- AcuRite 01517RM Wireless Weather Station with 5-in-1 Weather Sensor: Temperature and Humidity Gauge, Rainfall, Wind Speed and Wind Direction

I bought this to replace an old LaCrosse "weather station" that the outside sensor finally stopped working on. Granted it was probably 10 years old so it had definitely proved it's worth. I did a fair bit of research before deciding on this model as I was concerned about the size of the sensor unit and unsure what would be the best mounting option. I can happily report that the overall size of the outdoor unit isn't as big as I was expecting so it's certainly not intrusive looking. I also wasn't about to get anything that required mounting 30 feet off the ground! First I really don't have a place in my yard that would work for that kind of mounting and I wasn't about to start installing a separate mounting pole anywhere. Not to mention the concerns for general maintenance of the outdoor unit if it was mounted somewhere totally out of reach. I do have a 10 X 12 deck attached to my house so I mounted the outdoor sensor on the deck post that was at the farthest corner with the most open area away from the house and it works great! Due to the construction of the house it just happens that the mounting spot is on a northern exposure area. I have a good sized but not huge back yard and I do live in town so there's really no place with a totally unobstructed mounting place since there are other buildings and trees within 50 feet. The total height off the ground is maybe 6 feet max but that's not affecting the accuracy at all. Overall installation was a breeze. It maybe took 10 to 15 minutes total to put it together, mount the outdoor unit and plug in the indoor display. No muss no fuss, it started working immediately! Super impressed by the ease of set up! The "feels like" and wind chill readings are spot on with what the weather service reports for my area and those are the readings I was most intrigued by. I live in a northern climate where wind chill is a big deal in the winter. The temp reading is extremely accurate. The only precipitation we've had since I installed it are snow and sleet and I have't been super diligent about cleaning out the rainwater collection bin so I can't really say how accurate it is yet but it has given me a reading of total rainfall so I'm assuming it's working fine. The only real suggestion I have for the indoor display is to consider wall mounting it. The base isn't super sturdy and mine fell off the counter causing a corner of the display that fits in the slot of the counter base to break off. The piece that broke is clear so it's not an issue looks wise and the fall didn't affect the performance at all so I'm not knocking any stars off the review but please do be aware that the counter top may not be the best mounting option if you have kids or pets that could knock it off.

It’s informative and fun

I got it set up it's pretty nice but too bad there is no app with this unit. After I had it set up I kind of wished I had a Wi-Fi unit with app connectivity. I used my own mounting setup for the sensor station. You need 3/4 in pipe. I used black galvanized steel and a rail support, steel tek 684-304HC (962239). Note you need a brace, I used a copper pipe hanger. You cannot use PVC as the sensor will wobble. The display unit, they want you to keep it plugged in and use the batteries for backup. As soon as it loses power, all settings are lost. I would probably spend more and get a Wi-Fi unit next time but I'll run with this for awhile. Have the base unit next to my bed.

This weather station was much easier to set up than the one I just replaced it with. It self calibrates to your altitude and location. The display screen is easy to understand and read. You don't have to turn on a light at night to see it. I like the colors rather than the monochrome display on my old unit. The scrolling feature on the bottom is nice that you aren't having to push a bunch of buttons to see the history of the weather. I mounted this at the peak of my roof and it's working well up there. Changing the batteries might get a little tricky as the battery compartment is on the bottom of the unit but hopefully I won't have to change them but once a year or less. I used Lithium batteries so they should last a long time. The solar feature should help them last also. We haven't had any ran so to speak of so not sure how well that works, but my dad has the exact same unit and his works very well, measuring down to .01 of an inch. Pretty accurate. I have no complaints about this unit at all.

I put this weather station up last year (mounted it on a galvanized pipe) and it's held up very well. It's pretty accurate and closely matches numbers the weather service puts up. (Actually, I think it's more accurate since it's AT my house instead of NEAR it.) It's held up in gale-force winds, cold, snow, hailstorms, hot summers. They recommend putting in lithium instead of alkaline batteries, though, esp. if your weather gets extreme at either end of the scale, and I did that. The console is attractive, informative, and easy to read. However, the viewing angle is shallow; if you're sitting down or to one side or another, you typically can't read the screen. Aside from that nit, though, it's been a real champ. Recommended.

Out of the box, the indoor display was not working properly as it was not displaying numbers properly. Some of the segments that make up the number to be displayed did not light up on 3 of the display panes. I called AcuRite, explained the problem, they told me to take pics of the display malfunction and send to them and they would take care of it. within 3 days I had a new one that worked perfectly and did not have to return the original one. Love the product. Was easy to set up and so far the rain amounts are right on, without calibration !! I have had it about 2 months and so far has not missed a beat.

Set up a bit complicated and a two man job. I've had it for a month now and, after comparing to other weather measurements, both mine and NWS, it's plenty accurate enough for me, even the rain gauge even though I've never bothered to calibrate it. I've come to depend on it showing the wx HERE at my house, not 20 miles away at the airport. My house is in a development of many homes, many trees and at the bottom of a hill, all of which affects the readings, especially the wind. I'm sitting at my desk now and looking at it as I frequently do; display is perfect - I wouldn't change a thing. The "learning" icon has gone out and the wx prediction has become surprisingly accurate - a bonus as I essentially bought this as a toy, but have found the information displayed to be both useful and reliable. Hard to understand some of the negative reviews.

Pros - Monitor is very easy to read from all angles and has an auto dimming feature that is nice. Very easy to install and set up if you don't use their recommended rain gauge calibration procedure. That is another story, read on for more info. Temperature is believable and not way off like others have experienced. Cons/troubles - Wind vein squeaked at a certain point of every revolution right out of the box, which doesn't give me much confidence in it's longevity or accuracy as time/wear goes on...I don't know yet if Acurite will do anything about it. Rain gauge was WAY off calibration right out of the box. I opted not to follow their silly calibration procedure...get serious...who wants to try to get exactly 8 oz of water to drip evenly over a 20 to 30 minute time frame to see if the gauge reads 1.06" rain? And then when it doesn't read 1.06", then adjust screws and start over and repeat process who knows how many times until it is accurate? MY PROCESS....install a manual rain gauge within a few feet, compare manual gauge to weather station gauge after each rain event for several events and adjust calibration screws accordingly until both gauges match. The more rain that falls in the event the easier it is to calibrate. I had to turn each screw 1 and 3/4 turns ccw to get close to accurate, waiting now for a big rain to make final adjustments. I was also a little disappointed in the range of the signal from the weather station to the monitor... at about 125 feet it lost signal and I had to move it into a room with a more line-of-sight position that puts it about 85 feet from the weather station. ADMITTEDLY, the house has a metal roof and metal siding which I'm sure greatly inhibited the signal. All in all, pleased for the most part. 3 STAR RATING because of the out of the box squeak in the anemometer and gross inaccuracy of an instrument that is supposed to be not just *accurate* but "Acu-Rite."

***Update #2 (December 8, 2020): Weather station, and remote battery pack, are still going strong and no issues encountered with them. Also, still ORIGINAL batteries from Christmas 2018. Make sure to use LITHIUM Batteries for cold climates. Still, very pleased!!*** **Update (March 18, 2020): This weather station is still in use without issue....AND still the original batteries since Christmas 2018....We have experienced all weather conditions since then and the unit has literally weathered them all from nearly -50 C to + 30 C...snow, rain and a LOT of sunshine!! Very pleased!!** Weather station was purchased as a gift. I thought the mounting hardware was initially missing and did not find it until installing the unit and found the mounting hardware in the battery compartment. This station was purchased as a gift 2018 and the recipient is happy with it so far. It is being used with the remote battery pack which can be purchased separately and should help with making battery changes easy while ensuring the historical data is not lost. The unit is working well and required little setup other than ensuring both the unit and the display are on the right channel. I was expecting it to require more effort to have it talk to the display but it recognized the device once the batteries were in. The display gives access to a lot of data and the giftee is looking forward to the weather forecasting abilities once the unit finishing its "learning" period. You can set the units for each separate category individually allowing a mix & match between imperial and metric units as desired. The categories and the available displayed units are as follows: 1) Temperature (Fahrenheit or Celsius) 2) Wind Speed (mph, km/h, or Knots) 3) Rainfall (inches or mm) 4) Pressure (inches of mercury or hectopascals). The only area of concern is how the unit will hold-up to UV damage over time as the unit is very lightweight plastic. It does seem very well constructed however. I hope this review has been helpful!

Unit setup fairly easy and so far it is working great. I had a few questions during setup and Acurite’s customer service was excellent.

Replacement for the older ACU RITE weather station - that was very good. This is another level. Wow! Worth each penny. Easy to install, set up a breeze. Tested for rainfall as per manual. Perfect. In rural area is fantastic addition to the house and our life. Because the nearby city weather is not like we encounter here. So I am looking forward for years of good weather informations. Excellent item, highly recommended!

It is exceedingly easy to read with all the pertinent information displayed. I also am very pleased with the ability to check rainfall amounts for various time frames and its straight forward and simple design for checking other weather measurements such as "feels like, wind chill etc. I would not hesitate to recommend this weather station to any avid weather enthusiast.

4. Now 3.5 years later (2021). Definitely needs a component update. Replaced the anemometer and the temperature sensors with components from AcuRite. Unit is like new! Kudos to the company for providing and easy and cost-effective way to breathe new life into the machine. 3. Update: About 2 h after changing batteries, the unit is now fully operational. Nothing in the manual to indicate that I should wait this long ... 2. Change in my opinion. Two and a half months later, and the anemometer is no longer working. Changed the batteries. No effect. Am now about the engage the company in a warranty exchange. Will post my comments when I hear back on how that worked out. Stay tuned. 1. Happy so far. Easy setup. Batteries are easy to change. BUT have only had the unit for a month. My last weather station (not this brand) only lasted 14 months. So, if this one holds up over the long-term then it deserves 5 stars - we'll see.