diff --git a/esphome/components/sprinkler/sprinkler.cpp b/esphome/components/sprinkler/sprinkler.cpp
index a3c264da58..eb9e61958f 100644
--- a/esphome/components/sprinkler/sprinkler.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/sprinkler/sprinkler.cpp
@@ -322,13 +322,11 @@ optional<size_t> SprinklerValveRunRequest::valve_as_opt() {
 SprinklerValveOperator *SprinklerValveRunRequest::valve_operator() { return this->valve_op_; }
 
 Sprinkler::Sprinkler() : Sprinkler("") {}
-Sprinkler::Sprinkler(const char *name) : name_(name) {
-  // The `name` is stored for dump_config logging
-  this->timer_.init(2);
-  // Timer names only need to be unique within this component instance
-  this->timer_.push_back({"sm", false, 0, 0, [this]() { this->sm_timer_callback_(); }});
-  this->timer_.push_back({"vs", false, 0, 0, [this]() { this->valve_selection_callback_(); }});
-}
+// The `name` is stored for dump_config logging; the scheduler keys each timer by its SprinklerTimerIndex
+Sprinkler::Sprinkler(const char *name)
+    : name_(name),
+      timer_{{{false, 0, 0, [this]() { this->sm_timer_callback_(); }},
+              {false, 0, 0, [this]() { this->valve_selection_callback_(); }}}} {}
 
 void Sprinkler::setup() {
   this->all_valves_off_(true);
@@ -1510,7 +1508,7 @@ const LogString *Sprinkler::state_as_str_(SprinklerState state) {
 
 void Sprinkler::start_timer_(const SprinklerTimerIndex timer_index) {
   if (this->timer_duration_(timer_index) > 0) {
-    this->set_timeout(this->timer_[timer_index].name, this->timer_duration_(timer_index),
+    this->set_timeout(static_cast<uint32_t>(timer_index), this->timer_duration_(timer_index),
                       this->timer_cbf_(timer_index));
     this->timer_[timer_index].start_time = millis();
     this->timer_[timer_index].active = true;
@@ -1521,7 +1519,7 @@ void Sprinkler::start_timer_(const SprinklerTimerIndex timer_index) {
 
 bool Sprinkler::cancel_timer_(const SprinklerTimerIndex timer_index) {
   this->timer_[timer_index].active = false;
-  return this->cancel_timeout(this->timer_[timer_index].name);
+  return this->cancel_timeout(static_cast<uint32_t>(timer_index));
 }
 
 bool Sprinkler::timer_active_(const SprinklerTimerIndex timer_index) { return this->timer_[timer_index].active; }
diff --git a/esphome/components/sprinkler/sprinkler.h b/esphome/components/sprinkler/sprinkler.h
index 2499a0a591..c51824d883 100644
--- a/esphome/components/sprinkler/sprinkler.h
+++ b/esphome/components/sprinkler/sprinkler.h
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 #include "esphome/components/number/number.h"
 #include "esphome/components/switch/switch.h"
 
+#include <array>
 #include <vector>
 
 namespace esphome::sprinkler {
@@ -49,7 +50,6 @@ struct SprinklerQueueItem {
 };
 
 struct SprinklerTimer {
-  const char *name;
   bool active;
   uint32_t time;
   uint32_t start_time;
@@ -564,8 +564,8 @@ class Sprinkler final : public Component {
   /// Sprinkler valve operator objects
   std::vector<SprinklerValveOperator> valve_op_{2};
 
-  /// Valve control timers - FixedVector enforces that this can never grow beyond init() size
-  FixedVector<SprinklerTimer> timer_;
+  /// Valve control timers, indexed by SprinklerTimerIndex (also used as the scheduler id)
+  std::array<SprinklerTimer, 2> timer_;
 
   /// Other Sprinkler instances we should be aware of (used to check if pumps are in use)
   std::vector<Sprinkler *> other_controllers_;