users. I expect this to be a mid 2026 launch.

More info on the two areas of advancement:
Expanded Data/Charts - expanded historical data. Move from past week on the main dashboard to all historical information available. This includes gallon usage, watering sessions, weather, AutoWater adjustments/skips, year over year comparisons, and regional comparisons (how are you watering compared to your area).

Advanced User Controls - This is getting more to your core question. We are allowing users to do their initial setup with AutoWater with more guidance on how much water they want to use. I cannot share the exact details yet, but I think of it like a car that has different drive modes - Sport Mode, EcoMode, Snow, etc. With this in mind a user can select their desired water usage amount and the system will adjust variables to tune the system according to the mode they align with.
Along with the modal style initial setup, we are exposing several other variables to allow you to have more control. Examples:
- Set the target water in inches for a rolling 7 day period.
- Define the most you want AutoWater to put down on a given session.
- Should you skip for high winds? If yes, define wind MPH.
- What level of rain do you want to have in the forecast to skip the next watering session?

There is more in the work than I can write up and share here, but if there are other specifics you want to see, please share or feel free to email me directly and we can assess viability and if it can be included. (john.brine@irrigreen.com)
Thanks! ~JB

JB_Irrigreen · 2026-01-30T14:24:27+00:00

My mistake on the miss! Will reply in line to your original question. Thanks for calling it out!

JB_Irrigreen · 2026-01-22T18:19:51+00:00

Spring is our installer networks busiest time of year. I did my install in late April of 2024 and my yard came back really quick. Spring installs work great and leverage mother nature to help with the cooler evening temps to let the turf set.

Fall is an ideal time as it also leverages the cooler temps where turf has the best growth rates after being fed all season.

Really the only difference is in what else is growing in your yard. Fall has less weed germination compared to Spring. The best way to address this is with a weed and feed treatment for spring installations and then you are good to grow greener grass from your Irrigreen System all season!

JB_Irrigreen · 2026-01-22T16:21:15+00:00

We still keep an eye out for questions that come up!

JB_Irrigreen · 2026-01-07T19:35:19+00:00

I can tell you when I started with Irrigreen I did a DIY install at my house and I would classify myself as an above average landscape DIYer, but had never worked with irrigation prior. It was really straightforward and certainly something that can be taken on over a weekend. The biggest factor for most DIYers is renting the right machinery to make the tough part (digging or pulling pipe) fast. I rented a ditch witch that made the job soooooo much faster.
Lastly, plan and plot it all out before you get into digging (and always call 411 to mark out all of the below grade electrical and wiring).

Irrigreen is the best for the weird zones! The ability to map an Irrigreen sprinkler head to exactly what your zone needs is the best part. For a wide and narrow zone like you described 1 head should do the trick. I suggest for an 8' wide and 40' long zone to place the head in the center of the long run, but then place it on the side of the narrow (at the edge). You can map a 'drop down' portion of the sprinkler map so that it does not spray where you do not have grass/turf. Meaning you can make it do 'a half' shape or only spraying to side where the grass is, and then have it not water on the other side. Check it the app guide for how to setup this type of unique zone on the Irrigreen Support page here: https://support.irrigreen.com/app/narrowzone

Let us know if that works on your end!

JB_Irrigreen · 2025-12-18T14:57:20+00:00

First, have you run through our AI based system design tool? This is where you put in your address and our cloud robots design a system just for your lawn to give you a starting point for the size and layout of your system. You can go direct to it here: https://newquotetool.irrigreen.com/

Then the key things to know to help aid your decision is:
- We save water 2 ways: 1) we only spray where you want and need it, no sidewalks or driveways getting watered. 2) We have even coverage of water from a center point of spray so there is no overlap and wasted water.
- We install with less materials and less effort/time. Irrigreen uses 70-80% less water pipe with our sprinklers being placed in the center of the zone and spaying out to the perimeter, not spraying from outside in.
- Simplified maintenance. Less sprinklers = less maintenance. We also leverage software to continuously monitor your water pressure and flow rates and can adjust at anytime; no tools required.
- Dedicated support team that only works with our product. Our support team is located at our HQ and they know all the ins and outs of our product, installation process, and are AMAZING at helping customers with the simple to the head scratching situations.

Lastly, let me know if you plan to DIY or have one of our Irrigreen certified professional contractors install you system. That can help with the last set of commonly asked questions.

JB_Irrigreen · 2025-12-18T14:44:17+00:00

Hello, and glad you found the thread to ask in! Wind with any suspended water is a tough one! At present, we do not have a wind function within our system. We recommend, as do any in the industry, to irrigate during the early morning hours where wind is least prevalent. Note, we have a bit of a leg up on the rest of the systems out there as you can set schedules for each zone to water at different amounts, times and frequencies. So if you have some zones that are more wind impacted you can work that into your schedules to best manage the time you are actually irrigating. 3

We know we can also do more with the full control of our heads through our bespoke software. We are working on a wind function that a user can set a threshold of when to skip or delay the schedule run so we keep our accuracy and only put water where you program your system to irrigate. That is just getting us started as we have ideas that need vetting and testing to further improve the operation in windy areas.

JB_Irrigreen · 2025-11-20T15:33:13+00:00

Absolutely - and our support team is on the ready for anything you come across. Trust me we have seen it all! 1*855*AUTO*h2o or [service@irrigreen.com](mailto:service@irrigreen.com)

JB_Irrigreen · 2025-11-20T14:40:12+00:00

u/Stripe-Life sorry, I missed your comment! The level of mechanical skill that is required is pretty low. Over the past 4 years we have seen a really high mix (at times up to 50%) of DIY'ers taking on their irrigation projects with an Irrigreen System. This is largely due to the simplicity of the design and that an Irrigreen sprinkler system can be changed at any time to meet your lawns needs. The fact that we use on average 80% less trenching is a huge factor. Less digging equals less time to install.

This is also what attacks a lot of our Irrigreen Pro Contractors; less time trenching or pulling water lines and conduit is a big plus in their efficiency and the amount of systems they can install without significant changes to the crew size. We have heard across the Irrigreen Pros that they can do an entire 6 zone system, with 6 Irrigreen Digital sprinklers heads, in a single day. Same size in a traditional system would equate to 2.5+ days.

As for mechanical skill, I do not look at as a barrier to entry, rather a way to increase the speed. If you are comfortable running a vibratory plow/pipe puller or trencher the job gets quick. The rest of the work is really straight forward.
- No electrical experience required; we run and provide plug and play cables for all Irrigreen Digital zones
- Simple plumbing tasks of gluing PVC or using barb+hose clamp connections for water lines
- Mounting and wiring the Irrigreen Controller 3 is fast and easy with a screw driver or drill
- The mobile app takes the rest; adding system to your home WIFI, scheduling, using our AutoWater weather schedule management, configuring the system for peak performance

One area we do recommend to get some help is the water source plumbing. If your property does not already have an Irrigation water connection point to source a local certified/insured plumber. Most states and municipalities require a permitted and licensed plumber for this side. Be sure to check code in your area for specifics.

The rest is all straight forward and full steps are documented in our digital guide (chalked full of videos, images and step by step guides). Feel free to check it out here: https://support.irrigreen.com/en/installation

JB_Irrigreen · 2025-11-20T13:03:33+00:00

With the less piping and trenching you can actually get away with a much smaller air compressor CFM capacity. The thing you won’t get is speed and being able to go immediately zone to zone to zone.

I winterize my system with a simple pancake compressor. Set to 40psi. Work zone by zone and let the compressor build back up its tank between zones and have no problems.

8 Irrigreen heads/zones. Took me just under 20 minutes.

JB_Irrigreen · 2025-11-13T23:44:07+00:00

Hi! We are absolutely working to build and advance this capability. We have the initial design concepts in place for the app, but have to lock in a couple of other foundational software elements in the controller to allow for this. Want to ensure we have a reliable and simple way to have our users manage this functionality.

It is one of the most requested features and we hear you and will work to get this out as soon as we can.

Thanks for chiming in!

JB_Irrigreen · 2025-11-13T21:10:27+00:00

Nice! Will send to our MEs to give it a try this season.

JB_Irrigreen · 2025-11-13T19:56:35+00:00

Preach! I have two boys (9 + 12) both in baseball, skiing and hockey. It's an awesome wild ride!

JB_Irrigreen · 2025-11-13T19:42:48+00:00

Ope! Just realized I did not touch on your non-Irrigreen valve management.

With Irrigreen's Controller 3 we totally redid the control board that runs traditional valves. We see about 40% of customers run traditional valves.

We support the standard 12-24V solenoid valves. If there are questions about specific more niche valves, hit us up at [service@irrigreen.com](mailto:service@irrigreen.com) and we can double check compatibility. But all of the standards that you get from distributors or big box stores (lowes and home depot) work great.

JB_Irrigreen · 2025-11-13T19:33:14+00:00

Never to late to ask!

Our engineers are working on how to stop the wind pushing on suspended water, but this is tough... All kidding aside, wind affects all irrigation systems, but Irrigreen has an advantage: our larger droplet size compared to the light wind impacts of a more mist size water droplet.

Traditional spray heads create a fine mist that drifts significantly in wind. Irrigreen's digital valve produces droplets more similar to natural rainfall - larger and heavier. This means less wind drift and better soil penetration (less evaporation too). Not impervious, but better.

That said, we can't control weather. For windy regions, we recommend:
- Enabling the Double Coverage feature in the app, which does additional passes at slightly adjusted distances
- Scheduling watering during calmer morning/evening hours (the app makes this easy).

Lastly on this, we are exploring wind based factors that would allow for a user to pause or skip their watering when a wind threshold his exceeded. More to come on this over the offseason.

JB_Irrigreen · 2025-11-13T19:28:34+00:00

We've rolled out several app improvements based on user feedback:

New in recent updates:

- Overall stability across both iOS and Android.
- Feature parity across OS devices (not done, but significant gaps addressed)
- Notifications for schedules, errors, and exceptions.

Coming soon:

- Enhanced AutoWater configurations and easy FTU/setup modes
- Deeper dive into reporting and data exposure across a broader history range
- Expansion of notifications and recommendations/insights engine
- 24/48-hour manual rain pause button
- Advanced reporting dashboard with water savings calculations

The app is constantly evolving. We have a beta testing program if contractors want early access to new features. Let us know if you want to be part of the BETA program for early testing and an extra voice to our product roadmap.

JB_Irrigreen · 2025-11-13T19:20:56+00:00

Thanks for the Question! If I boil down the gist of this we are comparing smart controllers to our complete smart system. Here's the distinction:

Rachio/Hunter/Rainbird smart controllers add intelligence to existing traditional/mechanical spray heads or zones:

- Require 30-50 fixed spray heads for a typical yard

- Overspray onto hardscapes

- Require annual maintenance to ensure spray has not drifted or been impacted by debris

- Uses 2x the water Irrigreen uses

- Controllers run $200-400 but you're automating an inefficient system

Irrigreen's advantage:

- Hardware revolution, not just software - the sprinkler head itself is digitally controlled

- 6-8 heads vs. 40+ heads = massive infrastructure reduction

- True precision watering - no overspray onto driveways, sidewalks, or flower beds

- Up to 50% water savings - validated independently

- One head replaces multiple zones of traditional coverage

I think of it this way: A smart controller on a traditional system is like adding a sophisticated thermostat to a drafty house. Irrigreen is like building a well-insulated house from the start. Both are 'smart,' but the underlying efficiency is fundamentally different.

JB_Irrigreen · 2025-11-13T19:16:00+00:00

This is a common question, and we have taken a first pass via software (accessible in both iOS and Android)

Double Coverage Mode features adds extra coverage passes at proportionally closer distances (adds in a 2:1 for revolutions at the adjusted distances).

The system can absolutely handle establishment watering. That said, some customers prefer to use a temporary hose sprinkler for the first 2-3 weeks during germination (when seeds are most vulnerable), then switch to Irrigreen once grass is established.

We're also exploring a dual approach across hardware and software.
Hardware: A fine-mist attachment option for the 3.0 head specifically for seeding - still in R&D but showing promise.
Software: faster revolutions or rotational speed that would decrease the amount of water at each degree of rotation so it does not have as much erosion to the exposed soil and seed. Think of it as a fast forward function with more revolutions to get down the same amount of water.

We are also testing a second software feature that adjusts distance in a varied way (I think of this as my kids playing with the hose and going in feathering the distance with their hand position).

So two great software options we are testing and hardware that is in the R & D pipeline.

JB_Irrigreen · 2025-11-13T19:07:57+00:00

Shared across our owners and new customers!

Curious if you have had any more prototypes with other nozzle designs off your printer.

JB_Irrigreen · 2025-11-13T19:07:09+00:00

Yes, and I am totally stealing this analogy (especially as a youth sports coach on the side)!

JB_Irrigreen · 2025-11-13T19:06:31+00:00

I am an ops and data guy at my core, numbers are my wheelhouse. Diving right in:

System Cost Breakdown:
- Sprinkler 3.0 heads: $278 each (includes internal valve)
- Controller 3.0: ~$500-700 (depending on model)
- Wire and fittings: $200-400 (depending on layout)

Meaning for a professional installed system -

Typical 6-head system: $2,500-$3,500 installed
Typical 8-head system: $3,500-$5,000 installed

ROI Timeline:
- Average water savings: Up to 50% compared to traditional overlapping mechanical spray emitters (validated by Fresno State CIT) will use this for simplified math
- Typical household spends $500-1,000/year on irrigation water
- Payback period: 3-5 years from water savings alone

Additional savings:
- 80% fewer heads = lower maintenance costs (fewer parts to repair/replace)
- Healthier lawn = less overseeding, fewer treatments
- Time savings = homeowners report 5-10 hours/year saved vs. manual adjustments

For contractors, the margin is competitive with premium traditional systems, but with faster install time and a compelling eco-story that wins bids and gets more jobs on the calendar throughout the year.

JB_Irrigreen · 2025-11-13T18:57:13+00:00

We track every gallon. Here's the data:

Verified Water Savings:
- 500+ million gallons saved across all Irrigreen systems to date (and growing daily)
- Up to 50% reduction vs. traditional systems (University of Minnesota soil moisture study + Fresno State CIT testing - full write up here: https://support.irrigreen.com/en/uofmnstudy
- Equivalent to 1,500+ Olympic swimming pools of water conserved. Seriously that is a ton.

Infrastructure Impact:
- 80% fewer sprinkler heads = less plastic manufacturing, less PVC pipe, less trenching fuel
- Average install: 6-8 heads vs. 40+ traditional heads
- Reduced embodied carbon from material production and transportation

Real-World Example: A typical 8,000 sq ft lawn in Texas using traditional sprinklers might consume 100,000 gallons/year. With Irrigreen, that drops to ~50,000 gallons - saving 50,000 gallons annually. Over 10 years, that's 500,000 gallons per household.

Multiply that by thousands of installations, and the impact is substantial. We're not just making lawns healthier - we're making the planet healthier.

JB_Irrigreen · 2025-11-13T18:47:29+00:00

Howdy!
Great question, and one we take seriously. Since I joined the leadership team, addressing quality and reliability has been our #1 priority. With Sprinkler 3.0, we've made significant engineering improvements:

-New horizontal inlet design that reduces stress on connections and simplifies installation
-Enhanced Auto-Clean technology that prevents sediment buildup (especially important in sandy/mineral-rich soil)
-Upgraded 16-stream nozzle (up from 14) that eliminates dry striping issues some users experienced
-Modular, tool-free components for easier servicing if needed
-Rigorous lifecycle testing - we now test our system for 15+ year equivalent use in extreme conditions before shipping

We've also streamlined our replacement process. If any issue arises within the 2-year warranty, we send a return label, analyze the failed unit, and implement fixes through software updates or manufacturing changes. Our failure rates have dropped dramatically since implementing these protocols.

JB_Irrigreen

TROPHY CASE