Outdoor Weather Stations

[Mizicke5273]

Anyone have a weather station in their yard? I've been thinking about picking one up, as I'd like to track rain levels, get wind speed, and possibly wind direction. It should also have a remote base station to check all the info on; a companion App is okay, but not necessary. I see a bunch on Amazon in the ~$150 range and some in the $400 range.

If they are decent enough, I think the ones in the $150 range should suffice for me; don't think I am looking for any advanced features really. So any recommendations or features to look for?

 

[hydro-terp]

I have this one and like it.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/acurite-5-n-1-weather-station-with-color-display-1529di-1592408

I'm on my third or fourth. The outside unit takes a beating and you get like 5 years out of one and a whole new system is about the same price as the outdoor unit.

I bought a 8 ft section of electrical conduit and mounted it on it. I drove a 4 ft piece of rebar in the ground halfway then slide it down over it.

HT

 

[George Scott]

I got my first one last December. Link:
Ecowitt GW3001/GW3011 Wittboy Weather Station, IoT Wi-Fi Hub with SD Card Data Storage, 7-in-1 Outdoor Solar Powered Anti-vibration Haptic Rainfall Sensor, Includes Bird Spikes × 1

I went for this one for a couple of reasons. Long life no moving parts, Local info only - no dependency on cloud service, easy to integrate with other systems - I have it talking to my Home Assistant. You can also buy a display for in the house if you are not integrating it with another system, or you can have it send the data to their cloud service and show it on their map. They have a mobile app if you don't want or need a display.

So far I'm really liking it and it has been working flawlessly. I didn't like the idea and having to pull it down to change backup batteries once or twice a year, so I got their extension device for $15 that lets me relocation the battery down within reach. Shouldn't need battery since it runs on solar and super capacitors, but I wanted to be sure during extended cloudiness.

Page with info on models and screens: https://shop.ecowitt.com/pages/wittboy-landing-page

 

[BlindedByScience]

Bought this one 4 years ago. Flawless, so far:

Ambient Weather WS-2902 WiFi:

https://a.co/d/09M4WCTt

 

[Nick Burner]

I have this one and love it.
Ambient Weather WS-2000 Smart... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GRBY9NP?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

I bought this one for my folks and my mother-in-law
Ambient Weather WS-2902 WiFi... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N5TEHLI?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

We are in Allen, my folks are 4 miles away in Frisco and my MIL is in Lubbock. Fun to see the differences in rainfall even in a 4 mile span and Lubbock doesn’t get shit for rain.

I have a Rachio3 smart sprinkler system and by default it looks at aggregated weather data for our general area. I found that if it rained anywhere around me, my system didn’t water, even if we got no rain at all. With only 2 watering days a week and limited hours on those days that wasn’t going to work so I got the weather station and pointed my Rachio to my specific station. Now if it rains here, it won’t water but if it rains across town and not here, it still runs. Technology is great. I also added thermo/hygro units around the house so I can keep track of how my AC units are performing. (They make a good 3rd party source alongside Govee units when setting up a new humidor too.)

 

[Scap]

We've got this one.

https://a.co/d/0eUDufCR

Gave my parents one and my sister has one too.

 

[Mizicke5273]

I got my first one last December. Link:
Ecowitt GW3001/GW3011 Wittboy Weather Station, IoT Wi-Fi Hub with SD Card Data Storage, 7-in-1 Outdoor Solar Powered Anti-vibration Haptic Rainfall Sensor, Includes Bird Spikes × 1

I went for this one for a couple of reasons. Long life no moving parts, Local info only - no dependency on cloud service, easy to integrate with other systems - I have it talking to my Home Assistant. You an also buy a display for in the house if you are not integrating it with another system, or you can have it send the data to their cloud service and show it on their map. I don't remember if they give you a dashboard or not...

So far I'm really liking it and it has been working flawlessly. I didn't like the Battery backup idea and having to pull it down to change batteries once or twice a year, so I got there battery extension device for $15 that lets me relocation the battery down low within reach.

Page with info on models and screens: https://shop.ecowitt.com/pages/wittboy-landing-page

The Ecowitt looks interesting with the no moving parts. I see you mention battery backup, but it also says solar power? Are those batteries rechargeable ones then and you have to change them out every year?

Bought this one 4 years ago. Flawless, so far:

Ambient Weather WS-2902 WiFi:

https://a.co/d/09M4WCTt

I have this one and love it.
Ambient Weather WS-2000 Smart... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GRBY9NP?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

I bought this one for my folks and my mother-in-law
Ambient Weather WS-2902 WiFi... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N5TEHLI?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

We are in Allen, my folks are 4 miles away in Frisco and my MIL is in Lubbock. Fun to see the differences in rainfall even in a 4 mile span and Lubbock doesn’t get shit for rain.

I have a Rachio3 smart sprinkler system and by default it looks at aggregated weather data for our general area. I found that if it rained anywhere around me, my system didn’t water, even if we got no rain at all. With only 2 watering days a week and limited hours on those days that wasn’t going to work so I got the weather station and pointed my Rachio to my specific station. Now if it rains here, it won’t water but if it rains across town and not here, it still runs. Technology is great. I also added thermo/hygro units around the house so I can keep track of how my AC units are performing. (They make a good 3rd party source alongside Govee units when setting up a new humidor too.)

I've looked at Accurite and Ambient Weather models on Amazon. Both brands are around the same price and close to what I was thinking of spending.

For the Ambient Weather ones, either of you subscribe to the AWN? $50 a year seems expensive to me; for what you seem to get. At least it does not appear too useful to me right now.



Seems the deciding factor for me will be how and what information is displayed on the base station. As I'm only really looking for basic information and features right now. And I don't have any plans to integrate it with anything currently. The ~4 year life span seems to be reasonable for the cost and it being out in the weather constantly. It's good to have a couple of brands to consider and I'm thinking any of these will meet my needs right now. Might just have to get one and go from there.

Thanks!

 

[George Scott]

Sorry @Mizicke5273 I updated my post with better info. The units run on solar power and charge up super capacitors during the day. At night they used the stored energy from the super capacitors. If you have extended cloudiness, it will run on the two replaceable AA alkaline batteries. I got and use the extender to move those AA batteries down were I can reach them easily.

 

[Mizicke5273]

Sorry @Mizicke5273 I updated my post with better info. The units run on solar power and charge up super capacitors during the day. At night they used the stored energy from the super capacitors. If you have extended cloudiness, it will run on the two replaceable AA alkaline batteries. I got and use the extender to move those AA batteries down were I can reach them easily.

Ah, makes more sense now! Thanks for clarifying that.

 

[BlindedByScience]

I said 'flawless' but there are a couple things I'll mention.

The display is very complete and has all the info, but it's off axis viewing isn't great. If you're looking at it dead on it's great, but it dims fast off axis. Not an expensive panel, is my guess. For another $100 they'll sell you one with a bigger, brighter panel (same outdoor unit) but I've never felt like I made a mistake. I've got mine tied into the 'net, and their (free) phone app is just too cool. Plenty of info, anywhere I want to look at it. I use the phone app almost all the time, and it's fantastic. Mine talks to the AW site and I also report to Weather Underground. I get access to both apps, for free, and have never felt like I needed more. WU has a great forecast panel which I like.

Also, it's been known to rain pretty heavily here in the PacNW and after a couple of days of heavy rain, the RH sensor seems to get saturated and will read 100% until it dries out a bit.

Mine's about four years old, batteries seem to last for years. I used good Ever Ready Lithium cells, worth every penny. As George mentioned, there are solar cells on the top of the outdoor unit that seem to do a fine job.

I set up mine on the patio temporarily so I could get to it at first. Got all the software singing happily and let it run for a week or so, just to be sure before my son helped me put it up on the end of the house.

Sure, there are 'better' units, but my research showed me you're into the $600 range pretty fast and they don't really do lots more. I'd buy my same system again, no hesitation. This one replaced an Accurite, it's much better, IMHO.

Sure like ours, hope this helps..!!

 

[Mizicke5273]

I said 'flawless' but there are a couple things I'll mention.

The display is very complete and has all the info, but it's off axis viewing isn't great. If you're looking at it dead on it's great, but it dims fast off axis. Not an expensive panel, is my guess. For another $100 they'll sell you one with a bigger, brighter panel (same outdoor unit) but I've never felt like I made a mistake. I've got mine tied into the 'net, and their (free) phone app is just too cool. Plenty of info, anywhere I want to look at it. I use the phone app almost all the time, and it's fantastic. Mine talks to the AW site and I also report to Weather Underground. I get access to both apps, for free, and have never felt like I needed more. WU has a great forecast panel which I like.

Also, it's been known to rain pretty heavily here in the PacNW and after a couple of days of heavy rain, the RH sensor seems to get saturated and will read 100% until it dries out a bit.

Mine's about four years old, batteries seem to last for years. I used good Ever Ready Lithium cells, worth every penny. As George mentioned, there are solar cells on the top of the outdoor unit that seem to do a fine job.

I set up mine on the patio temporarily so I could get to it at first. Got all the software singing happily and let it run for a week or so, just to be sure before my son helped me put it up on the end of the house.

Sure, there are 'better' units, but my research showed me you're into the $600 range pretty fast and they don't really do lots more. I'd buy my same system again, no hesitation. This one replaced an Accurite, it's much better, IMHO.

Sure like ours, hope this helps..!!

I was actually looking at the WS-2000 over the WS-2902, due to the nicer looking base station. I like the way the info is displayed and laid out better......pretty graphics.......me like color......picture show fluffy cotton candy or big fire ball in sky........!!!!!!

 

[BlindedByScience]

That's the one with the better screen....should be a good one.

 

[Nick Burner]

Agree about 2000 over 2902 for display (which is why I went that route) but truthfully I use the app all the time and hardly ever look at the display (like BBS). Agree with everything he said. I don’t pay for the subscription either. And mine is from 2019 and still on the original battery. I guess the little solar panel is doing the majority of the work!