Last week on the IoT Podcast our voicemail hotline received a call from Jeff about connected weather stations. Jeff’s son wants to learn more about the weather around his home, so Jeff was wondering if any weather stations can actually connect to the internet and a smart home. This would enable a home equipped with a smart thermostat to adjust temperatures based on local climate conditions. At the same time, Jeff’s son could get detailed, hyperlocal weather data for his learning experience.
Until a few years ago, most home weather stations didn’t have wireless connectivity, save for some that used a proprietary radio frequency to show weather data on a local console. Thanks to the fast-growing IoT market, there are more connected options that can work with a smart home and connect to the internet.
Our first choice is a bit expensive, but it’s probably worth it: We recommend the Netatmo Smart Weather Station. The base price is $179.99 when not on sale and is comprised of two modules. There’s both an indoor device and one that you place outdoors as well. The two units communicate with each other so you can measure real-time temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, air quality, carbon dioxide levels, and sounds. If you want to capture rainfall or wind data, those each require an add-on module for $79.99 and $109.99 respectively. Or you can bundle the two module stations, the wind gauge and rainfall measurement device for $299.99.
The Netatmo device also has Wi-Fi connectivity so the weather data is available on your smart phone. It also supports both Amazon Alexa and IFTTT so you can ask for weather information or pass that data to a smart thermostat.
A less expensive but similar solution is the Ambient Weather WS2902-A for $169.99.
This kit looks more like a traditional weather station and includes both a wind gauge and rainfall measurement tool. It also has Wi-Fi that sends your data to a color console screen and your phone. And like the Netatmo, it works with Amazon Alexa and IFTTT. Additionally, the weather station can use your Wi-Fi network to get the weather from other locations through Weather Underground, which is a great service.
After the show we received a comment from a listener suggesting the BloomSky Sky2 weather kit, which costs $299.99 and collects temperature, humidity, barometric pressure and precipitation (the rain gauge and anemometer are sold separately). This product comes with a solar panel, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and the ability to share your weather data with the community. It also has a camera that snaps pictures.
To hear Jeff’s question in full, as well as our discussion, tune in below to the IoT Podcast:
The Netatmo station can be integrated with Samsung SmarThings hubs, so double bonus. Mine shows up in the SmartThings app and since you can integrate SmartThings with Google Assistant, you can ask Google Assistant to let you know the reading at the indoor or outdoor unit and SmartThings passes that info to Google Assistant. I don’t own an Alexa unit, but I assume it does the same since SmartThings integrates with that ecosystem too.
The Ambient Weather also works with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Smart Things, Home Assistant, HomeSeer, Ubidots and a few others.
It also includes a powerful API that allows programmers to pull historical and real time data and write custom applications.