How can rain sensors work with irrigation timers for water conservation?
Plants get thirstier in summer than during spring and fall, so program your irrigation timer accordingly, rather than always keeping the irrigation timer on the same setting. This will promote water conservation, as will watering at the right time of day and overriding irrigation timers with rain sensors. The time of day when you irrigate is a factor in water conservation. If you program irrigation timers to go on early in the morning, you’ll lose less water to evaporation than if you were to irrigate in the heat of the day. For optimal water conservation, it will be necessary to override the irrigation timer of your automatic system, if your area receives heavy rains the night before your system is programmed to run. You’d only be pushing up your water bill unnecessarily. If you’d rather not have to bother overriding your system manually in such cases, install a rain sensor on your roof. Rain sensors can be tied into automatic systems, shutting them off for you after a period of rain.
