Of course home weather stations run the gamut from simple three instrument designs to those that measure almost everything that professional weather forecasters do. We’ll cover the basics first. At a minimum your unit should have:
- A thermometer. More advanced stations have both indoor and outdoor measurement abilities, and often include the ability to use a remote sensor or in deluxe models, several temperature sensors.
- A barometer. Essential for knowing what is likely to change ( or not) over the next few days.
- A hygrometer, which measures humidity. More advanced weather stations have both inside and outside sensors, as for instance air conditioning inside a building alters the humidity drastically.
Those three items define the minimum a home weather station should include. Moving on, many advanced models may include:
- Anemometer – measures wind speed.
- Wind vane – measures wind direction
- Rain gauge – some can be remotely controlled to dump measured water.
Of course the devices above imply an outside area where you can actually put the external sensors. They can relay their information from the outside sensors to the inside weather station by thin cables or be wireless.
More advanced models can take the measurements from all the included instruments and actually make a weather forecast. They also can compute comfort levels like the heat index and wind chill. With advanced level home weather stations there is usually the capability to use a computer for record keeping and forecasting.
Take the time to figure out which instruments you need for your home weather station and which you’d like to have if affordable to get the most for your money.