When I was growing up, each summer saw us moving up to the mountains for 3 months and into a nice house with a small garden. Every few days, my father would spend his afternoons watering the different plants, flowers, and trees, making sure each one got the attention it needs. However, there were days when taking care of the yard was either too time-consuming either too tiring, conflicting with social events, requiring he maintains it even when he was exhausted after work, and so on. We've debated installing a central sprinkler system, but held off on it for a few reasons. One of those was the lack of easy and smart automation.
That's why I was all smiles when I read about the Blossom 8. Apparently, the company, Blossom, already has a smart watering controller on the market, but it's releasing a smaller one now. The original Blossom supported 12-zone sprinkler systems, the Blossom 8 can go up to 8 which should be enough for many smaller homes and yards. There are a few other differences too, which you can check here.
So how does the Blossom 8 work? After a quick installation thanks to its irrigation valve sensing, it taps into the local weather forecast and takes into account conditions and rainfall to program the existing sprinklers while still letting you modify some settings and control for variables depending on vegetation type in your yard. That should take the guesswork out of automating your sprinklers and lower your water consumption while at it.
Blossom mentions the fact that it doesn't need to connect to other home automation systems as a benefit, but I'm not sure I agree on that point. It might be cause for less hassle, but I think it definitely would have been a bonus if you could integrate it with other smart home gadgets. Instead, you can only use Blossom's Android and iOS apps to manage the system.
The Blossom 8 will ship in May of 2016 for an MSRP of $129, but if you preorder it now, you can get it for $99. The bigger 12-zone Blossom usually costs $199, but it's lately been hovering around $150 on Amazon and the company has a bit of a hush-hush sale on its website for 9 at the moment. Both discounts are due to World Water Day so they may not last long.
Alternate title: Sprinkle Sprinkle Little Yard, Blossom Got You All So Smart
Source: Blossom 8
PRESS RELEASE
The Connected Yard Goes Mainstream With Affordable New Smart Watering Controller From Blossom
Blossom 8 Packs in Automated Weather Analytics, Easy Control From Mobile Devices to Deliver Water Conservation, Cost Savings
IRVINE, CA--(Marketwired - Mar 22, 2016) - The Internet of Things (IoT) revolution has arrived and is transforming our everyday lives. What if the automated capabilities of a smart home could be extended out to the yard? Making the concept of a yard that can think for itself a reality for consumers everywhere, Blossom is introducing its new, eight-zone Blossom 8 Smart Watering Controller. Featuring Wi-Fi connectivity and a sleek, slim, low-profile design, Blossom 8 is a highly reliable, simple, cost-effective solution that takes the guesswork out of controlling your sprinklers and simplifies your life. In conjunction with World Water Day, Blossom 8 is available for pre-order at a special price of just $99.
An early innovator in the smart sprinkler market, Blossom is noted for creating the first 12-zone indoor/outdoor smart watering controller, which debuted to rave reviews. This was no small feat. Designing a smart sprinkler controller that could reliably operate both indoors (inside your garage next to a water heater, for example) and outdoors meant that Blossom had to overcome the many challenges associated with weather conditions. The great outdoors can also be a formidable obstacle when it comes to connectivity, as typically the controller would be placed outside on a stucco wall -- hardly a Wi-Fi friendly environment. Having successfully developed a product that delivered all of the benefits of a smart yard to a 12 zone sprinkler environment -- which is at the upper end of most yards -- Blossom sought to make this solution available to more homes (most residential sprinkler systems consist of eight stations or less). Blossom 8 was designed to be ideal for the typical yard's diverse ecosystem of grass, trees and plants. It makes a proven, tested technology accessible to everyone -- at an affordable price.
Blossom is changing the way we water our lawns by moving away from conventional watering controllers that don't take actual water needs -- based on vegetation or rainfall numbers -- into account. Tapping into the power of cloud computing, Blossom 8 self-programs existing sprinklers based on local forecast and daily data from thousands of weather stations and satellites -- combined with user feedback -- to create the ideal watering schedule. Blossom's technology ensures that each section of a yard is specifically watered based on layout and vegetation.
Easy Installation and Operation
Built on the belief that IoT technology should make life easier instead of more complicated, Blossom 8 allows users to truly 'set it and forget it.' No need for updates or integration with other IoT devices -- after the easy installation process that takes less than 15 minutes (a simple retrofit of the existing sprinkler controller), Blossom 8 builds a smart watering schedule via Wi-Fi connectivity and does everything on its own. Users can control Blossom 8 from their iOS or Android smartphone or tablet and stay connected to their yard -- no matter where they are.
"World Water Day focuses attention on the importance of fresh water and advocates for the sustainable management of fresh water resources," noted Manrique Brenes, Blossom CEO and founder. "With Blossom 8, the sentiment behind World Water Day can be acted upon every day. As one of the first companies to address the concept of a smart sprinkler system, we wanted to make the advantages they bring available to more people. Blossom 8 makes the beautiful, low maintenance yard that people want more accessible -- while also speaking to their desire to do right by the environment and save money."
Blossom 8 has an extremely user-friendly interface, is aesthetically pleasing and is designed to be placed indoors. Surprisingly enough, it doesn't cost much more than a conventional 8-station sprinkler controller and is priced lower than any other smart controller available today. With an MSRP of $129, Blossom 8 can pay for itself in water cost savings in less than one year. Once installed, Blossom customers can save up to 30 percent on future water bills.
Take advantage of special World Water Day promotional pricing of $99 by clicking here to preorder Blossom 8. For more details, please visit myblossom.com.
Headquartered in Irvine, California, the team behind the Blossom Smart Watering Controller knows a thing or two about the need for water conservation. Blossom leverages the power of cloud computing and real time weather data to optimize the irrigation schedule used to manage existing sprinklers. Blossom also gives users easy access to control the watering of their garden from their smartphone or tablet. With 75 prior patent filings between them, and backing from companies such as Vizio and Accton, Blossom's founders are on a mission to leverage their experience in consumer electronics, water resources, networking and hardware to bring a product to market that can make a difference. Blossom offers its products through The Home Depot, Amazon, Best Buy, NewEgg.com, SmartHome.com and MyBlossom.com.
About the Blossom Smart Watering Controller
The Blossom Smart Watering Controller is designed to be a simple, smart and economical solution to put an end to residential irrigation water waste. Leveraging the power of cloud computing, Blossom automatically controls existing sprinklers based on local weather data and user preferences, creating an optimized and customized watering schedule.