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We review some of the best home weather stations available on the UK market.
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Whether you’re a weather junky or a farmer looking to predict favourable weather to plant your crops, it’s always a good idea to acquire a home weather station. These nifty pieces of outdoor equipment can prove very useful, especially if you don’t trust your local weatherman. They provide easily accessible and immediate readings, as they scan the skies right above your house and wider.
If you’re in need of such a device but are confused by the variety available on the market, you’ve come to the right place. This article will present you with reviews of five of the best home weather stations. However, we won’t stop there – we’ll add a little guide too, for those who are maybe just getting into the whole weather station thing.
Home Weather Station Buyer’s Guide
What sort of thing do you need to consider when choosing a home weather station? Let’s break the topic down, so that people who haven’t spent their whole life watching the weather channel can follow what we’re saying in our reviews.
Home weather stations come in many shapes and sizes, but they have some features that are recurrent with all models, regardless of the brand. These features are what define the station, and they will be your main interest when you’re looking for a model for your own home. They are the core of the station’s operation. The stations can also have some extra features that will better (or worsen, who knows?) your user experience.
So, first things first, you need to know how many sensors your station has. The more sensors it has, naturally, the more accurate it will be. One to five sensors is about right for a home, non-professional system. However, there are products that are much more powerful than this, but they will also cost you quite a bit of money.
However, not all products with lots of sensors are incredibly accurate. The accuracy of the weather station also depends on the range of said sensors. Naturally, if the sensor can’t scan very far, it won’t be able to deliver very accurate data.
There are ways of improving this accuracy – you can have solar radiation shields installed, as they will prevent the sensors from detecting solar radiation as heat, and you can have your product placed within your Wi-Fi range, as stations require an internet connection in order for them to obtain GPS data.
Next up, you have to consider the interface. If your station has an over-the-top, confusing interface, it will cause you a lot of frustration to get to the information you want. For enthusiasts looking to start out, a simpler model with less data should be a good choice, as they won’t lose their bearings in the sea of numbers. If you know what you’re looking at, you can go ahead and get a more sophisticated model. Even so, you’ll want the screen to be readable, and the numbers plain and big.
Unfortunately, none of this will matter if the product doesn’t have the durability needed to withstand a lot of abuse from the elements. Remember, the station goes outside, and it will be battered by the sun, rain, winds and snow. There exist models that go inside your home, but, for more accurate readings, you’ll need a product that goes outside. With that being said, you can’t have a product malfunction after a week. Products that are made of cheap plastics are a huge no-no. What you want are products made from premium-grade plastics, and nothing else. Luckily, you may be surprised to learn that such high-end products don’t even cost that much, so you have no excuse for buying a flimsily-built product.
Of course, a weather station will require you to power it. Mostly, weather stations are powered by batteries and solar panels. These are viewed as the most efficient ways of powering a station. There are also models that can be powered directly through an AC cable. Naturally, you can immediately see the problem here – how will you get the cable from an outlet to the station? Not only that, but how can you protect the said cable from various forces that might damage it (like pets or your neighbour’s kids). Solar powered stations are the most efficiently powered, but they will cost you extra. Battery-powered products are also a good option, but you’ll have to remember to change the batteries every now and again.
The last consideration you need to make is the setup of such a device. Be warned, home weather stations are not easy to set up under any conditions. Here, you’re looking for the lesser of evils, a product that will be easier to set up than others. Often, weather stations don’t come with adequate instructions, or you may not understand the instructions at all. In most cases, however, you’ll be able to find a YouTube tutorial on setting up your chosen model, but, even then, you’ll have to spend some time studying the video and tinkering with the station. Of course, you may already know how to set up a station, but, if you don’t, you might want to call in professional help.
After these few core considerations, there are some extra things you need to look out for. Firstly, you might want to look at the brand of your product. As always, a prominent and trusted brand will likely mean that the product they’re selling is a good one, but that shouldn’t stop you from looking into other products as well. Connectivity is always something to look out for, as it will allow you to get the data directly on your computer or smartphone. Lastly, check out the mounting options for your station, as it will show you where can you place it, and allow you to plan ahead and realise your options.
And that’s about that when it comes to what you need to consider when buying a weather station. Now, it’s time to get on with the main reason you came here – the reviews. And here they are; the best home weather station reviews.
5 Top Home Weather Stations Reviewed
Youshiko Digital Wireless Weather Station
Our first weather station comes from Youshiko. Now, you know Japanese and electronics mix well, so you may think the Youshiko is probably a good weather station. Well, you’re wrong – the Youshiko Digital Wireless Weather Station is an excellent weather station!
This is a very trusted device, favoured by many buyers on Amazon, with very favourable reviews. The station is very accurate and provides a very detailed picture of the weather with all the weather data you could want. Despite the amount of data on offer, the product still manages to sort this information very well and allows for excellent readability, so you can easily find your way around all the numbers and symbols.
Now, let us take a look at the product’s sensors. This device comes with one wireless sensor, with the machine being able to take up to three sensors suited for indoor and outdoor use. The sensors are pretty accurate, with average margin of error for all elements measured being about +/- 1%.
So it’s accurate but what kind of data does this station provide? Naturally, there is the outdoor and indoor temperature, as well as humidity. The device also provides data such as pressure, as well as pressure history for the past one, two, three, six and twelve hours.
The product also allows you to view the current moon phase with a convenient moon symbol. You also have displayed the time of sunrise and sunset, as well as moonrise and moonset. The station displays time and date, as well as the current day and the current week in the year.
The device also features two nifty features. Firstly, it features a frost/ice alarm, making it very useful for farmers. It also features an automatic clock that adjusts for daylight savings. The station, of course, features a graphic representation of the current weather.
One of the best things about this product is that it features a very big LED screen with blue backlight. All of the information has been strategically placed, with the temperatures, humidity and time being placed on the right, and the moon phases, weather profile and other things being placed on the left of the screen.
One of the few bad things about the product is that its backlight isn’t all that great. You’d think a blue backlight would be very neat and would help you read the information better, but that’s not the case. The product is still very readable if you hold it up to the light, but, in darkness, you can’t read it very well. Another problem is that the instructions are written in a very small print, so, those with eyesight problems will have a difficult time reading it.
Pros:
- Large amount of information displayed.
- Very good sensor accuracy.
- Features an automatic daylight savings clock and frost alarm.
Cons:
- Not the best backlight.
- Instructions written in very fine print.
Bresser Weather Station
Next up is the Bresser Weather Station. German engineering is always held in high regards, and Bresser seems to do the Germans fair credit, but it does have its problems. The sensor is pretty accurate on this device, and the display seems to work well. The device also displays a wide variety of information, and it seems quite comprehensive, but it’s not as easy to follow as the Youshiko. The product features a standard, green backlight, but its readability problems start elsewhere which we’ll cover in a moment. First, something about the features…
As we said, this product features a very accurate sensor. Its accuracy is comparable to the Youshiko’s, but you can only have one sensor at a time, compared to the Youshiko’s three sensors.
One of the best things about this product is that it delivers a lot of information. For those looking for a product that’s comprehensive, Bresser might be just the thing you need. This device can collect data about outdoor and indoor temperature, relative humidity and air pressure. It also has a history of air pressure, but a slightly more comprehensive one than the Youshiko. Where the Youshiko stops at twelve hours, the Bresser moves to -18 and -24 hours.
It also displays the current weather with a neat little symbol. It displays date and time, as well as sunrise and sunset times, plus moon phases. One of the best features is its wind speed meter and compass with wind direction displayed. The Bresser also has a rain gauge that will allow you to see how much rain has fallen during the last time it rained. It also displays chance of precipitation and storm warnings.
And now, for the problems. Firstly, all this information could prove useless to you, because the product has some connectivity problems in our experience. The main problem is that the sensor disconnects from the main unit. This is not an uncommon problem too, which raises some concern.
Another problem is that the display isn’t that intuitive. The numbers and symbols are displayed, but, if you don’t know your way around it, you might just get confused and fail to spot the piece of information you were looking for.
Pros:
- Plenty of information.
- Accurate sensor.
- Storm warning.
- Precipitation chance and rainfall gauge.
- Wind gauge.
Cons:
- Connectivity issues.
- Readability issues.
Arecus Instruments Wireless
One of the best home weather stations on the market is the Arceus Instruments wireless weather station. This station is also one of the priciest too, but, its high accuracy and its ability to yield plenty of information, plus the real-time publishing over the internet makes it very popular among hobbyists and professionals alike. This is one of the better products on the list because it’s one of the most readable ones too, and one that boasts the best connectivity.
Again starting with the sensor, it has to be said there is nothing particularly outstanding about it compared to the previous two products we’ve looked at. Just as with those products, the accuracy is impressive, as all three measure with the accuracy of +/- 1 degree Celsius and within 1% of all elements. Again, you only have one sensor.
When it comes to the information delivered, the product is very comprehensive. Besides indoor and outdoor temperature, as well as air pressure and air humidity, the device provides information about the wind direction and speed, rainfall and precipitation levels, dew point, UV light levels and, of course, the forecast. All of this is displayed on a very large 66 cm LCD screen with excellent visibility and readability. It also features various weather alarms.
One of the best things about this weather station is that it can connect easily to both your PC and Mac and that you can export the data to an SD card. The station takes less than 16 seconds to be updated and is quite easy to set up when considered what you’re dealing with here. In all, this is one of the fastest and most comprehensive devices on the market.
The downside, though, is the price. Now, considering what you’re getting, the price is justified but still steep. People looking to get a decent beginner level product will probably look the other way when they see the price of the Arecus Instruments weather station. Other than that, the product has no real downsides. That said, on Amazon there are a few reports of faulty units, but these appear to have been replaced quickly and without hassle.
All in all, if you want a professional home weather station that will blow you away, this is the one. It’s got a steep price point, but it’s also got a great number of features that will give you an extremely accurate picture of the weather conditions above your home.
Pros:
- A comprehensive set of elements measured.
- A very accurate sensor.
- Large LCD console.
- Updates quickly.
Cons:
- A very expensive weather station.
Excelvan Professional Wireless
Our final product is the Excelvan Professional Wireless Station. The “professional” label on this station seems to be legitimate, as the Excelvan provides a great amount of data to those who can make use of it. In fact, the product is maybe just as comprehensive as the Arecus Instruments, but costs significantly less. The station features a very good sensor that scans with amazing accuracy.
Aside from the regular elements measured, the Excelvan adds rainfall and precipitation measurements to the pile. It can also be set to measure rainfall within an hour, within 24 hours, within one week, month, and measures the accumulated rainfall since you last reset the device. It can display moon phases, weather forecasting and wind speed and direction. You can also check the UV light index and the dew point.
This product’s best feature is undoubtedly its screen though. It may not be in colour like that of the Arecus, but it’s still a large LCD screen. The screen features a green backlight and it’s very easy to read what’s written on it. The product can also be connected to your PC or Mac, and, from there, you can view the data in a more detailed and more organised environment.
On the downside, its price is still kind of high. The station may not cost you a small fortune, like the Arecus, but it’s still slightly more expensive than some other models. Combine that with the sheer abundance of availavble data, and a newbie might turn away from that product, and go for a simpler, less expensive one.
Pros:
- Vast amount of data offered.
- Extremely accurate sensor.
- Superb LCD display.
Cons:
- An expensive item.
- Can be confusing to novices.
Conclusion
And, at that, we come to the end of our home weather station reviews. The products we’ve presented are all really good at what they do, and they’re well worth the money you’ll pay for them. They’ve got a few hiccups here and there, but they’re negligible compared to the number of features and plus points they all have.
