Photo: Lovro Rumiha/FlickrRachio recently announced the findings of their “State of the Yard” study of American homeowners.
Highlighting conflicting attitudes regarding watering etiquette, lack of awareness that smart home benefits are expanding beyond home and garden and confusion about how much to water, the results found that homeowners have much to learn about smart home devices that can help in their yards.
The study revealed that 69 percent of respondents said they were confident that their lawns were being watered properly, but then another 81 percent admitted they would love to know if they were watering accurately, indicating some homeowners have a facade of false knowledge.
“Homeowners invest a significant amount of time and money in their landscaping, and smart watering is the easiest way to protect that investment and ensure a healthier, heartier yard,” said Franz Garsombke, CTO of Rachio. “There’s tremendous opportunity for homeowners to avoid wasting water in their yards, no matter how exceptional their gardening skills are.”
The American Society of Landscape Architects has estimated that homeowners will spend an average of 10 percent of their home’s value on landscaping, and studies show that 87 percent of people believe maintaining a beautiful yard is just as important as making their house look good. This is where you can step in and help your customers better understand ways they can improve their landscape by taking advantage of these smart home devices.
Rachio’s study shows that 50 percent of homeowners were unaware of the benefits of smart home devices could extend to their yard in ways such as saving money, time and resources. By recommending and having the capability to install smart sprinkler systems, you can help your customers save money as well as water.
Most homeowners aren’t aware of their irrigation system’s water usage and Rachio found only one out of ten people knew that running sprinklers for 20 minutes uses more water than taking a two-and-a-half-hour shower, a month’s worth of dishwasher runs and 85 toilet flushes. Educating customers of these statistics can help open their eyes, and show the value of smart sprinkler devices.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also promotes water conservation with its WaterSense program, where it labels products that are certified to use 20 percent less water. It also has EPA WaterSense rebates which are available nationwide.
