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What is "Normal"?


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  • Official comment
    Andrei (Edited )

    The "Normal' is calculated for a rolling period of 10 years, every day of the year using weather for your exact location (1x1mile grid) from archived National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data sets. The 'normal' is a max of 30 day moving average of 365days, a value represented in inch/day of evapo-transpiration this is called Et0(Avg).

    During day by day operation, the RainMachine calculates evapotranspiration for that specific day and computes Et(daily)/Et0Avg and the result is a percentage. So for example, if you enter 20 minutes for a specific zone, you will get 20Min*Et(daily)/Et0Avg. 

    Next month we will release (currently in beta) a feature that that will help you decide amount of water (in minutes) based in Advanced Zone Properties such as Soil type, Sprinkler Head type, slope and shading etc. You can subscribe to the beta channel if you need early access to this feature (and more). 

    "During the peak heat of the Summer (July, August, Early September ) I will water 4 days a week for 25 minutes on each zone.  Before and after that peak period, I will back it down to 3 days a week and roughly 20 minutes a zone. I am not clear how I should set my programming up on my RainMachine?"

    I suggest leaving 4 days/week @ 25 minutes. The RainMachine will water less if necessary. The machine will water slightly more during extreme hot days (the days that are over the 30 day moving average), usually about ~10 days per year.  But you can block this behavior (of watering >20 minutes) if you go under Restrictions -> Hot Days, you can clip the 'over-watering' at 100% so that it never goes over 20 minutes. I usually keep that at 150%. If left unchecked, it is possible to see spikes up to 150% sometimes more, depending on how hot / windy / RH that day is. 

    I am attaching a snapshot of my zone, with "Hot Days" Unchecked, as you can see this year in Pleasantion CA, I reached 127%. 


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