Weather station accuracy VS price

[richie3846]

I continue my research into home weather stations, and it seems there is variable accuracy amongst the various options:

Temperatures:

These appear to be overcooked when there is strong sunlight. I see that on Wunderground, it's pretty obvious when I look at local personal weather stations, the direct sun affects accuracy at times, and I seems some equipment is more affected than others.

Rainfall:

Some people's equipment seems to be highly incorrect with regards to rainfall, though many appear to be highly accurate also. 

Are there any weather stations at the reasonable cost end (I see many in the £150 to £300 bracket are available), that gives reasonable accuracy with regards to rainfall and temperature? Or is it simply the case of, you pay for what you get?

[The PIT]

Well if you want accurate rainfall that rules out the latest Davis tipping design plus it's out of budget. Can't really advise.

[reef]

On 21/06/2023 at 21:02, The PIT said:

Well if you want accurate rainfall that rules out the latest Davis tipping design plus it's out of budget. Can't really advise.

My tipping spoon Davis is very accurate weirdly. I guess I was just lucky it came that way out of the box as it can't be adjusted?

As for the question, unfortunately not really. I did however used to run a cheap Oregon WMR150 sensor as a backup in a Davis 7714 radiation shield and it was very accurate (only 0.3C out on average in the summer months).

A solution is perhaps to find a decent all in one station and run the temperature sensor in a better shield as above if accuracy is important.

Edited June 23, 2023 by reef

[richie3846]

12 minutes ago, reef said:

My tipping spoon Davis is very accurate weirdly. I guess I was just lucky it came that way out of the box as it can't be adjusted?

As for the question, unfortunately not really. I did however used to run a cheap Oregon WMR150 sensor as a backup in a Davis 7714 radiation shield and it was very accurate (only 0.3C out on average in the summer months).

A solution is perhaps to find a decent all in one station and run the temperature sensor in a better shield as above if accuracy is important.

Thanks for the advice. It seems like I'll be better off simply knowing that in direct strong sunshine there may be a loss of accuracy. It's difficult to know exactly how much, though I have noticed a difference between rural home stations and urban. It could be the case that some of the urban locations are accurate enough to themselves. There's no doubt that living in a town is hotter than living in the countryside. Our local official weather stations are so rural they are irrelevant to town life, so the local readings may seem inflated compared to these lush rural fields. 

[Mapantz]

One of these: https://www.baranidesign.com/radiation-shields

 

One of these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/ECOWITT-Wireless-Thermo-Hygro-Temperature-Extension/dp/B09Q5F8BRC/ref=sr_1_36?crid=2CBWFJ3E9KU48&keywords=ecowitt&qid=1687534738&sprefix=ecowitt%2Caps%2C78&sr=8-36

 

One of these: https://weatherspares.co.uk/products/ecowitt-gw1100-wi-fi-gateway-for-weather-sensors-1

I've read posts saying that the thermohygrometer from Ecowitt in a barani radiation shield provides some very accurate readings.

[pinball wizard]

Something else to bare in mind is that you can have a top of the range station but if its set up incorrectly (e.g. thermometer too close to ground or walls, anemometer too low down) it will be inaccurate and vice versa. Sometimes a well setup cheaper station will more than punch its weight.

[Dancerwithwings]

You don’t have to pay a big price for accuracy , I got this one a while back now 

it’s spot on

WATSON W8686 - Waters & Stanton

WWW.HAMRADIOSTORE.CO.UK

Edit ….I think I’ve had mine for a couple of years now and I’ve never had to change the batteries regarding it being solar powered, also my local Met Office weather station that’s near to me is spot on to mine or mine to there’s regarding the data output 

I must add It’s come down in price as I’m sure I paid over £200 

For the money it’s
 

lastly you’ll need this 

TV Aerial & Satellite Dish Pole Alloy Cranked 3ft x1" | Toolstation

WWW.TOOLSTATION.COM

---

• Cranked pole 12" (300mm) offset. Ideal for installations where overhang such as gutter or leaves are present • Suitable for overhangs up to 300mm (8") • Aluminium alloy seam welded for added strength...

 

Edited June 26, 2023 by Dancerwithwings

[The PIT]

On 23/06/2023 at 15:01, reef said:

My tipping spoon Davis is very accurate weirdly. I guess I was just lucky it came that way out of the box as it can't be adjusted?

As for the question, unfortunately not really. I did however used to run a cheap Oregon WMR150 sensor as a backup in a Davis 7714 radiation shield and it was very accurate (only 0.3C out on average in the summer months).

A solution is perhaps to find a decent all in one station and run the temperature sensor in a better shield as above if accuracy is important.

How do you compare your readings. I compare directly to the manual met office rain gauge I got and difference isn't small https://www.sheffieldweather.net/Newtippingbucketreview.htm The month so far we have 80.7mm the Davis reckons 90.2mm that's a big error.

However I think I've got a way of calibrating it I'll let you know how it goes.

[reef]

1 hour ago, The PIT said:

How do you compare your readings. I compare directly to the manual met office rain gauge I got and difference isn't small https://www.sheffieldweather.net/Newtippingbucketreview.htm The month so far we have 80.7mm the Davis reckons 90.2mm that's a big error.

However I think I've got a way of calibrating it I'll let you know how it goes.

I dripped through 544ml of water twice -  once slowly and once relatively quickly and then ran it alongside my manual gauge for a couple of months. I found it was all within 5%, with the largest error on heavier rainfalls.

Against the manual gauge there wasn't a massive difference.

It's weird as I had two old-style Davis tippers and they vastly under-read by over 20%.

[The PIT]

The gauge I got is 11.12% out this month which is pretty poor.

The older once was pretty easy to adjust although there was some compromise while the netatmo is 10% to low.

[nuts]

Firstly, its important to differentiate consumer grade weather stations from research grade weather stations such as campbell scientific AWS stations featuring highly accurate sensors and a datalogger. Cost many thousands.

Amongst consumer grade weather stations, I would recommend the Davis Vantage Vue. However this is £650 (which includes the datalogger, fairly indespensible, unless you just want to view your realtime data on your pc.

It has been independentally tested by Stephen Burt, scientist, who gave a good review. His website down at the moment.

I would steer clear of Fine Offset/Ecowitt stations, (personal experience).

If you just want rainfall and temperature readings at a low cost, I would suggest

1/Rainwise 8" raingauge  Wired and wireless versions available.  I'm not sure about the current  availability in the uk, but the single display version used to be about £80.

2/ ThermoPro TP200C outdoor temp sensor. Transmit to an indoor console.  I have no idea on accuracy and lifespan.

If you're on a tight budget, I would avoid the expense of a thermometer shelter.  Just mount it on a north facing surface, e.g shed. The readings won't be too far from a correctly mounted thermometer in a stephenson screen, and on strong radiation days, will probably be lower!

[nuts]

Update to my earlier post.  To purchase a Rainwise Rainew 111 rain gauge from rainwise in America is approx £109 plus import duty and other charges, which is an additional 20% or so.

Its a wired  8" diameter raingauge, with a 60 foot cable, which is not robust enough to be buried, but okay to skirt it along outbuildings etc.  The indoor display accumulates the total since installation, so it can be left until the end of the month, and then noted, and zero'd to see what your rain for the month was.  Or, you could read and reset the counter at 24 hour intervals to see your daily total.  I found it agreed within 5% of a nearby situated Snowden 5" gauge over a month.

With regards to the temperature sensor, Thermopro do an uprated model,  TP65C, available from Ebay £25, which also records outdoor humidity.

I will give a short review on this shortly. (Compared to a similarly mounted Campbell Scientific CS215 professional grade temp/hum sensor situated in a 'pile of plates' type instrument screen).

[TwisterGirl81]

On 26/06/2023 at 19:06, Dancerwithwings said:

You don’t have to pay a big price for accuracy , I got this one a while back now 

it’s spot on

WATSON W8686 - Waters & Stanton

WWW.HAMRADIOSTORE.CO.UK

Edit ….I think I’ve had mine for a couple of years now and I’ve never had to change the batteries regarding it being solar powered, also my local Met Office weather station that’s near to me is spot on to mine or mine to there’s regarding the data output 

I must add It’s come down in price as I’m sure I paid over £200 

For the money it’s
 

lastly you’ll need this 

TV Aerial & Satellite Dish Pole Alloy Cranked 3ft x1" | Toolstation

WWW.TOOLSTATION.COM

---

• Cranked pole 12" (300mm) offset. Ideal for installations where overhang such as gutter or leaves are present • Suitable for overhangs up to 300mm (8") • Aluminium alloy seam welded for added strength...

 

Thanks, does that one measure daily sunshine amounts?  Also where do you think is a best place to put it and how high up?  

[Pixel]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wireless-WeatherRanger-Real-time-Internet-Publishing/dp/B00ZVFZRRK/ref=sr_1_1?ascsubtag=4766789|nfb8ee8d74c5a4f4b972094c76bd7a3d110|B00PSV10UK&keywords=Ambient+Weather+WS-1001-WIFI+Observer+Solar+Powered+Wireless+WiFi+Weather+Station+w%2F+Solar+Radiation&linkCode=gs3&qid=1695380338&sr=8-1&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.cc223b57-2b86-485c-a85e-6431c1f06c86

@ Twistergirl81 Hope the link above works.. 

Ambient+Weather+WS-1001-WIFI

Had this station for years and works lovely and can monitor the weather on our garage roof whilst away on holiday 

Personal Weather Station Dashboard | Weather Underground

WWW.WUNDERGROUND.COM

---

Weather Underground provides local & long-range weather forecasts, weather reports, maps & tropical weather conditions for locations worldwide.

 

[Dancerwithwings]

5 hours ago, TwisterGirl81 said:

Thanks, does that one measure daily sunshine amounts?  Also where do you think is a best place to put it and how high up?  

I’m not sure it does, most only show live solar radiation and UV index

mines placed roughly 2.5m from the ground

Edited September 22, 2023 by Dancerwithwings

[Mapantz]

6 hours ago, TwisterGirl81 said:

Thanks, does that one measure daily sunshine amounts?  Also where do you think is a best place to put it and how high up?  

You would need to pair a station with weather software to get a sunshine calculation, something like Cumulus MX or Weather Display. The software would need to support the station as well.

1 hour ago, Dancerwithwings said:

I’m not sure it does, most only show live solar radiation and UV index

Ecowitt stations don't have solar or UV sensors, only a lux sensor. The lux data gets converted to produce a solar radiation and a UV calculation, so it shouldn't be taken too seriously.

[Dancerwithwings]

55 minutes ago, Mapantz said:

You would need to pair a station with weather software to get a sunshine calculation, something like Cumulus MX or Weather Display. The software would need to support the station as well.

Ecowitt stations don't have solar or UV sensors, only a lux sensor. The lux data gets converted to produce a solar radiation and a UV calculation, so it shouldn't be taken too seriously.

Agreed, mine just gives live reading that gives one an idea of what’s happening out there…I’m not really into that, it’s temps and dew points and rainfall data etc I’m into

Edited September 22, 2023 by Dancerwithwings

[nuts]

Catching my eye at the moment as a good value budget AWS:

Bresser 7002585 Wi-Fi  Weather Station. (No Light sensor).

Two good features: WiFi, and uploads to Weather Underground. £119.00

Bresser 7002585 5-in-1 WiFi Weather Station with Weather Alerts - Connects to Wunderground.com & Mobile App

WWW.WEATHERSHOP.CO.UK

---

View your weather on the colour display, mobile app or online! The Bresser 7002585 5-in-1 weather station combines a modern compact design with the ability to publish your weather conditions online via WiFi...

 

There is a more expensive version, with Light sensor (which gives an idea of global solar radiation). Has 5 year warranty, as opposed to 2 years on the 7002585

Bresser Clearview 7-in-1 WiFi Weather Station with Light Intensity, UV Monitoring & Ice/Frost Alert. 5yr Warranty

WWW.WEATHERSHOP.CO.UK

---

View your weather on the colour display, mobile app or online! The Bresser 7-in-1 Wi-Fi weather station combines a unique compact design with the ability to publish your weather conditions online via WiFi...

 

[Dancerwithwings]

4 hours ago, nuts said:

Catching my eye at the moment as a good value budget AWS:

Bresser 7002585 Wi-Fi  Weather Station. (No Light sensor).

Two good features: WiFi, and uploads to Weather Underground. £119.00

Bresser 7002585 5-in-1 WiFi Weather Station with Weather Alerts - Connects to Wunderground.com & Mobile App

WWW.WEATHERSHOP.CO.UK

---

View your weather on the colour display, mobile app or online! The Bresser 7002585 5-in-1 weather station combines a modern compact design with the ability to publish your weather conditions online via WiFi...

 

There is a more expensive version, with Light sensor (which gives an idea of global solar radiation). Has 5 year warranty, as opposed to 2 years on the 7002585

Bresser Clearview 7-in-1 WiFi Weather Station with Light Intensity, UV Monitoring & Ice/Frost Alert. 5yr Warranty

WWW.WEATHERSHOP.CO.UK

---

View your weather on the colour display, mobile app or online! The Bresser 7-in-1 Wi-Fi weather station combines a unique compact design with the ability to publish your weather conditions online via WiFi...

 

The thing that lets that down is no solar charging I believe

Mines been up coming two years now and I’ve never had to take it down to change the batteries.

In winter without solar charging your batteries can be drained several times, especially in prolonged cold…..lol okay that’s not very often

[nuts]

Good point, Wings.

I wonder how long the 3 AA batteries in the outdoor sensor last?

If its any help for those interested, a Weather Underground station, ISPALD60 still has a functioning Bresser 7002586, (the one with 5yr warranty), 2 years after purchase:

Personal Weather Station Dashboard | Weather Underground

WWW.WUNDERGROUND.COM

---

Weather Underground provides local & long-range weather forecasts, weather reports, maps & tropical weather conditions for locations worldwide.

 

[Dancerwithwings]

Over the years I’ve required WS when they are saying, it’s all singing and dancing 

but they’ve failed miserably

so when I required the one I have now, with the advice from a fellow Met Weather member….I’ve never looked back, you can’t beat tried and tested regarding it’s been used by someone
edit, My local MO weather station and the data that has, is spot to mine…..seriously I can’t fault it

Edited September 23, 2023 by Dancerwithwings