Author Topic: I'm Considering a Home Weather Station  (Read 2685 times)

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Offline voyager

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I'm Considering a Home Weather Station
« on: October 30, 2017, 08:33:03 PM »
A little background:
I've had a couple of Acurite wireless indoor/outdoor thermometers with a few addons - RH, Barometric, And a short period forecast function.
While they worked, they worked fairly well.
But, they died within a year or two [out of warranty but not by much] when the outdoor sender failed, not seeming to be very reliable for the climate.

I live in Hawai'i on Big Island.
I'm about 4 miles directly from the shore at about 800' elevation on the windward side with high precipitation.
Humidity is high, going close to 100% every night.
I get nothing to suggests that salt air is a problem this far from the shore.

Many locals complain that electronic/electrical/computer gear doesn't hold up very well here.
my PC has been purring along very nicely for the last 4 to 5 years now with no sign of abnormal problems.

My quest:
As I look around for a suitable home weather station that will give me what I would like to have[I/O, RH, Hg/mb, precip, wind, and more ...], I see a lot of bad reviews [5% to 10% of the reviews] that are basically reliability complaints.

I do not want to make an investment that rivals a NOAA installation.
But, If I get more than an I/O thermo and pay the cost for it, I want to be reasonably sure it will last for a while, not just until the warranty runs out.

Advice and suggestions are welcome on what will give me what I'm looking for.
« Last Edit: October 30, 2017, 08:50:11 PM by voyager »

Offline BeaverMeadow

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Re: I'm Considering a Home Weather Station
« Reply #1 on: October 30, 2017, 09:26:16 PM »
I purchased an Acurite 5 and 1 on Amazon for around $130. I then purchased a Square Trade 3-year after-market warranty for $14. If the unit lasts longer than 3 years with no problems that would be icing on the cake

Does Amazon go deliver to Hawaii?

Offline voyager

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Re: I'm Considering a Home Weather Station
« Reply #2 on: October 30, 2017, 10:51:05 PM »
I purchased an Acurite 5 and 1 on Amazon for around $130. I then purchased a Square Trade 3-year after-market warranty for $14. If the unit lasts longer than 3 years with no problems that would be icing on the cake

Does Amazon go deliver to Hawaii?

Thanks for your response BeaverMeadow.
Yeah, we do a lot of Amazon.
While I think "add on warranties" are usually a waste of money, I have had a passing consideration for going for one in this case.
I will check it out to see how they work.

From reading some of the reviews, I have come up with the feeling that a wired rather than wireless would be more reliable.
Agreement or disagreement?

Offline BeaverMeadow

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Re: I'm Considering a Home Weather Station
« Reply #3 on: October 31, 2017, 04:01:02 PM »
I wouldn't want to have to run a wire from my pws 200' to my house. The Acurite 5 and 1 wireless works well for me. I am looking forward though to the extended range of the Atlas Elite because then I will be able to put the pws in the open meadow across from my house which should yield more interesting wind readings. Right now it's mounted in an area that gets a preponderance of wind from the S.

Offline voyager

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Re: I'm Considering a Home Weather Station
« Reply #4 on: October 31, 2017, 04:55:30 PM »
@ Beaver Meadow
When I posted that, I still had mounting it on the house's roof in mind.
During my digging around last night, I saw many admonitions against doing that.
I am back to thinking wireless again.
But, later I will be looking into why it is not recommended to do so.
My assumption is that reflected and/or radiated infrared from the roof is the problem.
--------------------------------------------------------------

After spending most of last night looking at Square Trade, weather stations and other things, reliability is still my driving consideration.
My confidence in Acurite and other Chinese made stations has been shaken badly.
Dealing with extended warranty coverage, even if it is a very good plan with the shipping covered, seems to me to be an inevitability.
Dealing with it from the middle of the Pacific does not bode well for me.

It occurs to me that I could buy as many as 2 to 4 of the Chinese stations with the 3 year warranty for the cost of a Davis station which translates to 6 to 12 years under warranty.
I'm going to take a long hard look at the Davis lines, Vantage View, and Vantage Pro2, to see what I can get for what I'm willing to pay first.

I am so tight I squeak.
But, I am willing to pay for something I consider worth the cost.
« Last Edit: October 31, 2017, 04:58:56 PM by voyager »

Offline CW2274

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Re: I'm Considering a Home Weather Station
« Reply #5 on: October 31, 2017, 06:44:39 PM »
It occurs to me that I could buy as many as 2 to 4 of the Chinese stations with the 3 year warranty for the cost of a Davis station which translates to 6 to 12 years under warranty.
I'm going to take a long hard look at the Davis lines, Vantage View, and Vantage Pro2, to see what I can get for what I'm willing to pay first.

I am so tight I squeak.
But, I am willing to pay for something I consider worth the cost.
Especially being out in the middle of no where, this is a no-brainer, get a wireless VP2 and have some peace of mind on reliability, accuracy, and the wonderful ease of not running a cable.

Offline ocala

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Re: I'm Considering a Home Weather Station
« Reply #6 on: November 19, 2017, 11:46:06 AM »
Keep in mind Davis has a refurb program where you send in your complete unit. Console and all sensors and they replace or repair what ever is needed. I did this last year and I think it was $170 but well worth it. You basically get a new station. Turn around time was about 2 weeks.
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