Top Weather Stations On The Market
In time past, weather stations were used by meteorologists to help in the effort to try to predict weather patterns to prepare the weather forecasts. Unfortunately, through experience, we treated them with a deal of scepticism on the TV and in the newspapers. The weather stations were not generally very sophisticated, a min-max thermometer, a bucket to collect rainwater, and a whirly thing that registered windspeed on a paper disk.
Some amateurs also had something similar, and schools used to have one as a sixth-form project.
Things have really changed. The man on the Met Office roof has been replaced by a bunch of high‑tech equipment, equally at home with the professional and amateur meteorologist. Satellite imagery, radar, sophisticated computer processing.
Smartphones, the Internet and PC applications have made it easier than ever to check up on current and future weather conditions. But there is a major problem – they are not right half the time.
This is because the data used by the apps comes from weather stations miles away from you and their weather conditions are different. That’s where home weather stations come in. They are very local and will tell you exactly what the weather is doing right there, right now.
Farmers and the local vicar wondering if he needs to bring the garden fete into the village hall because of rain later need the local forecast.
Some general considerations.
- Mobile or Static
Is the station to be in a fixed location or do you want to move it to different locations.
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- Portable
Portable stations are useful for the outdoorsy type, hikers, mountaineers and the like. They want to know what the weather will be like later so they can plan ahead, Portable stations need to be small, light and easily assembled and disassembled.
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- Static
Choosing where to put your home station is critical for its proper operation. There are two major things to think about:
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- Radiative Heat. If your station is picking up radiative heat from local sources then that will cause inaccuracies. Outdoor sources include walls, and heating ducts. Indoor sources are radiators, computers and so-on.
- It should be in the shade to prevent the sun providing false readings. A shield could be used to provide shade.
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- Sensors
Having the sensors in the right place is obviously very important. Some units have the sensors outside and a base station in the comfort of your home connected to the sensors using WiFi. The first consideration is that there is a good WiFi connection.
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- Rain Gauge
The gauge mustn’t be affected by drips or splashback from the ground. It also needs to be unobstructed so rainfall is not affected by walls, trees or the like.
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- Temperature/Humidity
Make sure the sensor is away from any funny stuff like cars or people passing by. It should be about six feet off the ground and full shade.
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- Wind
The official height for wind measurement is 10 metres (33 feet) off the ground and free of any obstruction. That generally means on the roof, unless you are a Hobbit and live underground.
- Electricity
It might not, strictly speaking, be necessary, but earthing any equipment fixed to a house is a good idea.If the sensors or base station need power make sure it can be provided safely.
- Some helpful hints:
- Clean out the rain gauge regularly to keep it free of debris.
- Regularly check temperature and humidity sensors for any dust or muck that might affect readings
- Calibrations can go off. Compare your readings with nearby weather stations regularly, and adjust as required.
- Clean any solar power panels regularly, and check and replace batteries as required.
Some manufacturers will sell mounting kits to ease the pain of going around the garden looking for the best places.
So, if you are after something more sophisticated than a bucket, thermometer and a whirly thing, here are some home weather stations you might want to consider.
Profi WH3000 SE
This unit is designed to be able to communicate with Weather Underground while not needing a PC. Real-time transmission uses WiFi and a smartphone.
Its features include:
- A full-colour display showing data, (15.7 x 7.6 cm),
- An IoS/Android smartphone app to set the unit up
- A redesigned Y outdoor unit holding sensors that measure outside temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation, UV, rainfall, wind speed and wind direction
- A built-in thermo-hygrometer which continuously measures internal temperature, relative humidity and air pressure.
- A built-in WiFi module
- Real-time transmission to Weather Underground
All the data collected are automatically analysed giving a weather forecast, rain rate, dew point as well as trends for air pressure, the indoor temperature and the humidity.
Some things to remember. You will need:
- A two pin to UK three pin adapter to provide mains power to the console.
- Batteries
- 2X AA batteries
- 3x AAA batteries (recommended but not essential if you’re using mains for the console)
- A mounting pole
- A smart phone for the IOS/Android app. You might also be charged for the data costs of uploading information to Weather Underground
User reviews are generally favourable, but some gripes have been noted about the poor quality of the manual, and that it cannot be downloaded from the Net.
Bresser
The Bresser weather centre 5-in-1 has been designed to be compact, yet provide a comprehensive weather service.
The display shows current values and history data for up to 24 hours. This allows the unit to calculate a local weather forecast for the next 12 hours.
To help farmers and gardeners, max and min alarm levels can be programmed to give an audible and visual alert if the limits are breached. A frost/ice warning is also available.
Features include:
- A 12 hour Weather forecast
- Phases of the Moon
- Rainfall
- Weather trends
- Indoor and Outdoor temperatures
- Humidity
- Air pressure
- Wind direction and speed
- An outdoor sensor
As with the Profi, you will need to supply:
- 6 x AA Batteries
- A two pin to UK three pin adapter to provide mains power to the console.
Reviews are generally good, but there are some serious gripes about the unit resetting and regularly losing historical data. UK users also complained about the unit applying the EU time difference to readings.
Overall, UK users seem split about 50/50 as to its usefulness.
AcuRite 01512
The US Made unit incorporates a base station and a 5-in-1 sensor unit. Delivery includes mounting hardware, battery unit with a 2-year life, and a one-year warranty.
Features:
- An illuminated colour display, self standing or wall mounted
- Adjustable Dimmer
- Mains powered
- Battery Backup
- Self-Calibrating Technology
- 12 to 24 Hour forecasts
- Weather ticker showing in real time:
- Moon Phase
- Indoor comfort level
- Wind Chill
Measurements include:
- Indoor and Outdoor temperatures
- Humidity
- Rainfall
- Wind Speed and Direction
- Heat index
- Dew Point
- Wind Chill factor
- Barometric pressure
- Date and Time.
Please note that this is an US unit, and makes no concessions to UK requirements. According to user reviews:
- Date format is US and cannot be changed
- Time format is AM/PM and cannot be changed to 24Hr format
- The AcuRite website seems inaccessible from the UK
- Accessories and upgrades are not available in the UK
- Difficult to believe but apparently, it cannot be connected to a PC or IPad. This may be due to the connectors required not being available in the UK.
- Support is quite iffy, if it happens at all.
For these reasons we will find it difficult to recommend, though it is a nice looking machine.
Summary
We have already discounted the AcuRite US unit for the reasons set out above.
The Bresser unit also had some serious problems, particularly around the resetting issue and overall had no overriding advantages.
That leaves the Profi unit as the winner by default. Fortunately, it seems a good unit and one which most home weather enthusiasts will find meets their needs.