Petah-Tikva, Israel –Internet of Things (IoT) startup GreenIQ has opened up distribution to HomeDepot.com to supplement direct sales of its first product, a $249 smart hub that controls home irrigation and outdoor-lighting systems.
Additional retailers are in the works. “We are actively negotiating and hope to roll out the Smart Garden Hub to other U.S. retailers in the near future,” a spokesperson told TWICE.
The company also announced a partnership with IFTTT.com to connect the hub to a wider range of smart/connected devices in the home, but the company didn’t disclose when the results of the partnership would be available.
IFTTT, which stands for If This Then That, is an ifttt.com web service that lets consumers create automated “recipes” that connect home automation products and connect social networks to them. Consumers create home-automation scenes or automate actions, such as having a smart LED light blink when a Facebook message is received. Uses can create a scene in which a fan automatically turn on if room temperature hits a certain point.
Via the IFTTT partnership, the irrigation hub will be able to interact with other home systems to combine actions into scenes or trigger other smart-home actions. GreenIQ didn’t disclose what interactions would be enabled under the partnership.
The company’s Wi-Fi-enabled Smart Garden Hub, which replaces existing irrigation-system controllers, controls watering schedules based on current and forecast weather to save up to 50 percent on the outdoor water consumption, the company said. It can also be controlled from an app running on an iPhone, iPad, Android smartphone/tablet, PC or Mac. Its weatherproof chassis can be mounted outdoors or indoors.
With the addition of a $19 relay, the hub also turns on and off garden lighting systems based on sunrises and sunsets.
The hub connects wirelessly to a variety of third-party sensors that monitor soil moisture, air temperature, and sunlight to determine in real-time when it’s the best time to water. The hub connects to sensors from Parrot, Netamo and Koubachi. Netamo, for example, offers a $149 Wi-Fi-connected weather station and rain gauge, and Koubachi offers a $149 Wi-Fi-connected outdoor plant sensor that tracks soil moisture, sunlight, and temperature.
From the hub’s app, users create their own custom watering cycles based on personal preferences, which zones are to be watered, and weather forecasts. The hub also sends notifications to users’ smartphones and tablets located in the house and remotely.
Unlike competitors Rachio and Skydrop, GreenIQ is waterproof, controls outdoor lighting, and “will soon be entering the home” through the IFTTT partnership, a spokesperson said.
The Smart Garden Hub is the only waterproof device of its kind, making it unnecessary to buy an optional weatherproof box that can cost up to $80, the spokesperson said. “This makes GreenIQ’s price point much more attractive for customers who wish to install the unit outdoors,” the company added.
The company is backed by tier one, early-stage venture-capital companies and private investors such as Entree Capita and Gigi Levy that have also backed Visualead, Meerkat, MyHeritage, Bizzabo and others.
