Home weather station – What one?

My old cheap weather station died recently and my rain gauge got broke again. Thinking of replacing them both with a better home weather station package that has all in one. Doing a little research and there are a ton of options. Really want one with a rain gauge that self empties. and is accurate. Just so many different units out there. I don’t want to spend top $ for one of the high end models, but also don’t want to get a cheap unit that will fail in a short time. Anyone here have a brand or model they have and like.

They make a rain gauge that self empties???? WHAT??

Sharon wrote:

They make a rain gauge that self empties???? WHAT??

Yes, I used to have one, but it would get those little seeds in it and stick. Its basically like a little teeter totter on the inside.

Sharon wrote:

They make a rain gauge that self empties???? WHAT??

It appears like there are a ton of them that self empty. I’m thinking if I get a better one I’ll most likely mount it in a place that is not easy to get at ( Roof of the house some place ) so it will need to have a self empty rain gauge

I put mine on the railing of my deck. It worked well when it wasnt clogged with crap.

I guess I could go with this simple one

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I have a La Crosse Technology weather station. I’ve had it for 4 years now and has been working without a hitch. It’s solar powered and Wifi. You can add on a precip meter. The station/screen then plugs inside the house, like normal.

It can be kind of a pain to setup. But nothing major. Hardest part was finding a spot that got the most accurate wind readings.

CaptainMusky wrote:

I put mine on the railing of my deck. It worked well when it wasnt clogged with crap.

That would be a great place, Only 1 problem – No Deck. If I get one with a wind direction and wind meter, I need it out in the open as much as possible. That was why I was thinking someplace up on the roof.

TillrLife wrote:

I have a La Crosse Technology weather station

La Crosse was high on my list until I started reading some reviews. There was a time they were the #1 rated units. It seems like not so these days. Not sure if their quality feel off, or if other manufactures just got better.

Yeah the roof would be an excellent idea.

I have had an Ambient Weather brand, weather station for about 4 years without any issues. Unfortunately it looks like they don’t have the same one I have anymore. The rain guage is self emptying and is really accurate when comparing to the old fashioned tube collector rain guage. They come with an LCD display and can connect to your wifi. Then you can download their app, which is easy to use and monitor it from anywhere. You can even register your station on Weather Underground. If you really want to get fancy, you could also integrate it with an irrigation system if you also had the Rachio controller. I am about to do this myself so not sure how well that works.

The La Crosse is a pretty good unit for a decent price. We have had one for years mounted on an old Bluebird House pole and it works well. Just last year, we upgraded our irrigation controller to a wifi one and bought a Tempest weather unit that communicates with the sprinkler system. It is not cheap, but I have spent more on some rods and reels. Works really well.

fishthumper wrote:

My old cheap weather station died recently and my rain gauge got broke again. Thinking of replacing them both with a better home weather station package that has all in one. Doing a little research and there are a ton of options. Really want one with a rain gauge that self empties. and is accurate. Just so many different units out there. I don’t want to spend top $ for one of the high end models, but also don’t want to get a cheap unit that will fail in a short time. Anyone here have a brand or model they have and like.

sheez… just ask Be… er gim!

I have been using an Acurite for a few years now.
Just upgraded to a dual solar panel.
It does need to be cleared occasionally but is self emptying.
It reports using wifi to my base station which shares to my PC.
My PC then shares with Weather Underground (Wunderground app) and I can monitor the weather in my backyard garden on my phone.
KMNLAKEV118

My airspeed indicator is not mounted far enough above ground level to be useful.

We have had an accurate for a number of years. Pretty happy with it. Still using the same solar charged batteries to communicate with the indoor base display. The rain gauge self empties. What you need to do is glue a few 5” pieces of 80 lb mono vertically around the edges of the rain gauge to deter birds perching and then dropping seeds and poo into the rain gauge

FYI:
Ensure it’s mounted a minimum of 5 feet in the air with no obstructions around it (within several feet). The National Weather Service recommends mounting the sensor 33 feet above the ground with no obstructions within 100 feet for the most accurate wind speeds.
15 feet above the roof line.

fishthumper wrote:

My old cheap weather station died recently and my rain gauge got broke again. Thinking of replacing them both with a better home weather station package that has all in one. Doing a little research and there are a ton of options. Really want one with a rain gauge that self empties. and is accurate. Just so many different units out there. I don’t want to spend top $ for one of the high end models, but also don’t want to get a cheap unit that will fail in a short time. Anyone here have a brand or model they have and like.

IME, the rain gauge is the most failure-prone component. I’ve been through 3 of them in 10 years and yes, I take the sensor unit inside in the fall to avoid freezing issues. They just don’t seem to last long.

It’s not the neatest solution, but I ended up with a LaCrosse unit that does temp, wind speed/direction, humidity, all the basics. The outdoor sensor is solar-powered, so I have it mounted up above my shed.

Then I got a separate AcuRite 02446M Wireless Rain Gauge. It’s been workign great for 2 years and comparing it to the internet totals, it seems to track right on with WU totals from a PWS about .5 miles from me, so that’s good enough for me and it’s pretty cheap to replace if it fails without throwing out the other weather station.

eyekatcher wrote:

FYI:
Ensure it’s mounted a minimum of 5 feet in the air with no obstructions around it (within several feet). The National Weather Service recommends mounting the sensor 33 feet above the ground with no obstructions within 100 feet for the most accurate wind speeds.
15 feet above the roof line.

I read this recommendation as well and all I could think of is holy lightning rod, Batman. Since most would use a metal pole, something like steel conduit or something else metal to go this high, it struck me (!) as just asking for a lightning strike. No way would I put anything like this up above my house without some major grounding gear that was well isolated from the actual house.