The number of sprinkler heads per zone depends on the water pressure and flow rate of a system’s water source. A traditional system may have a dozen rotors and 8 to 10 spray heads. An Irrigreen system only needs one sprinkler head per zone.
One of the advantages of an Irrigreen system is its technology creates a digital print of your lawn and can change the spray pattern and distance to cover any zone shape. This technology means you have one Irrigreen sprinkler head per zone instead of many heads like you would with a traditional system.
Water pressure and flow rate determine the maximum heads per zone
Before we talk more about how many heads are needed per zone in different types of sprinkler systems, we need to talk about system limitations. In other words, it’s essential to realize the water running through your pipes puts constraints on how many heads you can install and adequately run in each zone.
To determine how many heads you can run per zone, you need to know your water pressure and flow rate.
Need help determining the pressure and flow rate of your water source? We have step-by-step instructions on how to figure each out.
Sprinkler heads and nozzles use different amounts of water based on their spray distance and pattern.
For example, if you’re using a rotor that consumes 5 gallons per minute (GPM) and your home’s water capacity is approximately 10 GPM, you could effectively run two heads per zone. If your heads consume 3 GPM, you could run three heads per zone.
Each zone of a sprinkler system will run all of its heads simultaneously. If you have too many in a zone and not enough pressure, each one's pressure will be lowered since the system cannot be controlled head by head.
Traditional sprinkler systems need multiple heads
Sprinkler heads come in a variety of spray patterns ranging from 90 to 360°, but they spray a continuous distance through the entire arc. Because of this, if you have a watering zone with straight-line edges (think squares or rectangles or something similar), you’ll need to install multiple heads in that zone to cover the entire area.
You can’t put a head in the center and expect it to reach all of the corners unless there is considerable overspray into neighboring flowerbeds or against your house’s foundation. Instead, you’ll need to design a zone with heads in each corner, along the perimeter, and possibly in the center to cover the entire area.
On average, a traditional sprinkler system zone boasts five to six rotary heads or eight to ten spray heads. At a minimum, you usually need four or five to cover a small square or rectangle.
Irrigreen saves money by using one head per zone
With an Irrigreen smart sprinkler system, you install one head in the center of the zone.
After mapping the outer edge of the watering area, the digital controller creates a dot-to-dot map to establish the perimeter and changes the head’s spray pattern to follow the perimeter. There is no overlapping of spray patterns, but instead, water is only directed where it’s needed, putting down moisture as efficiently as possible.
This is one of the leading benefits of using Irrigreen technology to water your lawn! There is significantly less equipment to purchase and install and fewer heads to maintain during the season. Less equipment equates to fewer chances something can break or need repairs!
