Can I Use a Rain Bird Irrigation System With Alarm.com?

Yes, you can use a Rain Bird Irrigation System with Alarm.com. Once you have paired your Rain Bird account with Alarm.com, you can use the ADC platform to operate your irrigation system. You will need to provide the Serial Number on the back of the WIFI bridge of the Rain Bird controller.

You can only complete the Rain Bird Integration if you have the Irrigation Service Package Add-On applied to your Alarm.com account. You must have the add-on applied by your monitoring company. This may require an extra fee depending on your monitoring company. Alarm Grid customers with access to Alarm.com can have this add-on applied at no extra charge. We include access to Alarm.com with our Gold and Platinum Level Plans. Check our monitoring page for more information.

Not all Rain Bird equipment is compatible with Alarm.com. You must check and make sure you have compatible hardware before attempting the integration. The Rain Bird ESP-TM2 with LNK WIFI Module will work with Alarm.com. A compatible module can be identified by its all-green control plate. If the device has multi-colored buttons, then it will not work. You can see a compatible ESP-TM2 in the following picture:

You can also use a Rain Bird ESP-Me with Alarm.com, as long as it features the "LNK Ready" icon on the panel. This indicates that it can be used with the LNK WIFI Module, which is needed for use with Alarm.com. If the Rain Bird ESP-Me Controller does not have the "LNK Ready" icon, then you can replace the panel with a newer version to make your setup compatible with Alarm.com. A compatible Rain Bird ESP-Me device is shown in the picture below. Note the LNK Ready icon in the red circle.

There are a few things you should do before attempting to add a Rain Bird Controller to your Alarm.com account. First, you must make sure the controller is connected to WIFI and that all programs and irrigation zones for the controller have been configured from within the Rain Bird App. Second, if you are planning to also use a Rachio Irrigation System with your Alarm.com account, you should complete that integration before attempting to integrate your Rain Bird Irrigation System with Alarm.com. If you want to learn how to integrate a Rachio Irrigation System with Alarm.com, please review this FAQ.

Before a Rain Bird device can be added to your Alarm.com account, you must enable the controller for use with Alarm.com. This is done through the Rain Bird Mobile App. Use your mobile device to login to the Rain Bird App. Then choose the controller you want to use with Alarm.com. Choose the Settings icon (the gears) in the bottom-right corner (circled in red). Select the "Connected Home" option to expand that field. Then select the switch next to Alarm.com. The switch should be green if Alarm.com is enabled.

The actual process of pairing your Rain Bird Controller with your Alarm.com account must be completed by your alarm monitoring company. As of October 2019, there is no way to complete the integration from the customer end of Alarm.com. You should contact your monitoring company and let them know that you want to add a Rain Bird Irrigation System to your Alarm.com account. You will be asked to provide the Serial Number on the back of the LNK WIFI Module used with your ESP-TM2 or ESP-Me device. Make sure that your compatible Rain Bird controller is connected to a WIFI network using the LNK WIFI Module and that Alarm.com has been enabled within the Rain Bird App (shown above) before asking your alarm company to complete the integration. Your monitoring company will follow the necessary steps to pair the controller. Note that this process must be repeated for each Rain Bird Controller you plan to use with Alarm.com.

Once the integration is complete, you will notice an "Irrigation" Card the next time you login to the Alarm.com Mobile App. The card will show the current status of your Rain Bird Controller and when it was last used. This card is only visible from the mobile app, and it will not appear on the Alarm.com website. However, you can still view Rain Bird Zones via the Alarm.com website under Settings > Devices. Note that zones are named numerically by default, but you can update these names to match the Rain Bird App by using the Alarm.com customer website. You can use the Alarm.com Mobile App to set the Rain Bird device to Rain Delay, start or stop watering for any individual zone(s) for a set duration of time, and view the last time a zone was watered.

Note that it is impossible to interact with an irrigation zone or program while watering is occurring. If you want to make changes to a zone or program, you should select "Stop Watering" first. If you want to water select zones that are not in a program, you can select "Water All Zones" and then deselect zones as needed. Program names will appear in the Alarm.com App, but any program details, irrigation zones, and watering durations, are only available from within the Rain Bird App. You should give each program a handy name so that you can easily reference it when operating your Rain Bird Controller from the Alarm.com App.