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An irrigation study to determine the effects of sensor based irrigation controllers on residential irrigation water use is described in this paper. This project is comprised of 59 homes in Pinellas County, Florida, with automatic in-ground residential irrigation systems. Experimental treatments evaluated include: T1) an automatic time based irrigation controller, set and operated by the cooperator, with the integration of a soil moisture sensor, T2) a rain sensor with a timer-based irrigation schedule, T3) an automatic time based controller only, and T4) similar to T2 with educational material detailing seasonal irrigation recommendations based on historical climate data. Preliminary results show that sensors are successful for irrigation water use savings at the single family home level. Data reported here is from June 2006, through March 2007. In homes with the installation of the soil moisture sensors (T1), water savings of 51% have been recorded compared to homes with an irrigation time clock only (T3). With the installation of a rain sensor (T2) the water used was 19% lower than T3. A further decrease in the amount of water use occurred after the distribution of the educational materials, with a difference of 58% between the two rain sensor treatments (T2 and T4).