Tempest Weather System REVIEW! // The BEST Solar Personal Home Weather Station? 🌤️

[@Slimothy]

Link to purchase Tempest Weather System: bit.ly/TempestWeatherSystem *Use code SLIM at checkout for 10% off! Link above should auto apply it at checkout!*

[@MrHappy-hx3go]

Lol already have mine

[@Slimothy]

That’s good to hear!

[@AdamWood]

The Tempest's anemometer is ultrasonic. It's actually extremely accurate. It measures the wind speeds by timing the pulses between transducers. It can measure the slightest of air movement and uses no moving parts!

[@Slimothy]

@@AdamWood that is correct!

[@dinoscartozzi1218]

Looking forward to an update video ! Can you do a review for the ambient weather network weather window ?

[@Slimothy]

We did a review for the Ambient Weather WS-2000 on the channel so check that out. Update on this unit is that it's still working flawlessly!

[@MrHappy-hx3go]

Anemometer is in fact wind speed and wind vein the common tool for wind direction.

[@OffGridPower-z5i]

I love my tempest, but they break down after around 3 years.... I am on my 3th now ... And this broke down also.... I will not buy a new one... quality of sensors are bad in my opinion if they only work for 1 year 😢

[@Slimothy]

So far ours is working great and going strong, heading into 1 year soon.

[@deforger]

@@Slimothy My station failed at 3.5 years. The temperature sensor failed. Wind and rain accurracy questionable depending on the location. Battery and charging has not been a problem. Unfortunately I'm out of the warranty. Their 10 year program will replace just the outer or the complete system for half price. I really like the idea and the unit, but I don't know if I am willing to try it again based on failures including mine.

[@YukonHawk1]

I have had one for the last 4 years and not one problem

[@mcdo0gal1985]

3th

[@AmeliorScout]

Very thorough on all the details. Thank you!

[@Bonjour-World]

Can one access the data from a standard Web Browser instead of the Smart-Ass Phone application ? Does the device require a monthly subscription ?

[@Slimothy]

Yes you can access it all from the web. No there are no monthly costs.

[@Bonjour-World]

@@Slimothy Thank thee ...

[@babaunbox]

Wow! That’s so cool! It’s compact and very helpful!

[@Slimothy]

Yes it’s awesome! Currently one of our absolute favorite weather stations 😄

[@two_legit1832]

Hows this thing holding up? Still working well?

[@Slimothy]

@@two_legit1832 Still working great. I use the widget/app on my iPhone every day. Still my favorite weather station.

[@mitchreese3226]

How accurate is the rain amounts?

[@Slimothy]

@@mitchreese3226 very accurate from my testing

[@danielroy8270]

How great is it in freezing rain snow storms etc ... is there a Heater built in ? i bought 2 different weather station they both where crap in freezing weather etc.... this in in Canada Up North where you freezing your butts lol

[@Slimothy]

I haven’t had much yet. Maybe one freezing rain experience since setting up. So far everything seemed fine with it but time will tell. No heater as far as I’m aware but not really necessary since there’s no moving parts

[@bsjcook]

My recently installed Tempest is working well, but the temp each morning is much higher than my Davis Technologies that I've used for over a decade. Both the Davis and a mercury thermometer shows 31F and the Tempest shows 45F. Is there a way to calibrate it?

[@Slimothy]

I don’t think so. My tempest is super accurate. You might want to reach out to them and ask. Their customer support is pretty good

[@bsjcook]

Thanks, I will!@@Slimothy

[@afreload]

Get it replaced

[@nordello65]

What other weather stations u reviewed

[@Slimothy]

Ambient Weather, Sainlogic, LFF, etc. Just head to our channel and hit the search button and type weather station. Or search KZbin for “SlimothyTV Weather Station” and you’ll see them.

[@captaincobb8146]

How accruit is the rain guage? + OR - what?

[@Slimothy]

@@captaincobb8146 it’s pretty accurate. Comparable to the Ambient Weather WS-2000 that we also reviewed on the channel

[@willissimpson7888]

Does it include the measure of the rain?

[@Slimothy]

Yes

[@justkeepgoing]

@@Slimothy I've owned two of these, first failed and was replaced. It measures rain, but it's not accurate. It will detect rain instantly, but accumulations are way off. Mine just recently stopped charging and is in limp mode (battery saving). When I contacted Weatherflow, they stated they would replace it at half price, I opted out. I also have a 10-year-old Ambient station that has been running 10 years without a hitch, cost $100 at the time. I like all the other features, but inaccurate rainfall means I can't use it to report weather at my location, I use the Ambient. I worked in hydroelectric operations planning and never used WF Tempest rainfall data for real-time projections. That said, if you don't care about real-time rainfall accuracy then it's a good unit. They use and algorithm to adjust total rainfall after the fact based on local observations. Lightning detection is spot on as is UV. Wind pretty accurate too, if you have it mounted securely. This is my experience and I'm sure others will vary. (I.E.- my two cents worth)

[@Slimothy]

@@justkeepgoing I’ve heard of people getting bad batches of the WeatherFlow systems. My gut says the recent batches are much better. This one has been rock solid. I have 4 weather stations sitting on my deck that we test. One is the WS-2000 by Ambient, you can watch our review on our channel. That one is great too. Totally different type of weather station. The WeatherFlow is much more streamlined though, and easier to suggest to more people.

[@justkeepgoing]

@@Slimothy I guess I'll never know. Just saying that the two I've had haven't been accurate. I was an early adopter. The first died after a year and this one lasted until now. I'll probably go back with an Ambient WS-5000 after my old Ambient goes, that is, if I don't go first :) It would be interesting to see how the other stations you have stack up during a rainstorm with real-time accumulations against an "old School" gauge, and how they compare with the "newer" Tempest. Thanks! Alan J

[@Slimothy]

@@justkeepgoing The main issue with rain is that within 10 ft of eachother, the exact same systems could read 2 very different numbers. 2 old time rain gauges have the same issue too. It’s tough to accurately measure rain. Right now my Tempest says 2.78” of rain this month and the ambient says 2.48”. Personally that’s close enough for me, I don’t care that much about a quarter of an inch of rain. Who knows maybe they’re both wrong. Maybe they’re both right given their location about 20 ft apart. But yeah Tempest does some sort of normalization of rain by comparing amounts between other weather stations in the vicinity which is interesting. Ambient and WeatherFlow are my 2 favorite weather station companies right now. Both have been pretty good to us with customer service which is one facet of how we judge a product. A product has to have responsive customer service otherwise we have a harder time recommending it. WS-5000 seems like a good unit. Perhaps ambient will send us one to review at some point

[@tb693ny6]

how long does the battery last on the station?

[@Slimothy]

Forever. You don’t ever need to charge it in most cases. It charges itself via solar.

[@tb693ny6]

@@Slimothy what i was asking was once its fully charger how long before the battery depletes without any sun?

[@Slimothy]

@@tb693ny6 I think they list that on their website if you want more info under their Solar Rechargeable Battery section. My guess is about 2 weeks of no light, which really shouldn’t be the case for almost anyone.

[@whatevah666]

Would have been nice to see how it looksmounts/looks mounted. Update vid please :)

[@Slimothy]

That’s literally in the video lmao

[@whatevah666]

I mean on a house/whereever with the propper mounting hardware@@Slimothy

[@Slimothy]

@@whatevah666 It is mounted with the included equipment, as shown in the video.

[@darkshadows1332]

Does this also detect tornadoes 🌪?

[@Slimothy]

Nope

[@FamilyManMoving]

Yes. Tie the weather station to a bell anchored in the ground. Tie station to bell. If you hear bell ring, like like hell. Joking aside, you should use some weather apps with localized threat alerts. Most do a pretty good job. I also signed up with my county emergency alert text service. I've had them all go off at the same time - a sign I need to get to shelter. They've helped us a few times, once in the middle of the night when I heard the alerts, looked at the radar, grabbed the kids and said, "let's get into the basement.". That one destroyed a house about half a mile away. Best part is the apps and service are free.

[@SteveJj-w6p]

I bought an Acura rate weather station about 2 weeks ago and it's horrible😮 It's constantly losing connection with the accurate app. I messaged the company about it and they say unplug it and take the batteries out, well duh. Sometimes it works but most of the time it don't, But the thing about that is you lose all of your weather data that was stored up in the unit So it's going back and I will probably go for a weather tempest.

[@Slimothy]

Good choice! I really like this tempest. Ambient weather ( we also have a review of the WS-2000) is good too. But a “set it and forget it” without a display? Tempest would be the way to go if you want everything in an app. Never lost connection once. Fantastic weather station.

[@randolphscudder2372]

If rainfall is a big deal for you, this station has one major con it has no flash memory. When you have a power outage, the hub is down, and no data is recorded. I had this happen the second day after I installed it. Still determining if the hub has flash memory. If not, then the loss of the internet will do the same.

[@Slimothy]

Their website says that the unit will continue to gather data for up to an hour and once power is restored it’ll transfer to hub. And from hub to internet. If the internet is out but power is on, the hub can store up to 1 week of data. This is all laid out on their website. In my case, I have battery backups (APC UPS) on all my electronics, and I highly recommend this. They’re only 75$ each and you can stick them around your house for your router/internet and then one for the hub. Never have to worry about it going down. If the internet goes down at a node far away on the ISP’s side, your iPhone can use Bluetooth to connect to the hub to gather the data.

[@YukonHawk1]

Just get a battery back by APC

[@Darkurge666]

Can you extract the data?

[@Slimothy]

I believe so, via API

[@greel2]

First one failed and was replaced under warranty. Second one failed and was replace (also under warranty). Third one failed, should I give up? It might be outside of warranty. I would not recommend. I live on the Oregon coast and suspect it fails from water ingress.

[@Slimothy]

That’s crazy, we’ve had 0 issues with ours and it’s been rock solid thru part of cold season and summer. Will be interesting to see this winter. Definitely one of our favorite weather stations and we’ve reviewed a bunch.

[@kenroberts4767]

I am also on my third station. The first two failed and were replaced at no charge to me. Customer service is pretty good; I think one time the warranty was already over. If this one fails I may move on to something else.

[@Slimothy]

@@kenroberts4767 That is crazy. Ours is still going strong!

[@ChristopherDopp]

I have a unit that was replaced three times in 2 years and is now out of warranty. The wind sensor is broken on it now so my only option is to buy a replacement unit at 50% off or switch to another weather station. I love the unit, but it is not reliable long term.

[@Slimothy]

Ours still going strong! Too many variances in QC?

[@Deerslayer369]

Did you partner with them? If so, did you get a discount on yours?

[@Slimothy]

Check out timestamp 0:18 in the video, they sent the product out free for review. We disclose this in our videos when a company sends us a product for review. We also have this noted in the description of the video. Most products we review on this channel were sent to us for free, and again they are noted as such.

[@caulkins69]

I don't like spyphones (I refuse to call them smart) or cloud computing. If I just want to connect directly to this unit with a desktop computer, am I out of luck? A thing like this should have a built-in web server so all you have to do is point your browser to its LAN address.

[@Slimothy]

I doubt it. I’m not sure. Half the reason this station is so inexpensive is probably partly because Tempest loves collecting everyone’s weather data (not malicious). But if you’re worried about smartphones spying, I’m very surprised that you’d even consider loading KZbin.com on your computer. My background is in cyber-security and computer forensics so comments like yours intrigue me. If you’re not using a VPN and a browser like Brave with specific privacy extensions (we have a video going over this), big data companies don’t need you to have a smartphone to collect your data, they’re getting it other ways. Maybe you’d rather something like the Ambient Weather Station. We did a review on that too just search our channel. It has a screen you can use to view your data.

[@caulkins69]

@@Slimothy I regard any harvesting of user data to be malicious. The user is not a sheep to be shorn. I judge all technology by the twin concerns of freedom and privacy. If it is not designed to maximize both these things for the end user, then it is not designed correctly. The maker should be forced back to the drawing board and made to ponder, "What would Richard Stallman do?" I don't have a VPN, but I do use Brave with blockers. I often download KZbin videos from the command line using yt-dlp and then view them offline.

[@youdrhnews]

Broken after 3 years. Unrepairable. Buy new one they said at support!

[@Slimothy]

What happened to it?

[@youdrhnews]

Didn't charge any more. Almost overnight.@@Slimothy

[@rfurdaylee]

Lol!! These devices are god's way of telling you, you have WAAAAY too much money to waste 😅

[@Slimothy]

If a $300 device is considered way too much money, I think it’s time to get a job at that point 🤣

[@rfurdaylee]

@@Slimothy 😁👍

[@MicroOutdoors]

Yea i was suckered into one after all the "great" reviews.. ever wandered why you dont see "long term" reviews? Im on my 2nd in the first year... do not recommend and do not buy...

[@Slimothy]

We are planning an updated review soon! Absolutely 0 issues with ours 👍🏻

[@jmdds]

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.

[@Slimothy]

Your comment got blocked by KZbin because of your typo between "years" and "Save". But I manually allowed it for now. I think if you have to manually calibrate rain data on a weather station, it's probably not that good/accurate, and thus would not be considered a good weather station. Ecowitt I believe is very similar to the Ambient Weather Station which we also reviewed. They're both great. I like Tempest because it's so easy, and doesn't look as obnoxious. The app is clean, has Apple Watch complications which is great, and also great iOS/iPhone widgets. Ambient doesn't have those which are definitely a problem. Also, I find the rain data to be very accurate on my model, almost exactly the same as Ambient Weather Station, which again is likely similar to the Ecowitt. Oh and Tempest's customer support is awesome compared to Ambient. Ambient almost never replies which is very odd, and disappointing.