We recently got a home weather station for tracking actual conditions in our home and garden. Living far from a public weather station, this has provided us with far more accurate data than we’ve ever had with standard reports. While interesting for weather nerds, it’s actually quite handy for gardening as well.
Have a look at how it works as well as a few unexpected features we did not anticipate. If you would like to see my garden, there are virtual tours here.
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Netatmo provided a Netatmo Weather Station for Smartphone and a rain gauge to test in our home and garden..
Measuring the Weather Where You Live
We spend hours a day in our living rooms, bedrooms and back yards, immersed in the air and environment in and around our houses. But other than the readings from a thermostat inside our house, we probably know very little about our home environment. And most of us have to rely on weather stations miles away—25 miles away, in our case—to know our outdoor temperatures.
The Netatmo Weather Station for Smartphone and its accessories look to fill that gap by giving you information about the environment in your house and yard. We’ve had the weather station and Netatmo Rain Gauge (sold separately) for a couple of weeks now, and have found it fun and informative in ways we wouldn’t have predicted.
What It Is
The Netatmo Weather Station for Smartphone consists of two aluminum cylinders—sleek and simple in appearance and probably not at all what you imagine a weather station looks like.
The taller unit can be placed anywhere inside your house near an electrical outlet—you’ll probably choose either the living room or your bedroom. The shorter one is battery-powered and is mounted outside the house. The company suggests placing it under the overhang of your roof.
Both units contain sensors that measure temperature and humidity (indoor and out). The indoor module also measures sound and carbon dioxide (CO2) levels. Note: that’s CO2 and not the far more dangerous CO—carbon monoxide—which would have been fantastic to have, but quickly takes you into critical life-or-death scenarios, so I can understand why it’s not included.
The outdoor module sends its data wirelessly to the indoor base which connects to the Internet through your home Wi-Fi network. Because it’s connected in to the Internet, you can read your data—both current and historical, and with all sorts of graphs—from anywhere, through both a web browser and a smartphone app. Installation instructions are also provided through the app.
You can also choose to contribute your outdoor readings to a global network of Netatmo weather stations. The indoor readings remain private, but you can give individual people—family members, for example—access to the data on your web dashboard if you’d like.
On the Netatmo web site there’s a map [see the map here] with thousands of stations from around the world—and yours will be there too, if that’s what you decide. This is where you can turn when you’re interested in current conditions farther afield than your back yard, or if you want to compare your readings to another station nearby.
How We’ve Used It
Over the first two weeks, the temperature in our back yard ranged from 16°C to -8°C (about 60°F to 18°F) with some wild swings between winter and spring weather. That means we saw it at work in furnace weather, but not under air conditioner conditions.
Here’s a look at the temperatures over a few days:
So far, we’ve found that we refer to it every day—and usually several times a day. Maybe the novelty will wear off, but maybe not—we’ve always looked at the temperature and forecasts on most days, and now we have better (or at least more personalized) data than ever before.
It turns out that that government-run weather station that we’ve had to rely on for all these years (also used by AccuWeather) shows temperatures very different from what we actually experience, with daily highs differing by up to 8°C (14°F).
The graphs show you at a glance patterns that you may never have thought about. For example, you can clearly see how well your furnace is working, as a graph shows you how the temperature jumps once the furnace is on (hopefully). I don’t know how long we thought it took for the furnace to warm the house, but now we see how much the temperature climbs in just half an hour. It’s much more informative than a thermostat reading. We’re not expecting that the air conditioner will bring the same results, but it will be interesting to see how it does.
Our CO2 readings barely got above zero for the first few days and it didn’t seem like that part of the station was going to be of much interest. And then the day came when we didn’t have the furnace on overnight. Without the air being blown through the house, we could see how quickly the CO2 built up overnight in the bedroom. So now we turn the furnace fan on overnight and that keeps the CO2 at zero the whole time. And the room does feel fresher when you wake up.
We also had some unanticipated uses for the station’s indoor decibel readings. Allegedly, one of us snores, and with the indoor unit in the bedroom, this can be seen—clearly and undeniably—in the morning when we look at the graphs. We also found the unit was sensitive enough to pick up music played in the basement or TV in the living room, and you can see why other people in the house sometimes get annoyed with the sounds.
The rain gauge has worked well and just the way you’d expect. It gives you hourly readings of your rainfall in millimetres (you will learn that 1.5 mm/h isn’t much and 6 mm/h is). Because it measures accumulation over an hour, you won’t get a reading off the charts if you have a brief torrential downpour.
The gauge doesn’t really work with snow, at least not in real time. When there’s a snowfall, the snow falls into the gauge and sits there and you can be in a snowstorm and the reading will be zero. Then, hours later, when there’s no rain or snow, you’ll get a reading as the snow in the gauge starts to melt. But it may give you some idea of how much water from the melting snow went into the ground.
We haven’t had the station long enough to say how long the batteries last in the outdoor components. Netatmo says it will likely be several months before they need replacing and from what we’ve seen, that looks to be the case. After two weeks of continuous use, the batteries in both the outdoor unit and the rain gauge still show at full strength. The current levels are shown on your web dashboard, so you won’t have to guess when they’re getting low. (UPDATE: We just replaced the batteries for the first time in the outdoor module. They lasted for nearly two and half years!)
The one annoyance we had was during installation—which is surprising (and preventable) since the process is actually very simple. For some steps, the instructions were just too sparse. You can tell from the look of the units how much Netatmo values design simplicity, but with the instructions they sometimes put simplicity over users’ needs for clear guidance. We figured it out, and you will too, but some details would have prevented the frustrations we had.
One thing to be aware of: immediately after you’ve installed the units, as you eagerly go to the app or website to see your first readings, there’s a good chance most of them will be way off. Handling the units—as you will during installation—distorts almost all of the readings and they don’t settle immediately. It took a couple of hours before we had accurate readings, but they’ve been fine ever since.
Want One?
Currently, the retail price for the Netatmo Weather Station for Smartphone is CDN$180 (US$149) while the Rain Gauge for Netatmo Weather Station is CDN$110 (US$79). I don’t know if there’s some coldly rational cost-benefit analysis that would have convinced me that I needed the Netatmo Weather Station, but it’s been a lot of fun. And we’ve learned things we didn’t expect, even in a house where we’ve lived for years.
~Melissa the Empress of Dirt ♛
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Kim MacLaren says
I am SO IMPRESSED by your backyard transformation! Gives me hope for mine ! We have a HUGE yard , out of control rose bushes and I thought it was a type of tree ? The bush is so big I am 5’4” and I can’t reach the top to prune or chainsaw it ! Lord have mercy it’s not good . There is one bush I believe it hydrangeas I would like to keep ! I did plant mini garden almond fencing, tomatoes , green peppers , cucumbers, marigolds, sunflowers, rose of Sharon’s . It’s a start ! Thank you very much for the virtual tour of yours ! I love the water fountain idea 💕 please keep posting ! Thank you so much !!! Your partner in Dirt : Kim
Melissa J. Will says
****************GIVEAWAY ENDED JUNE 9/16**********************
Thank you for entering! Winner has been notified.
Nicole L says
Oh wow, the Netatmo Weather Station and Rain Gauge for smart phone looks like a fun toy (I mean tool!) to have! We’d certainly be addicted to regular check-ins at our house in Ontario too!
Jill M. says
I would love the Netatmo Weather Station for Smart Phone & Rain Gauge. I love the idea and it would probably get my techie geek husband into gardening. Love your newsletter and blog.
Pam Black says
I live in Ontario and the name of the product is Netatmo. The looks to be a very interesting product.
Thanks EoD
Angela Anspach says
The weather station looks awesome. I hope this is how I am supposed to enter for the giveaway. I am from Lancaster County in Pennsylvania, USA. Thank you!
Diana G says
WOW!! How cool would that be to win a Netatmo Weather Station for Smart Phone + Rain Gauge. Thank you for that chance and thanks for the wonderful and thought provoking articles that you have furnished for us peeps out in the Cyberland. They really are interesting ..
Diana Beekley says
The Netatmo Weather Station for Smartphone and Rain Gauge is a must have for anyone living in Florida! I’d love it. 🙂 Great news letter too Empress of Dirt! I’ve used several of your ideas and learned a lot. Thanks for taking the time to do it.
Calvin Stillman says
I live in Ontario and would find the Netatmo Weather Station for Smartphone and Rain Gauge beneficial in tracking weather and rainfall in my neighbourhood.
Sheila Simpson says
The Netatmo Weather Station for Smartphone and Rain Gauge would be helpful here on lovely Prince Edward Island… I know we will learn alot
Joy Horton says
The Netatmo Weather Station for Smartphone and Rain Gauge would be awesome to use with my great-granddaughter Scarlett. We love to do projects together. Love all your ideas Empress, thanks for sharing with us. Modesto, California
barbara Wanless says
The Netatmo Weather Station for Smartphone and Rain Gauge. Looks like it would be very helpful here in Ohio!
Cindy Montalbano says
The Netatmo Weather Station for Smartphone is an awesome gadget and I love my gadgets 🙂 I am always checking the weather here in Idaho as it changes from day to day. Makes it hard to forecast and plan
Diane Beaudoin says
I could really use the rain gauge her in Florida!
Kathy Miller says
My brother, whose birthday is next month, keeps close tabs on the weather via some sort of specialized radio. I know he would adore a Netatmo Weather Station for Smartphone and Rain Gauge and hope to win it as a gift for him for his birthday. Thank you for the opportunity to win this weather station and gauge, Netatmo and Empress Melissa.
Cindra says
The Netatmo Weather Station and Rain Guage would be so helpful in our new attempts at organic gardening. I grow flowers and my daughter grows vegetables. Knowing when to water is an important part of the process in addition to following the daily weather. I’m a bit of a weatge geek so would have great fun with it.
Melissa Bennett says
I would love to win the Netatmo Weather Station! We can always use that in our yard.
Mrs Carlos Haun says
Forgot to add my state on previous comment: Texas
My husband is a weather nut & I would love to give him a Netatmo weather station for Smartphone! Sounds fun!
Mrs Carlos Haun says
Weather station for Smart Phone sounds fascinating! Would love to give one to my husband, who is a weather nut!
Erin Neal says
The weather in Idaho is unpredictable so having the Netatmo Weather Station for Smartphone and rain gauge would be very helpful.
Camille says
Netatmo Weather Station for Smartphone and Rain Gauge, Illinois, USA
Avis says
I would love to surprise my husband with a Netatmo Weather Station for Smartphone and a rain gauge. We monitor the weather very closely due to having a farm. Our days are planned lots around the weather so this would be very beneficial to us. We are always monitoring how much rain we have. It is marked on the calendar whenever we get rain. We live in Alberta.
Judith Banville says
My husband used to have a job that required him to be largely outdoors. He developed a bit of an obsession with the weather then, and his habit lives on, as he checks The Weather Network on his phone & the thermometer multiple times in a day. I’m the opposite: I look outside, stick my head out, & play it by ear, as in my opinion, the weather predictions are wrong 50% of the time. Not knowing the weather isn’t so good for my gardening. Winning the Netatmo Weather Station for Smartphone and a rain gauge would certainly make more informed about what’s happening out there (and in the house too) , and no doubt improve my gardening results, especially with the yo-yo conditions we’ve had around Barrie, Ontario (we live just north of there) the past few months. And it would make give my husband another way to indulge his habit (obsession?)
Gwendolyn says
I would love to win the Netatmo Weather Station for Smartphone!
I live in Wisconsin.
Pam Murphy says
What a great setup the Netatmo Weather Station and rain gauge are! Always looking up weather on the Internet. Local info quickly would be so helpful! Many thanks for opportunity.
Illinois
DJ Harper says
My husband would LOVE this one Weather Station for Smartphone and Rain Gauge! His birthday is coming up in July, so Perfect timing!!! We live in Farmington, Arkansas!
Ellen Smith says
Would love to win the Netatmo Weather Station and rain gauge. I am always checking the weather reports on my phone and notice how far off they are from what is happening in my yard. Live in Oregon
Pam Pippenger says
What a cool looking system. We use the one we own all the time. Ours is not as cool looking or”smart” like this one. Would love to have one in our Helena, Arkansas farm.
Denise says
What fun a Netatmo weather station and rain guage look like they would provide hours of educating fun. I currently live in the southern most tip of Illinois but will soon move to the center of the state and this would help me learn about the new climate.
Robin Kauffman says
WOW!!! What a GREAT winning it would be to get a NETATMO WEATHER STATION and RAIN GAUGE!!!!!!! Ours recently went kaput!! We used it daily here in South Central PA!!
Theresa says
Having a Netatmo Weather Station and rain gauge would be neat esp with all the fluctuations we have been having this spring. I hope the weather guy is wrong when he predicted frost and maybe snow flurries for tonight. It is supposed to be spring here in Ohio!!
Cheryl Lundrigan says
Having reported weather conditions from light stations in British Columbia for nearly six years back in the 80’s and 90’s, I have a keen interest in weather and would absolutely LOVE The Netatmo Weather Station. I now live in Southwestern Ontario.
Debra McCullough says
Would like to have a way of monitoring temps during the day in my home. I like science and my husband likes to me monitor weather. Netatmo sounds like something we would kill.
Yvonne Killian says
I would love to have this Netatmo Weather Station and the Rain Gauge I currently only have the remote thermometer but that doesn’t give all the data that this one does. live in Pennsylvania.
Alice Haataja says
Netatmo Weather station and water guage. Minnesota
Debbiecz says
A remote rain gauge would be a great tool at our weekend home. We’re in a forestry program and have planted lots of saplings. It would be nice to know if we actually got rain or if a storm passed us by.
Martie Dutro says
What a good looking and handy weather station! I can see how it would be very valuable to our house. We live in an area that is referred to as a banana belt because the rest of the town is up hill and cooler, so the weatherman is always incorrect in his prediction for us.
Hank Wolgast says
I would really like to own The Netatmo Weather Station for Smartphone & Rain Gauge system. Weather here in northern Michigan can change rapidly and the temperatures we get online can be really wrong. Having my own weather station would make this homeowner and gardener very happy. Thank you for the chance to win one.
Jessica Mammone says
Netatmo weather station would be appreciated in the ever changeable climate of California’s bay area. We have been low on rainfall but maybe a rain gauge would bring good luck, and rain!
Karen says
I would love to win the NetatmoWeather Station & the Netatmo rain gauge. We live on a mountain in Arkansas & our weather is much different than the surrounding areas.
Debbie Millingen says
Hi and thanks so much for the smiles and understanding just how much joy comes from dirt!
I would love the weather station because here in New Brunswick the weather in the morning may not be the same in the afternoon, heck wait 5 mins and you get something different. So some sort of weather warning would be a joy.
Your majesties humble follower (bow)
Janet Lee says
I would love to have the The Netatmo Weather Station for Smartphone & Rain Gauge. I live in Kentucky and it would help to monitor our rainfall when it’s starts getting dry.
Anna Smith says
I would love to have one of your Netatmo Weather Stations and Rain Gauges. I am disabled and do my gardening in pots on the deck, have been for years. I belong to several different weather apps on my phone and computer and they sure do NOT agree with the weather at my house. Wow they look great and sounds like they are a good feature to have for one’s home. Thanks so much for the opportunity.
Ellie Strand says
Forgetfulness is part of my chronic disease. So here’s what I forgot to add above.
I live in northern Wisconsin.
Ellie Strand says
The Netatmo Weather Station for Smartphone and Rain Gauge would be a fantastic addition to my straw bale garden. I’m disabled, so cannot garden in the “normal” fashion. Like you, I find that weather at the nearest airport is not what I experience at my home.
Cindy says
I would love to win the Weather Station for smartphone and Rain Gauge. I’m from Massachusetts. My husband is a weather nerd because he’s a landscape contractor by trade and needs to watch the weather before he starts a job. I love getting him interesting weather related things. This would be right up his alley. Thank you for your generosity.
Linda Reynolds says
I would love to own the Netatmo Weather Station and rain gauge. I would be able to use them in my backyard.
Thank you for offering cool prizes.
Linda
Amy Barycz says
Firstly, thank you for this wonderful blog! I recently stumbled upon it for the first time and I absolutely love your style and clever hacks and DIYs.
Of course, I would love to add a Netatmo Weather Station for Smartphone and Rain Gauge to my Michigan garden. 🙂
Cheryl says
Weather Station for smart phone, Montana
Donna Farrell says
Netatmo weather station would bring special joy to our family having moved to NC from MD and trying hard to learn how to garden here. 😉
Diane says
The Netatmo Westher Station for Smartphone & Rain Gauge would be a big help. We live on a mountain top in NY and our weather is very different than the weather at the bottom of the mountain! What an interesting way to keep track of the differneces.
Linda Roberts says
Very interesting article. We have many types of thermometers but this would be awesome.
Mary H says
A Netatmo Weather Station for Smartphone and a rain gauge sounds like fun. We l;eave in a very rural area far from a weather station and have several outdoor thermometers around the property plus a couple of rain gauges in the vegetable patch. Close to the house the temps are usually higher by 2-4 degrees F (probably because we live in a drafty old farm house).
Linda aka Crafty Gardener says
I had one to try out too. It was very interesting and provided lots of good data. I really liked checking out the weather maps of all the stations across Canada and around the world. Perhaps I will be the lucky winner of one to keep.