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Proper watering is a very important part in having a healthy lawn. The most popular question I get relating to watering is how long and when do I water.
How long do I water:
This depends on your slope, amount of sun/shade your grass gets and type of sprinkler head.
Take one Saturday morning to test your system. Turn on one zone, as soon as you start seeing run off into the alley, sidewalk or street, this is how long you can EFFICIENTLY run that zone. Don't be surprised if it's only 2-3 minutes. The key is that you water in cycles. (Example: Run every zone on your sprinkler system at 5am. When every zone has watered, start it again until you get enough water on your lawn.) You may have 5 start times in order to get sufficient water on your lawn.
Rotor type sprinkler heads need to run longer. These heads usually cover a larger area and spaced out further apart that pop ups. The same test applies to rotor heads as pop ups. If a pop up runs for a total of 20 minutes, a rotor may need 45 minutes. Reason is a pop up generally puts out 4 gallons of water per minute in the same spot, where as a rotor may only be putting out 1.5 gallons of water per minute while it's moving back and forth.
If the area is heavily shaded (like between you and your neighbors house, that seems to always stay wet) you may only need to water that area for 1 minute because it doesn't get much if any sun light, evaporating the water.
When to water:
*Consult your City requirements and restrictions. City rules supersede my suggestions.
Summer
You generally want to start watering in the early morning around 4am. The key is to have all your water applied before it starts to warm up and water rapidly starts evaporating, which is usually around 9:30am. It's best not to water in the evening if you don't have to. Watering in the evening will allow water to sit on the grass and soil overnight promoting diseases.
Winter:
The same rules applies as in the Summer except the start times. Some mornings around 4am it's still below 32 degrees and you definitely don't want to be watering then, so start it later, around 8 or 9 am.
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