An irrigation controller waters by the clock — even when it rained overnight. We measure soil moisture in every zone, draw on weather data and water according to need. Fully integrated into KNX and visible in your visualisation.
Capacitive soil moisture sensors sit at root depth in every zone and report what actually arrives there. Lawn, perennial bed and hedge each get their own setpoint. If it rained during the night, the valve stays shut — without anyone having to reset the system.
The irrigation runs on KNX, not on a controller with its own cloud and its own password. Zones, moisture readings and run times sit on the same bus as lighting and shading — operable at the switch, visible in the same visualisation.
Cistern or well come first: the level is measured, the pump is protected against running dry, and the mains drinking water supply only tops up once the tank is empty. Backflow prevention to DIN EN 1717 is a mandatory part of that.
A controller on the tap, a few sprinklers in the lawn, fixed times. That works — until the first hot week, the first day of rain and the first leak.
Sensors in the soil, weather data from the station that also protects your external venetian blinds, and logic on the KNX bus that brings the two together.
The familiar picture: a few sprinklers in the lawn, everything on one zone, the controller set to 20 minutes a day. In the first summer there is water standing on the path, the hedge dries out anyway, and nobody notices that a pipe has been leaking for weeks. We plan the system the other way round, starting from the water volume available — and we give it eyes.
Capacitive sensors rather than cheap resistive probes, set at root depth and in a representative part of the zone — at several points on large areas. A sensor in the wrong place measures the wrong thing very reliably, and steers the whole zone with it.
Lawn, perennial bed, hedge, planter and raised bed have entirely different water requirements. Put them on one zone and you always have both at once: a plant that is drowning and one that is drying out.
Pop-up sprinklers with the right throw radius and matched precipitation rates for lawns, drip line and individual drippers for beds and hedges, micro-sprayers for special areas. Mixing delivery types within one zone always gives an uneven result.
The pressure and flow available at the point of supply limit how many sprinklers can run at the same time. We calculate pipe friction and differences in level rather than cutting zones too large — otherwise the water mists instead of reaching the distance it was planned for.
Cistern, well or mains water: level measurement in the tank, dry-running protection for the pump, and logic that gives rainwater priority and only switches to the mains once the tank is empty — including a message if the cistern stays empty for any length of time.
Backflow prevention and an air gap are not a matter of convenience on an irrigation system, they are a requirement: irrigation water must under no circumstances find its way back into the mains drinking water supply. We plan the appropriate protection device and its location in from the start.
Rainfall, wind, temperature and light level come from the same KNX weather station that also protects your external venetian blinds from storms. In wind there is no watering, because the water drifts off anyway; after enough rain the valves stay shut.
Watering happens in the early hours of the morning: least evaporation, the foliage dries off over the day, the risk of fungal disease drops. Zones run one after another rather than at the same time, so that there is enough pressure for each one.
A water meter per circuit makes anomalies visible: if water flows although no valve is open, or noticeably more than in comparable cycles, the master valve closes and you get a message — before the garden is washed out underneath or the bill is written.
The robot mower stays in its dock while watering is under way. The terrace zone pauses while the pool is in use. The evening scene in the garden switches lighting, music and the irrigation lock-out together — that is the difference between integrated and merely installed alongside.
Moisture readings per zone, cistern level, consumption per circuit and the next scheduled watering time — as a history across the season, not as a flashing icon. That way you can see in August whether the setpoints chosen in May were the right ones.
Crossings under paths, driveways and terraces need KG ducting pipes before anything is paved. We agree the routes with the landscaping contractor and bring them into the electrical planning — together with garden lighting, pool control and external sockets.
Drain valves at the lowest point, a continuous fall towards the drain points and a connection for compressed air. That way the system is empty in an hour in autumn; without this planning the pipes under the lawn burst in February.
Six elements settled before the first trench is dug.
Lawn, beds, hedges, planters and raised beds planned separately — each zone with sprinklers or drip line as required, and sized to the water volume actually available.
Solenoid valves in valve boxes set below the frost line, manifolds, pipe routing and pipe sizes calculated so that every zone gets its pressure.
Capacitive soil moisture sensors at root depth, soil temperature, level measurement in cistern and well, and a water meter per circuit.
A KNX weather station with rainfall, wind, temperature and light level, supplemented by forecast data — the same station that also protects your shading.
Zones, run times, setpoints, holiday mode and manual operation on the bus — operable at the switch, visible in the visualisation as a history.
Drain points, falls and a compressed-air connection planned in from the start — the system gets blown out in autumn instead of repaired in spring.
Planting plan, soil type, falls, orientation to the sun — and above all the water volume actually available at the point of supply, in litres per minute. Without that figure, any zone planning is guesswork.
We fix the zones, sprinkler types, precipitation rates, pipe sizes and the position of the valve boxes — agreed with the landscaping contractor, so that the pipes are in the ground before anything is paved.
Supply cables to the valve boxes, sensor cables and conduits under paths and terraces go into the electrical planning. During shell construction that is one more conduit; afterwards it is a terrace taken up.
After commissioning, the setpoints settle in over a season: we adjust moisture thresholds, run times and time windows until the garden manages without your involvement.
Listed building, and without major structural work: garden irrigation, alarm system, access control and the Siedle exterior camera all handled over an intelligent wireless system.
Pool and garden irrigation control as part of an overall concept with Basalte controls, multiroom audio and complex lighting design — interior by Studio ASH.
Pool, air conditioning and 800 DALI luminaires on one system — the same depth of planning that an outdoor installation in a hot climate demands.
smartfabrik is a smart home planning practice based in Düsseldorf (Reisholzer Werftstr. 31A). We plan for private clients and companies in Cologne, Düsseldorf and across North Rhine-Westphalia — and, where wanted, nationwide and internationally. A selection of the places we have already planned and delivered in:
A time control waters even when it rained overnight, and waters too little when a hot week arrives. Capacitive soil moisture sensors at root depth report the actual state per zone. The system waters when the soil drops below the setpoint — that saves water and is far gentler on the plants than the constant swing between too wet and too dry.
Yes. Solenoid valves are switched through actuators; soil moisture, levels and water meters are read in through suitable inputs or gateways. All values and zones then sit on the same bus as lighting, shading and heating: operable at the switch, visible in the visualisation, and able to be linked into scenes — without a separate manufacturer app.
Yes, and that is exactly how we plan it. The level in the tank is measured, the pump is protected against running dry, and only once the tank is empty is water drawn from the mains drinking water supply. A protection device to DIN EN 1717 is mandatory here, so that irrigation water cannot find its way back into the mains — we plan that in as well.
With a water meter per circuit, yes. If water flows although no valve is open, or a zone uses noticeably more than in comparable cycles, the master valve closes automatically and you get a message. Without that measurement, a leak underground often only shows up with the annual bill.
As early as possible — at the latest together with the external works. Pipe routes, conduits under paths and terraces, the position of the valve boxes and the supply cables for the sensors belong in the electrical and groundworks planning. Afterwards, every crossing under a paved surface means opening up the site again.
Often, yes. Where pipes and valve boxes are already in place, we replace the controller with KNX actuators, add soil moisture sensors and water meters, and bring it all into your visualisation. We check beforehand whether the zone layout and hydraulics of the existing system will carry that at all — sometimes the honest answer is that a zone has to be split.
The system is drained. For that we plan in drain valves at the lowest point, a continuous fall and a connection for compressed air, so that blowing it out in autumn takes an hour. Without that preparation, the pipes underground burst in a frost — and the repair sits under the lawn.
Conduits, valve boxes and sensors cost little during shell construction — afterwards they cost a terrace taken up.
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