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While normal carbon monoxide detectors have a piercing alarm built in, that can be heard around the house - as does the Netatmo one, incidentally - that's not going to help you if you're out shopping. Netatmo’s app is what makes it one of the best products in this space. It’s intuitive and easy to read, and it collects data forever. Want to see a graph of daily high and low temperatures over the last month? It’s easy to zoom in and out of the data to pinpoint exactly what interests you. Until I replaced my old Netatmo system with a new one for this review, I had access to years’ worth of data all in one place. Netatmo’s temperature gauge is quite accurate, but unfortunately its forecasts aren’t the best, with an average variance of 4.8 degrees. However, sometimes Netatmo really nails it when other units whiff: It was the only unit in the roundup to accurately predict a freak warm day in the middle of the test period. The Outdoor Module of the Netatmo Smart Home Weather Station is durable and moisture resistant. However, to maximise its lifespan and ensure more accurate readings, it’s recommended not to place it in direct sunlight or expose it to particularly bad weather. Depending on where the Outdoor Module user lives or the garden/balcony layout, it can be challenging to find an appropriate place to install the Module. This is no longer a problem with the Shield. Whether it’s sunny, wet or windy, the Outdoor Module measures the temperature accurately. The Weather Station Tempest’s temperature readings tend to run a little high, and its weather forecasts were the worst in this roundup, missing on average by 5.2 degrees. Tempest’s forecasts tend to be pretty wild, including one that guessed the high would be 9 degrees lower than Netatmo and another that forecast a 30 percent chance of “wintry mix” precipitation on a day when there was no rain and we had a 40-degree low. That’s odd because forecasting is supposed to be Tempest’s forte, using machine learning to “significantly improve the forecast over time,” per the company. I’ve been testing the device for several months and still see some pretty out-there predictions on otherwise unremarkable days. To ensure consistency of measurements in the records, weather stations must meet strict criteria, in alignment with meteorological organisations across the world. This includes specific standards on the levels of grass-cover within the observations area, as well as having enough clear space for the weather station to be free from the influence of non-meteorological factors on the readings.
The included Netatmo Personal Weather Station also leaves the door open for plenty of aftermarket accessorization such as pairing the Netatmo Smart Rain Gauge and Smart Anemometer. The Netatmo weather station also works with the Apple HomeKit for those looking to add to their connected smart home. On the whole, we were generally impressed with the accuracy of the Netatmo Weather Station. Its outside temperature, humidity and rainfall readings never strayed too far from other local and official weather stations, and were typically a good representation of the local conditions. Tempest provides quite a bit of information, including temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed/direction, lighting strike info, and UV data. The system also measures rain activity, but it does so without a traditional rain-catching funnel. Instead, Tempest uses a haptic rain sensor, essentially measuring when and how forcefully water droplets hit the top of the device. It’s surprisingly accurate and a lot less messy than the typical rain sensor—and it doesn’t have to be cleaned periodically. Whether you have a suitable place to position the wind sensor is probably the most important thing to consider before purchasing that additional module. Want to know which air purifiers really pull dust, pollen and pollutants from the air? See our best air purifiers. What is the Netatmo Weather Station?
It does feel a little constricted zooming in and out of a line graph on a smartphone to take a closer look at granular data.
Setting everything up is pretty easy. There's some fiddly calibration to be done with the rain gauge and anemometer, and it's worth investing in a shield for the outdoor thermometer, which Netatmo can supply, but you're given clear instructions all the way. This data is uploaded to the web so other people can keep an eye on local conditions around the world, because Netatmo has a vast network of thousands of weather stations. There's two in my small town, for example, and dozens in the area around me. The modified hamburger button on the top-left gives users access to more in-depth meteorological data and I thoroughly enjoyed the Netatmo Weathermap feature. This allows you to take a look at Netatmo weather station readings in your area and around the globe. Together, these individual stations create a very cool, global patchwork of localized data. It’s easy enough to load line graphs illustrating long-term changes in humidity, temperature, noise, etc. and zoom-in on specific moments down to the minute. Truth be told, it does feel a little constricted zooming in and out of a line graph on a smartphone to take a closer look at granular data and toggling through to compare separate graphs. The indoor air quality readings allow the user to take action and improve their well-being with simple steps, such as opening the windows when the CO2 levels are too high. The temperature, humidity and noise levels in the home are also provided in real-time.This extra data will be extremely useful in forecasting and monitoring localised extreme weather events such as heavy snow and rain. WOW has been developed by the Met Office in partnership with the Royal Meteorological Society and the Department for Education. We hope this will appeal to schools, amateur meteorologists, and weather enthusiasts across the UK. I thoroughly enjoyed the Netatmo Weathermap feature, which allows you to take a look at Netatmo weather station readings in your area and around the globe. Price: Hard to justify the high price Where Netatmo fails primarily is in installation. The setup process is convoluted and buggy, and it seems to have gotten worse over the years instead of better. Netatmo’s piecemeal approach also means you have to install each component individually, a complex process that involves strategically pressing buttons and removing/reinstalling batteries at just the right time. This process was even more complex because the sensors Netatmo sent me came with preinstalled batteries, all of which were dead on arrival, and the batteries in the wind meter were actually corroded. The system also has a tendency to randomly lose its Wi-Fi connection without warning, only to recover it a few hours later. Consistency of measurements is vital across the network, both for informing our forecasts and for the long-term weather and climate records of the UK.
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