The quality and selection of home weather stations in 2012 is better than it's ever been. There are a variety of high-quality and affordable weather stations that receive outstanding reviews from consumers and weather enthusiasts.
When choosing a weather station, the most important characteristics you should look for are accuracy, durability, and reliability. These are three areas that USA manufacturers like Davis and Rainwise receive high marks. Other brands, most of which are manufactured outside the USA, often use inferior components in order to bring their prices down. Since weather stations are precision instruments whose components are constantly in the elements, build-quality is extremely important if you want long-lasting and reliable results.
There are three outstanding weather stations that we can recommend without hesitation for 2012. With prices ranging from a little more than $100 to around $500, there is something for every budget and level of interest. For more information on any unit, click on the details button to check out our full review and description.
Best High-Precision Home Weather Station of 2012
Davis Vantage Pro2
The Davis Wireless Weather Station Vantage Pro 2 is considered by many weather nuts to be the best high precision, semi-professional weather station available today. Rugged and reliable, the Vantage Pro 2 offers a myriad of essential features and receives outstanding reviews from people who own it. At a current cost of less than $500, the VP2 is an affordable option for those looking for a weather station with precision and accuracy that rivals the professionals.
Best Mid-Priced Weather Station
Davis Instruments Vantage Vue
The Davis Instruments Vantage Vue is similar to the Vantage Pro-2 in many ways including reliability and quality. The main difference is that the Vantage Vue does not allow for as much flexibility in sensor setup as it's rain collector, sensors, and anemometer are combined into a single integrated unit. In comparison, the Vantage Pro2 allows for the anemometer to be mounted separately from the other sensors for more accurate wind readings. Also, the Vantage Vue's LCD display screen (4x3 inches) measures 2 inches shorter than the display on the the Vantage Pro2.
Best Budget Home Weather Station
Ambient Weather WS-2080 Weather Station
With a current price tag of around $115 (including shipping) and hundreds of extremely positive reviews, the Ambient Weather WS-2080 is a great choice for the budget conscious consumer and new home weather station buyers. The WS-2080 measures many of the same features of the more expensive units such as wind speed, wind direction, temperature, humidity, rainfall and barometric pressure, but reliability is a concern with this unit as it is not as rugged as the Davis weather stations featured above and it is not manufactured in the USA.
