Hey everyone,
I want to be able to turn on and off water to a hose outside and was thinking of using a sprinkler Valve and controlling that with a zwave relay or dry switch or something like that (not exactly sure what i can or cant use here)
the sprinkler Solenoid is 24v AC , so i was thinking if there is a zwave device that has an output of 22 to 28v AC then i can make my own smart water valve and not spend 100+ on it.
Can anyone help guide me in the right direction ?
If no such Device exists, you could use a regular Z-Wave outlet or pocket socket and a 24VAC wall wart. The 24VAC wall warts were pretty cheap the last time I bought one.
This isn’t the one I bought last time but is an example:
Yup! I did this with an indoor valve but for my main water line:
Put all that into a water proof container/box, and maybe you could pull it off. You could also find a LeakSmart valve. I ended up replacing what I did in that link with the LeakSmart valve I got on ebay super cheap:
1 Like
About a dozen community members have done something similar and posted project reports. In most cases, they just get a dumb electric valve turner and plug it into a smart plug, although they use different brand devices and slightly different approaches.
Some people use a smart valve turner instead, which gives you some different power options, but will likely cost more.
A WiFi smart plug will give you the longest range.
You can find these project reports by looking on the quick browse lists in the community – created wiki, look down near the bottom of the page for the “project reports“ section, and then choosing the list on irrigation projects. 
1 Like
Thank you to all of you for your help.
I am very excited now to get started on doing this.
Love this community 
3 Likes
I just picked up one of these Leaksmart valves to use for low tech control for watering the garden this summer! Definitely looks like less work than my prior solution with the mimolite 
2 Likes
I was thinking about doing this, too. I put together a parts list to use for a project with soakers at a remote location where I won’t be present most of the time. I can’t wait until it warms up a bit and I can start getting to those outside projects! One of the things I like about a solenoid valve approach is that it fails closed if AC voltage is removed. The valve turners all stay in whatever configuration they are in when power is removed - that could be open! For my use case, there are intermittent power problems (rural living, yay). While I could put everything on a UPS (including my hub and internet modem), the cost of the project starts to rise above the point where it makes practical sense to me.
Like @JDRoberts was saying, you can find solenoid valves that you can drive directly off a smart switch without having to use a separate relay or even 24V AC power supplies. You might consider something like this:
Still, I just bought one of the LeakSmart valves for my in-town home. That’s a great price! There are a few others on eBay that are a couple bucks cheaper…
Andrew
1 Like