When I put in my house, I put in a sprinkler system. I love it! No more hoses. I can water at night, so you don't have to use as much water. I also set it up for my garden. I have higher sprinklers on posts for my garden. This way I can plant what ever I want and not worry about watering it either. So now I don't waste work, because it did not get watered.
You left out the backflow preventer, electro valve distribution manifolds, underground boxes to put the valves in, electronic controller, rain sensor, wiring, copper plumbing as required to connect to the home water supply, possible permit fees....
Plus we don't have any idea of how large an area he's doing, how accessible it is to get to the water supply in the house, etc. so there isn't much basis to say that $2000 is too high a price. He should definitely get more quotes though.
How much is that going to cost, delivered to the site? Plus, the pros around here don't trench, they have eqpt that pulls it, without ripping up the existing turf nearly as much. And it assumes the OP has the necessary skills to run the thing. How about if he has a paved driveway that has to be crossed a couple times? The pros have the gear to do that in 10 mins.
Which assumes the guy has the skills to figure all this out successfully. Don;t get me wrong. Some people could do this and save money. But I do a lot of my own work and 15 years ago, when I put in one, I contracted it out. The going rate back then in NJ I think was around $1600 for a 7 zone system and I think it was money well spent to avoid a lot of work.
One tip that I received when I was redoing my sprinkler system was, if you are using municipal water, to have a separate meter installed for the sprinkler system because sewer fees are affected by the amount of water you use. If the sprinklers are on the same meter, the sewer fees will go up along with the water usage fees. Of course this is true whether you have a system put in or continue to water with your current method.
If you want to save water then the best move is to stop trying to force grass to grow where it normally doesn't by changing the landscaping to whatever occurs naturally in your area.
Sure but one of his stated goals was to "use less water"
Not too many assumptions being made here.....
The first time you water without dragging out hoses, you likely will decide it was worth it. You might save water, but you can also save water with proper mowing. Mow too short, lawn dries out much faster. Water early morning (some lawns get fungus problems if wet all night). Water deeply enough, rather than more often using less water - encourages deeper root growth and takes longer to dry out. Rocky soil, or easy to dig?
There are good websites, Jess Stryker's being the best I have seen. He goes into great detail, explaining all the considerations. He gives some product advice. Lots of stuff to consider before going ahead - well water or municipal? Pressure. Area to cover. Is the landscaping finished or a work in progress? Don't want to spend $2k and then plant a tree that will block some sprinklers (makes for strips of brown, dried grass in the lawn).
Toro and others will design the layout for you:
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