What Key Features Should I Look For In a Sprinkler System?
With all of the options, where do you start? Lets being with brands. There are 3 main brands when it comes to sprinklers Toro, Rainbird, and Hunter. My personal preference is a mix between Hunter and Rainbird. For the sake of time, I will say that either brand Hunter or Rainbird will not be disappointing.
Next major component is how your zones are laid out. What is a zone? you ask. A zone is a way of breaking up the system for 3 main reasons. 1 Available water supply. Your house or property has a limited amount of water that can be used at one time. As a workaround we use zones to only water sections of your house at once. 2 head type. Rotor heads put out on average the same amount of water as a regular spray head. However, it is over a greater distance. So why does this matter? If you put spray heads on the same zone as rotors, the area that is watered by the spray heads will stay wet and the area watered by the rotors will remain dry. Depending on how the nozzle size the rotor head will be putting out 2 gallons a minute over a 30-foot area, while the spray head will be putting out 2 gallons a minute over a 15-foot area. The third reason is location. This is often the most overlooked aspect of a sprinkler layout. Each area of a yard, does not get the same amount of sun, right? Well, then why would you want them to water for the same amount of time? If they are on the same zone, there is nothing you can do about it. However, if it is properly laid out you can control each area separately. I have seen countless systems with the heads on the same zone in the front of the yard with full sun, as the side of a house, barely any sun. Then people wonder why they side of their house is a swamp. Zone summary, do not mix head types, do not mix areas of the yard. Keep them separate.
When at all possible go with a 6-inch spray head in the turf areas. Contractors will try to sell you a 4-inch head, but the cost difference between the two is very minimal. Why use a 6-inch head instead of a 4-inch head? Average cool season turf grass is recommended to be cut at about 3.5 inches high. If your sprinkler only pops 4 inches out of the ground, it will need to be installed perfectly and will quickly become blocked by the grass as it grows. Save yourself time and repairs and go with a bigger head that allows for some forgiveness.
Head to Head coverage
I am sure you are familiar with this term. What it means is that each head overlaps another, or at the very least comes close. By ensuring head to head coverage you will save yourself in run times on your zones and water your yard in the most efficient manner. Without it, there will be gaps and dead spots. Sprinkler heads, especially rotors do not cover well 5 feet out from the base of the head. If there inst another head spraying back onto it, this will produce dry spots. Also if the wind is an issue you will never get the water where you want it.
In summary, brands are roughly the same in comparison, but the most important thing you should be worried about is design and layout. No matter what brand you have if the design is flawed and they layout is bad swapping brands will not help you. However, if you have a great layout and design but the brand is bad you can always replace parts as they break.
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