Best WiFi Water Hose Timers
We tried seven smart hose timers to see how well they work and whether they can save you water and money
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Smart sprinkler controllers are a great way to cut down on home water usage, sparing both your wallet and the planet. But they have one key limitation that prevents them from being used by most consumers: They require an in-ground sprinkler system.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, only 20 percent of U.S. homes had an automatic irrigation system as of 2019, meaning there are a lot of backyard warriors with just a garden hose and oscillating sprinkler head who can’t use a smart controller. But just as smart sprinkler controllers have grown in popularity, manufacturers have quietly brought the same smarts to the humble water hose timer.
Today’s WiFi water hose timers can pull in weather data to adjust watering schedules on the fly, connect to other smart home devices, and take voice commands from digital assistants. Because they connect to garden hoses, they also cost a lot less than controllers and give you many more watering options. You can connect them to everything from a soaker hose buried in garden beds (my personal backyard use case) to drip irrigation lines for potted plants.
