6 Father’s Day Gifts for a Tech-Savvy Dad

We’ve all seen it: Sprinkler systems needlessly watering lawns during a heavy rainfall. No matter how diligent we are about setting up a logical irrigation schedule, those lawn sprinklers often catch us off guard, dispensing water when we’d prefer them to stay off. Then there’s the flip-side, when after a long spell of dry weather your lawn thirstier for a drink than normal and you’d like to irrigate more frequently.

Fiddling with the timers of an irrigation controller requires a trip out to the garage and a consultation with the owner’s manual. Many manufacturers of lawn irrigation system have simplified the setup by creating easy-to-understand smartphone apps, but now there’s an even easier, completely hands-free way to take control of a sprinkler system—by using your voice.

GreenIQ has made its smart irrigation controller, the Smart Garden Hub, compatible with Amazon Echo, which means you can call out, “Alexa, stop irrigation,” to step out to check the mail without getting drenched. In addition to issuing voice command to start and stop irrigation cycles, words uttered to Alexa can have the Smart Garden Hub read back water savings and water consumption.

Retailing for $199, the Smart Garden Hub, 6-Zone, Wi-Fi irrigation controller is available online at The Home Depot or directly through GreenIQ.