Tempest is a very nice instrument, but it has a fatal flaw: the solar-charging batteries are not consumer replaceable. I bought two Tempests and put them in locations with at least eight hours of full sun in the southern U.S. After about two years of flawless service, both units started losing their charge; the batteries were dying. The company says the units must be returned to exchange the batteries, but my units are out of warranty. At this point, the company said, I'd have to buy new Tempest units. I'd buy them again, but only if the battery issue is resolved in the next Tempest version (if there is one).
Had mine for over two years, and it started to go offline even with full sun. Contacted WeatherFlow service, and they looked at the unit remotely - battery issue. They sent me a new free unit replacement. Did take the old unit apart and tried to find a replacement but could not find an exact terminal and voltage match. Everything was from China. Battery was soldered in place. I did look at the new unit. Different battery entirely. One issue that played into my first unit failure was long periods without sun exposure. I travel by RV and only mount it when stationary for more than a week. My current model is permanently mounted in full AZ sun. Will see how long it runs. 1yr plus so far.
@@gerryf7015 Save your receipt! WeatherFlow wanted receipts from two years ago that I no longer have. They were not willing to help, even though the serial numbers (Station ID) matched their records with my name and email address from when it was registered. :( So, I'm going to give Ecowitt a try.
Weatherflows main business model is focused on reselling the data collected by these products., and that speaks to the difficulty with allowing consumers the ability to calibrate. For example even if the mount pole sways by millimeters in strong winds, or if it is a couple of degrees off true vertical, the data is not accurate and thus of little monetary value for resale. Interesting, if you drill down to the advanced settings 'Station
Been using the Weatherflow Tempest with HA for about 18 months now and have been very happy with it. I use it to calculate information to help automatically control the temperature and humidity with my Polytunnel Home Assisand instance. I also use the rain sensor and temperature to automatically switch off the house ventilation to avoid drawing in too much mosture or cold air into the house. I use the rain sensor to provide alerts when washing is drying outside. I like the temperature "feels like" entity which combines the real temperature and the wind speed to give a more accurate indication of how the temperature will feel outside. I use the UV sensor to send an alert to our phones and a reminder to use sunscreeen/wear a hat.
@@makeitworktech no problem with the battery but I did have the pressure sensor fail but Weatherflow were able to diagnose the fault remotely and they replaced the unit as it was still in Warranty. The Company were great to deal with, very friendly and professional.
I love the trick about using the utility meter to get more granular rain numbers. Though I wish it could be done on an annual basis for the rain year which typically runs from July 1 through June 30. I have been using the Weatherflow Tempest for 4-5 years now and it has proven to be pretty reliable and the data tracks fairly closely with the reported numbers from San Jose State Univ and the NWS station at San Jose International.
Ecowitt has a lightning sensor as well but as an optional addition, it works based on sound and so far seems to be reliable with numbers of strikes but not so sure about distance away metrics
Is this really local to Home Assistant? I know this is an older video, but Reeds new video on internet dependent devices seems to imply the Tempest doesnt work without internet. Wondering if its just the app that doesn’t work ( but the device still provides info locally to Home Assistant).
Thank you for this video. I was actually leaning towards this product., but the calibration methodology really seems like a bad idea. I mean I guess it’s a 50-50 shot. If it’s right then it’s fine but if it’s wrong seems like it’s a really hard path to fix it.
I have the Ecowitt, very happy with its accuracy. More recently i've added an indoor air quality sensor, not sure if the tempest has additional devices that can make up an ecosystem.
great video and makes we want to get one of these weather stations. But separately, I'd love to know what that little LCD panel is that is raining code like the matrix?
Any way to use this without installing their app? Or any alternative weather stations that don't require apps and are local-only (e.g. zigbee or esphome based)?
My integration broke sometime in Jan 2024 when I upgraded Home Assistant. Something to do with UDP but I have not found a solution yet. I have a flat network.
@@makeitworktech he he ... to be clear though, that was _meant_ to be a comment about the product -- not your video (which I actually watched till the end, and click the like button a non-even number of times ...☺ )
WeatherFlow Tempest is worst ever weather station garbage I have tested in the last 25 years.Save you money and buy the Ecowitt for probably half the price where one can calibrate or add or subtract daily,monthly and yearly rain data unlike the Tempest garbage where the only option is to delete everything.
Tempest is a very nice instrument, but it has a fatal flaw: the solar-charging batteries are not consumer replaceable. I bought two Tempests and put them in locations with at least eight hours of full sun in the southern U.S. After about two years of flawless service, both units started losing their charge; the batteries were dying. The company says the units must be returned to exchange the batteries, but my units are out of warranty. At this point, the company said, I'd have to buy new Tempest units. I'd buy them again, but only if the battery issue is resolved in the next Tempest version (if there is one).
Read first comment, stopped watching the video. Thank you!
Hmmm, good to know! The Ecowitt has backup AA batteries!
Had mine for over two years, and it started to go offline even with full sun. Contacted WeatherFlow service, and they looked at the unit remotely - battery issue. They sent me a new free unit replacement.
Did take the old unit apart and tried to find a replacement but could not find an exact terminal and voltage match. Everything was from China. Battery was soldered in place. I did look at the new unit. Different battery entirely. One issue that played into my first unit failure was long periods without sun exposure. I travel by RV and only mount it when stationary for more than a week. My current model is permanently mounted in full AZ sun. Will see how long it runs. 1yr plus so far.
@@gerryf7015 Save your receipt! WeatherFlow wanted receipts from two years ago that I no longer have. They were not willing to help, even though the serial numbers (Station ID) matched their records with my name and email address from when it was registered. :(
So, I'm going to give Ecowitt a try.
@@gerryf7015 The Tempest seems well-made. I'm curious if you were able to put it back together (without leaks) after inspecting the batteries?
Weatherflows main business model is focused on reselling the data collected by these products., and that speaks to the difficulty with allowing consumers the ability to calibrate. For example even if the mount pole sways by millimeters in strong winds, or if it is a couple of degrees off true vertical, the data is not accurate and thus of little monetary value for resale. Interesting, if you drill down to the advanced settings 'Station
Been using the Weatherflow Tempest with HA for about 18 months now and have been very happy with it. I use it to calculate information to help automatically control the temperature and humidity with my Polytunnel Home Assisand instance. I also use the rain sensor and temperature to automatically switch off the house ventilation to avoid drawing in too much mosture or cold air into the house. I use the rain sensor to provide alerts when washing is drying outside. I like the temperature "feels like" entity which combines the real temperature and the wind speed to give a more accurate indication of how the temperature will feel outside. I use the UV sensor to send an alert to our phones and a reminder to use sunscreeen/wear a hat.
Nice to hear some user experience! Any issues with battery life or is it staying charged ok?
@@makeitworktech no problem with the battery but I did have the pressure sensor fail but Weatherflow were able to diagnose the fault remotely and they replaced the unit as it was still in Warranty. The Company were great to deal with, very friendly and professional.
I love the trick about using the utility meter to get more granular rain numbers. Though I wish it could be done on an annual basis for the rain year which typically runs from July 1 through June 30.
I have been using the Weatherflow Tempest for 4-5 years now and it has proven to be pretty reliable and the data tracks fairly closely with the reported numbers from San Jose State Univ and the NWS station at San Jose International.
Ecowitt has a lightning sensor as well but as an optional addition, it works based on sound and so far seems to be reliable with numbers of strikes but not so sure about distance away metrics
Interesting, I've never seen that one!
Is this really local to Home Assistant? I know this is an older video, but Reeds new video on internet dependent devices seems to imply the Tempest doesnt work without internet. Wondering if its just the app that doesn’t work ( but the device still provides info locally to Home Assistant).
I really love the Tempest its a great wx station to get into without sacrificing accuracy & quality, but it still doesn't beat Davis wx stations!
I'll have to look into them! Looks like you can pull the data into Home Assistant
$$$$
I like my Ambient Weather Station ...WS2902 I think I have and it ties into Home Assistant
Thank you for this video. I was actually leaning towards this product., but the calibration methodology really seems like a bad idea. I mean I guess it’s a 50-50 shot. If it’s right then it’s fine but if it’s wrong seems like it’s a really hard path to fix it.
4:46 how do they measure lightning distance?
can this thing do non-banana units?
Not sure!
Yes!
I have the Ecowitt, very happy with its accuracy. More recently i've added an indoor air quality sensor, not sure if the tempest has additional devices that can make up an ecosystem.
Yeah I love how you can add sensors. I have added 2 soil moisture sensors
great video and makes we want to get one of these weather stations. But separately, I'd love to know what that little LCD panel is that is raining code like the matrix?
Haha thanks! It's the one I made in this video: ruclips.net/video/aNpBO0BQZnM/видео.htmlsi=3sx80EVjLUCPFsr4
Any way to use this without installing their app? Or any alternative weather stations that don't require apps and are local-only (e.g. zigbee or esphome based)?
Not that I know of!
Does the Tempest have an option to power it with a cable?
Holy shit I fell off my chair when I saw the price
Same haha
Hi, just wonder if both weather stations you recently tested handles meters and Celsius for Europe?
Yes they do!
My integration broke sometime in Jan 2024 when I upgraded Home Assistant. Something to do with UDP but I have not found a solution yet. I have a flat network.
Hmmm still working here. Remove and try to add it again?
Did you ever figure out your HA issue @gilkman? I just got a Tempest and I’m running into the same issue but can’t figure out the cause
Is nice but no Shop to EU Austria?!
Unwatchable due to tagged products overlay.
Sorry to hear that
Curtain rod???
😂😁
**cough, wheeze** You really need to put a warning on your video. Seeing the price of that thing unprepared nearly gave me a heat attack.
Sorry! Warning: Sticker Shock may cause myocardial infarction!
I stopped watching after “create an account”.
Glad you got the info you needed!
@@makeitworktech he he ... to be clear though, that was _meant_ to be a comment about the product -- not your video (which I actually watched till the end, and click the like button a non-even number of times ...☺ )
@@MikeLukuma I figured! Haha
Thanks for that!
WeatherFlow Tempest is worst ever weather station garbage I have tested in the last 25 years.Save you money and buy the Ecowitt for probably half the price where one can calibrate or add or subtract daily,monthly and yearly rain data unlike the Tempest garbage where the only option is to delete everything.