Evaluating Florida Homeowner Response to Smart Irrigation Controllers

Abstract

<jats:p>Smart irrigation controllers are capable of substantially decreasing landscape water applications under residential high water-use conditions in Florida. Their implementation has been incentivized by governmental agencies and water utilities in an effort to reduce public-supply water demand and conserve water resources. However, the bulk of the research on smart controllers for urban landscapes has focused on performance dimensions. To successfully promote them, feedback from end-users is critical. This paper provides an evaluation of homeowner response to evapotranspiration (ET)-based and soil moisture sensor (SMS)-based smart controllers installed as part of a pilot project conducted in Orange County, FL. The objectives of the study were to collect demographic information, assess conservation attitudes and irrigation system knowledge, and gather feedback on the use of smart controllers from the pilot project’s residential cooperators. Data were collected through an online survey and analyzed using relative frequency distributions, text analysis, independent means <jats:italic>t</jats:italic> tests, and logistic regression. Results indicated that a majority of survey participants were satisfied with their controllers and planned to continue using them. Both ET and SMS controllers were consistently praised for saving money and irrigating efficiently. However, the likelihood that participants would continue using their controllers after the completion of the project was only significantly predicted by their levels of technical knowledge regarding the workings of the devices and whether they had experienced any challenges operating them. Efforts to promote both initial and long-term adoption may be most effective by emphasizing the economic benefits of investing in smart irrigation controllers and by disseminating best management practices that facilitate their understanding and successful operation.</jats:p>

Evolving response to smart irrigation controllers in high water‐use central Florida homes

“…Responses, disaggregated by year and technology, indicate that the percentages of survey participants who reported dissatisfaction with their controllers and an unlikelihood of continuing to use them were consistently higher in the SMS treatment than in the ET treatment groups. The differences between the two were significant in 2014 (Morera et al, ) but not in 2017. As the graphs show, in 2014 there were very few survey respondents with ET controllers who reported they were dissatisfied or unlikely to continue using them.…”

“…Despite an urgent need to increase urban irrigation efficiency, few studies have addressed the factors that influence acceptance and, much less, continued use, of water‐saving irrigation technologies (Morera et al, , ; St. Hilaire et al, ; Warner, Chaudhary, Rumble, Lamm, & Momol, ). There is a large body of literature on the drivers of indoor efficiency improvements, including the role of price and nonprice DSM instruments in stimulating technological change and residential demand reductions, yet there is little indication that the determinants of indoor and outdoor efficiency behaviors are comparable.…”

“…Tailoring promotion of smart controllers to homeowners with excessive irrigation, however, is key to achieving significant water savings (Davis & Dukes, 2015b;Dukes, 2012). Even then, homeowner response is dependent on factors beyond the performance of the technologies (Morera, Monaghan, Dukes, & Breder, 2017;Morera, Monaghan, Dukes, Wells, & Davis, 2015). Targeted initiatives require knowledge of household characteristics and preferences among high irrigators to ensure acceptance and continued use of the devices.…”

Predicting Satisfaction with Smart Irrigation Controllers and Their Long‐Term Use among Homeowners in Central Florida

“…The study by Morera et al . () used the survey data to evaluate homeowners' response to the technologies per treatment.…”

“…The purpose of the study, designed and performed by a multidisciplinary team of land‐grant university faculty and research staff comprised of environmental anthropologists and engineers, was to investigate whether the relative change in mean monthly irrigation between two years preceding and two years following the installation of an SMS or ET controller was a reliable predictor of a homeowner's satisfaction with the device and likelihood of continuing to use it after the completion of the project. The research builds on earlier studies of the project that examined the implementation and performance of the technologies (Davis and Dukes, ) and homeowners' response to them (Morera et al ., ). This study's objectives were to assess pre‐ and post‐installation irrigation trends, end‐user responsiveness to irrigation savings, and factors affecting short‐ and long‐term adoption of smart controllers.…”