How many times have you started conversation with a person about the weather? Lots of times I bet!
How many times has unusual weather weather effected your back garden or your work place?
Have you ever noticed the differences in weather in your area is different to what was forecast, or is different to what your local weather station is showing?
And finally how many times have your left your house in the wrong clothes because the forecast was wrong or the weather just suddenly changed?
Would you like to know a little more about the weather, rather than being informed by the internet or TV forecast?
Well if you answered YES, then I really think that a home weather station would really benifit you!
Dont delay, now is just as good a time as any to get one of your own for your home or workplace. There have been many improvements in home weather forecasting and there is a huge range of products to suit all pockets.
Below is some more general information about home weather stations:
Firstly – What is a Home Weather Station?
A home weather station is made up of one or more sensors. These sensors collect information and data on numerous weather types. The main weather types being temperature, humidity, air pressure, rainfall, and wind direction. This information is sent wireless (in most cases) to a main unit located in the your home, and updated frequently. The cost of each weather station can depend on how many extra external sensors its has.
Secondly – A mate had a weather station with cables everywhere. I don’t want that!
That is now not a problem (which I eluded to previously). The older home weather stations transfered all data along a cables. Now all up to date units have wireless, so no need for cables trailing everywhere! These new products will send all data using radio waves to transmit the weather information. The range of some can be over 330 feet or more. No wires, no holes in the roof or wall, just great!
Thirdly – How hard are they to set up?
To be honest…very easy! Hardly any planning is needed, it takes hardly any time or effort to get your home weather station set up and working. The only important thing is the position of your sensors and receiver. Full instructions on this will be found in your set up manual. Usually they recommend that the sensors are out of direct sunlight and rain.
Fourthly – Do home weather stations really work, and how much are they?
Home weather stations can vary between products for the most experienced weather forecaster right down to the beginner. Most cost from less than US$30 for the simplest models with a single sensor, up to around $5-600 for a quality professional home weather center.
You do not have to spend a fortune, if you want why not start off small then as your experience and confidence grows move on to slightly bigger and better models.
Fifthly - Will I just see raw weather data, or can I expect more?
Most weather stations show the current time, have alarm settings so it can be used to wake you up for work in the morning! It all depends on your product, some can show the current conditions all around your local area or the conditions across the world. There are so many products out there we are really spoiled.
Lastly - Can I connect my weather station to my computer?
Yes you can! This is when a home weather station really comes into its own. Many products have PC software included, which can log all data for temperature, wind speed, dew points, rain full, you name it! All sorts of graphs can be plotted for daily records or yearly records. This is great when comparing the weather over a period of weeks, months or even years! This information can be printed off so you will have a record to keep for life!
