Retro-Fits Page

EPA WaterSense Partner Sustainable Irrigation begins with knowledge. Heads Up Sprinkler Company believes in keeping your sprinkler system matched to your landscape needs. Retrofits update your existing system making it more efficient, installing new sprinkler water saving technologies and matching sprinkler coverage to landscape material. As an EPA WaterSense Partner, Heads Up evaluates your existing sprinkler system then designs a retrofit solution customized to your yard’s exact watering needs. Retrofits are your chance to become eco-friendly and begin saving money and water while improving the health of your landscape investment.

Many irrigation systems that were installed in the last twenty years have inefficient equipment. The sprinkler heads don’t water as uniformly and effectively as newer products on the market today. The objective of Retrofits is to prevent homeowners from having to overwater some areas in order to keep everything green.

When the equipment is old, it begins to fail. Many of our customers prefer not to have the worries of regular service visits just to keep an aging system going. The typical life of a sprinkler head is often less than ten years. The wearing down of existing equipment, coupled with the outdated layout and less than efficient components makes a Retrofit a great option. Retrofits use viable components in your system and upgrade only those elements that will contribute more effectively.

Scenarios:

• Still the original system that “came with the house” and no longer serves your new or grown-up landscaping. Removing older landscaping and replaced it with new means changing the water application too.

expanded landscaping • Increasing the number and size of your flower beds so now the coverage “isn’t watering everywhere”. New plant material has differing water requirements from the grass station/zone that is now asked to deliver water to your new beds. We specialize in retrofitting stations/zones by hydrozoning --- separating grass from plants into distinct watering zones allowing for the right amount of water to be delivered to the right plants.

new kids play area • Created a new play area for the kids and reallocated some of the yard for the playground? No problem, we specialize in modifying and retrofitting your existing system to match your life-changing plans.

redesigned backyard • Recently added a pergola or created more back yard living space, reducing the area your sprinkler system now needs to cover? Let Heads Up Sprinkler Company modify your system. Letting unlicensed contractors perform sprinkler modifications and repairs is like asking an auto mechanic to repair a pothole. Lawn sprinklers are hydraulically balanced and coverage should be a matched precipitation rate per zone or station.

Whatever changes your yard has been through, your sprinkler coverage needs to match your landscape design and deliver water both efficiently and uniformly. Distributing water in your yard to minimize water waste from wind drift, correct over or under watering, redistribute nozzles to remedy dry spots and delivering the most usable water to your landscape are our goals.

Tailoring your sprinkler system to your landscape needs is a more effective improvement than just “adding heads here and there”. Sprinkler Retrofits are about redesigning your existing system to better accommodate your landscape watering needs while saving you money through water conservation. Flowers, shrubs and hedges in beds need differing amounts of water than does the grass in your yard. Separating grass from beds or Hydrozoning accomplishes these different watering needs.

Redesigning your existing system is a science. In Texas it is a licensed profession. Water pressure, precipitation rate, distribution uniformity and plant watering requirements are critical elements to incorporate into efficient delivery systems. We specialize in using water sense irrigation products and water efficient components to provide you with the best return on your investment through a well-designed system and more efficient future water use.

[The state of Texas requires a licensed irrigation professional to work on your sprinklers, but Texas also allows DIY-ers, see our Do-It-Yourself pages. Irrigation is regulated because we need to protect our water sources and conserve water.]

Heads Up successfully uses what we consider the best water saving products developed in our industry. We recommend the right products and modifications for specific problems. Several products by different manufacturers fit select issues.

Toro Precision Spray Nozzles (PSNs) ---

Toro Precision™ Series Spray Nozzles look and install exactly like traditional spray nozzles, there are many additional features that differentiate the nozzles, making them the most significant breakthrough in the spray nozzle category in over 60 years.
patented H2O Chip
The patented H²O Chip generates a larger, more uniform droplet size resulting in consistency across the irrigated arc, increased wind resistance and minimizes unintentional watering of hardscape features and run-off.

Toro’s PSN chip is simply a highly engineered chamber (i.e., flow path), that creates one or more high- frequency oscillating streams without the use of any moving parts. The oscillation creates larger droplets of water able to travel in a more pattern.

The chip not only creates larger droplets, but also regulates pressure at the head resulting in a more uniform droplet size, precise pattern distribution and significantly more uniform coverage, thereby eliminating misting from high pressure and water waste from wind drift.

Use of Toro Precision Spray Nozzles can help reduce water use by an average of 25% - 45%. For more information go to our Products section or go to Toro.com.

Smart Controllers ---

Smart controllers are irrigation clocks that automatically adjust irrigation run times in response to environmental changes. These smart controllers take the “human factor out of the equation” and save you guessing and money. Three products Heads Up Sprinkler Company relies upon are: SmartDial made by Irritrol (formerly Hardie Richdel); RainBird’s ESP SMT Controller and weather station; and Toro’s Intellisense Controller.

ET controllers, commonly called Smart Controllers are equipped with weather information, programmed with specific micro-climate information by station/zone, plant/turf specific information by station/zone and annualized/monthly Texas rainfall data.

Smart controllers use sensors and weather information to manage watering times and frequency. As environmental conditions vary, these controllers increase or decrease irrigation per station/zone. Smart controllers have the ability to turn off your sprinklers automatically during rain, high wind or low temperature.

Smart controllers can help reduce outdoor water use by an average of 15% to 30%. They also reduce over watering, which can cause fungal disease and insect problems. Smart controllers are a more expensive investment than traditional controllers, but ROI can be realized between 6 months to 2 years.

For more information go to our Products section or go to Toro.com, Irritrol.com or Rainbird.com.

Rain & Freeze Sensors ---

Most existing controllers can accept the addition of an electronic Rain & Freeze Sensor. The function of the sensor is to sense when there is rainfall and when temperatures are low enough to cause a freeze event, then to transmit a signal to the controller to suspend normal controller operation until the rain or freeze event has passed.

Several cities offer a rebate on your water bill for the installation of these devices to your existing sprinkler system. Within Dallas city limits, these devices are mandatory and licensed irrigators are required to install a sensor if your system lacks one.

Rain & Freeze Sensors can help reduce outdoor water use by an average of 15% to 25%. For more information go to our Products section or go to Toro.com or Irritrol.com.

For most retrofits, we perform an initial service call to evaluate what sprinkler system you already have, check what works, what can be reused and what can be improved. After the initial billable check-up visit, we can provide a detailed estimate for retrofit improvements to your system.