Weather Station__ What do you recomend?

I want to buy a Weather Station to work with HE...I want one with rain fall amounts for sure...what do you guys recommend?

I was just about to buy an Ambiant 5000 as there was good BF deal on them but then I saw it took batteries which have to replaced vs the ones with solar collectors.

I currently have a Davis Vantage Pro 2 which is very accurate but is not internet friendly without extra hardware and a subscription from what I read. So I want to walk away from them.

Rachio store has a rare promo for the Tempest at $289.00. Everyone else sells it for $329.00: Tempest Weather System by WeatherFlow. Not sure how long their offer will last though.

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I have an Ambient WS-2000. Before I got it the use of batteries was a concern I had. But it ends up not being much of an issue.

The outdoor array uses a capacitor that is charged by a small solar cell. The batteries (two AA lithium cells) are there for backup power after several days of no sun. I replaced my first set of batteries at 1 year when I was doing fall cleaning on the outdoor array. I might let the next set stay until the station reports they need replacing.

The Ambient stations (WS-2902, WS-2000 and WS-5000) all work locally with a community Hubitat integrations that get the data straight from the station to Hubitat. I really, really like that.

FWIW, the Ambient stations look identical to the Ecowitt weather stations. Ecowitt also works locally with a Hubitat community integration.

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I have an Ambient WS-2902C and like it very much. Easily integrated into HE, comes with a stand-alone display (like a small tablet) and has worked w/out issue for me for many months.

20% off on Amazon right now, coincidentally.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N5TEHLI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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How do you typically mount these things?
You usually want them up high, right?, but then you have to access them occasionally.

Seconding the Ambient WS-2902C. I've only had mine a couple months but it's been working better than I expected.

As far as mounting, they suggest 20 feet away from your home between 6-8 feet off the ground. It'll work closer, of course, but you might have to adjust for the ambient heat around your house. I put mine on a pole-style bird feeder mount about 30' from the house and about 10' up (to get it above some nearby bushes and get more accurate wind readings).

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So, you use a ladder to do any maintenance? 10' on a stepladder is doable.

There is pros and cons to this.

I have 2 an Ambient Weather 2902 (takes batteries usually replace them every other year) and I have a Weatherflow Tempest (solar panel no battery)

The Ambient Weather I've had for at least 5 years, Issue is after this long the moving parts (which AW sells replacement parts on their site) and plastic becomes really brittle but rain gauge still seems to work great.

The Weatherflow Tempest I've had just over 2 years and the internal battery that is charged by the solar panel is already terrible at keeping charged if there is just a couple days of overcast weather. Weatherflow claims it can last 2 weeks without a solar charge, this is false after only 2 years. When the battery is that weak the reporting of the elements gets extra prolonged and constantly going offline making it almost useless without sunlight to charge it back up. Plus the rainfall sensor doesn't seem to be near as accurate as the Ambient Weather station even though the wind direction vane broke from brittleness.

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What happens to the Tempest with the Haptic rain sensor when it snows or sleets a bit? Has no hopper to contain it till it melts into water.

That's why I am following this thread.

I have had virtually no maintenance on my Davis Vantage Pro 2 after quite a few years. I did have to clean it recently as the rain collector clogged but thats it.

The downside is really last generation's technology and I don't want to buy hardware and pay a subscription to get the data into the internet/app world.

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I haven't had to do any maintenance at all so far, but I haven't had it terribly long yet either. (And yes, that would require me to use my ladder.) I have seen some of the parts available as downloads to 3D print, so I expect I'll try that first if anything does happen where any of the pieces break.

Tempest, no doubt

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I got the WS-2000 because I really liked the upgraded console (which is shared with the WS-5000). The upgraded console also includes support for more sensors than the 2902 (which all report to the console via their 915 MHz, but then the console reports them to Hubitat over your local WiFi).

That is because they are matching Ambient's sale price on the WS-2902 ($152), which is good for today. Ambient is having 12 days of sales, with a different thing on sale each day. Today is the WS-2902. 2 days ago it was the WS-2000 (for $240). There are 8 more days to go. I suspect the WS-5000 will be on sale very soon.

So if you want the WS-2902, get it on sale today, either at Amazon or directly from Ambient. Both have free shipping; Ambient might save you sales tax.

Yeah, I was interested in that as well, but it was about twice the price of the WS-2902C at that time (and is today on Amazon), and I live in SoCal so we have "weather" that is pretty boring/unexciting, so I wasn't able to rationalize spending the extra money on a weather station when there are so many other toys that I want. :slight_smile:

We went to LA for a nephew's wedding this past summer. The weather was indeed fantastic. We also drove up the coast to SF.

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Currently Tempest doesn't measure snowfall but I have my Tempest connected to WeeWx and can see haptic activity when snow hits it. Very minuscule amount which I have experimented with. Tempest has great community drivers and I even wrote one using MQTT from WeeWx.

I have had my Tempest since their first production run and has been great. Only had a couple of false rain events (kids watering the garden hitting the sensor)

I do publish my weather on the internet:

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+1 for Ambient. WS29002C here. Just changed the batteries from alkaline to lithium after two years. Lithium doesn't leak and alkaline eventually does. Integrates well with Hubitat. I keep temperature, rain and wind on a dashboard. Run a couple of automations based on temperature.

https://ambientweather.net/dashboard/69577c88be61e2b8f17139a75f4e35ba

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Like @bobbyD, @rgr and @waynespringer79, I also have a Tempest. I actually have two. The Tempest and an ecowitt system.

Be aware that the Tempest does not integrate directly with Hubitat. You need an intermediate computer - I bring data into a Hubitat device using Node-RED.

What I like about the Tempest is that there are no moving parts, and it is easy to keep clean. As @waynespringer79 said, even in deep and sunny South (New Orleans), I need power backup to keep it working especially as we approach December 21st (the winter solstice).

My recommendation would either be the Tempest or a cheaper equivalent from ecowitt that also has no moving parts - the ecowitt Wittboy.

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I've had this now in 3 locations longest 3 yrs. No issues.

https://www.amazon.com/ECOWITT-Wireless-Anemometer-Self-Emptying-Collector/dp/B082NT8MZX

Plus you can add 6 more temp sensors around the house for 15 bucks each as well as co2 and air quality sensors (albeit pricy)

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