Closed-loop watering

Main page: Configuration

By default Smart Irrigation runs open loop: it calculates a duration and fires an event, but it does not know whether (or how much) watering actually happened, so you reset the bucket from an automation. The closed-loop features remove that guesswork. They are all opt-in and configured in the panel under General.

Observed watering (credit the bucket automatically)

When enabled, Smart Irrigation watches each zone's linked valve/switch. Whenever it runs (a manual tap, an automation, or Smart Irrigation itself), the zone's bucket is credited from the run time and the zone's throughput (depth_mm = throughput_L_per_min x minutes / size_m2). No more manual reset.

To set it up:

1. In General, turn on Enable observed watering.
2. In Zones, set each zone's Linked valve/switch to the entity that waters that zone (a switch, valve or input_boolean).

Important: when observed watering is on it becomes the only thing crediting the bucket. Remove any reset_bucket service call from your irrigation automation, otherwise the bucket is accounted twice.

Optional: a cumulative volume meter (more precise)

For exact accounting you can also set a zone's Cumulative volume meter. The applied depth is then taken from the measured volume delivered during the run (meter_at_close - meter_at_open) instead of throughput x time.

It must be a cumulative water-meter total (state class total_increasing), not an instant flow rate. The unit is read automatically from the sensor (L, mL, m³, gal, ft³). An instant flow-rate sensor (for example L/min) will not work; if your hardware only exposes a rate, feed it through a Riemann-sum Integration helper first to get a cumulative total.

Direct valve control (let Smart Irrigation run the valves)

With Let Smart Irrigation control the valve on, Smart Irrigation opens each zone's linked valve, waits the calculated duration, then closes it. No execution automation needed. The start event still fires, so external executors keep working too.

• Zone sequencing: Sequential runs one zone at a time (safe for water pressure); Parallel opens all eligible zones at once.
• Open confirmation: before crediting, Smart Irrigation waits for the valve to report an on-state. If it never opens, the run is not credited (so the deficit stays and rolls over to the next day) and a smart_irrigation_zone_problem event is fired. A write-only valve with no readable state is given the benefit of the doubt.
• Reboot resilience: a run that is in progress when Home Assistant restarts is resumed (or closed if it already exceeded its duration) and then credited.

Safety: if Home Assistant goes down for a long time during a run, the physical valve stays open and keeps watering, because Home Assistant is no longer there to close it. Give your valve a hardware failsafe (a maximum runtime on the device itself). Smart Irrigation also caps the credited time at the zone's maximum duration.

Events for your own automations

Direct valve control fires events you can use to notify or react, so you do not need one automation per zone:

• smart_irrigation_irrigation_started when a run begins. Data: sequencing (sequential/parallel) and zones, a list of {zone_id, zone, seconds} about to be watered.
• smart_irrigation_irrigation_finished when the whole run is done. Data: zones, a list of {zone_id, zone, seconds, volume_l, bucket} that ran (volume delivered and the new bucket level), and problems, a list of {zone_id, zone, reason} for zones whose valve did not open.
• smart_irrigation_zone_problem the moment a valve fails to open. Data: zone_id, zone, entity_id, reason.

Example: a single end-of-watering report for all zones.

alias: Watering report
triggers:
  - trigger: event
    event_type: smart_irrigation_irrigation_finished
actions:
  - variables:
      zones: "{{ trigger.event.data.zones }}"
      problems: "{{ trigger.event.data.problems }}"
  - action: notify.mobile_app_your_phone
    data:
      title: "{{ '🚨' if problems | count > 0 else '🌱' }} Watering finished"
      message: >-
        {% set l = namespace(t=[]) %}
        {% for z in zones %}
          {% set l.t = l.t + [z.zone ~ ": " ~ (z.seconds / 60) | round(1) ~ " min, " ~ z.volume_l ~ " L"] %}
        {% endfor %}
        {% for p in problems %}
          {% set l.t = l.t + ["WARNING " ~ p.zone ~ ": " ~ p.reason] %}
        {% endfor %}
        {{ l.t | join("\n") }}
mode: single

If you previously had one automation per zone that opened the valve and called reset_bucket, remove them once direct valve control is on: Smart Irrigation now opens the valves and credits the bucket itself, so the old automations would double up. Keep only report/notification automations like the one above.

The legacy smart_irrigation_start_irrigation_all_zones event still fires too (it carries the trigger identity), for setups that drive watering from their own automation or an external executor instead of direct valve control.

When does it run? The active start trigger

Irrigation starts on a single active trigger, chosen in General under the start triggers. The triggers you define are the pool of options; only the selected one starts watering, so a run happens once per day.

The default, Default (sunrise minus total watering duration), times the run so it finishes right at sunrise. Add custom triggers (sunset, solar azimuth, offsets) below and pick one as the active trigger if you prefer.

Main page: Configuration