AcuRite 01036 Pro Weather Station-A Complete Review

Great Pro Weather Station Choice

Those who want a more sophisticated device at a reasonable cost will appreciate the detail in my AcuRite 01036 Pro Weather Station review. You get a lot more information than on cheaper models, a great color display, and multiple ways to access the data – if you’re willing to go the extra mile.

This unit is a well-performing station by AcuRite. While many things are positive and good, other parts of the station do present challenges to you.

As I walk you through this set of weather equipment, I will point out some things that you should be aware of. Some of the things I really liked and others I wasn’t that excited about.

We found this set to definitely be more for the weather geek, and professional weather record keeper. If you are this person then you will be satisfied with the many facets of the AcuRite 01036.

If you are a casual observer of the weather, then this is probably too much equipment for you. Too many things going on. 

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Here is a sample list of the type of instruments that are here.

Type of Instruments

• Thermometer-measure the air temperature
• Hygrometer-measures the water content in your air
• Self-Calibrating Forecasting-provides your personal forecast

of today’s conditions for the next 12 to 24 hours by collecting data from the sensor in your backyard. It generates a forecast with pinpoint accuracy

• Data Logger-Electronic device that collects data over time in relation to a location. Many times it is interfaced with a computer
• Barometer-an instrument measuring atmospheric pressure. Used in relation to forecasting weather and measuring altitude
• Clock
• Calendar
• Rain Gauge
• Anemometer-instrument that measures wind speed
• Alarm
• Heat index-a quantity that expresses the discomfort of the air from the combination of humidity and temperature of the air
• Wind Chill-perceived decrease in air temperature felt by the body on exposed skin due to the flow of air
• Dew Point-the temperature at which dew forms and is a measure of atmospheric moisture

AcuRite 01036 Instrument Sensors

In looking at the sensors, there are a few of them that I will list. Please realize that they are all rolled into one sensor unit. You will need to only install one unit, not several different pieces of equipment.

This is a list of sensors that are a part of the 5-in-1 outdoor sensor unit that you will be installing to collect your data for you. This sensor unit has a wind van, and an anemometer to measure the wind speed.

There is a barometric pressure sensor and a thermometer to collect data as well. There is a built-in aspirating fan that is there to breathe ambient air into the sensor to reduce false temperature readings. This fan is powered by a solar cell.

The other thing is that there is a rain gauge that has a filter cover on it to keep all types of debris out. Again preventing any false measurements of precipitation.

• Thermometer
• Temperature Range: 32°F (0°C) to 122°F (50°C) Indoor -40°F (-40°C) to 158°F (70°C) Outdoor
• Hygrometer
• Humidity Range: 16 to 98% Relative Humidity Indoor 1 to 99% Relative Humidity Outdoor
• Anemometer
• Wind Speed Range: 0 mph to 99 mph
• Rain Gauge
• Rainfall Range: 0 mil to 99.99″

Some words of wisdom to the purchaser. Make sure you have thought out well in advance where your location of the outside sensor package will be. This is very important before you purchase. Many different things should come into mind when planning this out.

You will need a reasonably shaded area to protect the thermometers from being tainted by excessive direct sunlight.

You need to take the measurements of the sensor pack and make sure with the size of it that you still have the rain gauge out in the open, and the wind cups are free to perform their duty in logging in the wind speed.

Please help the anemometer do what it is designed to do.

5-in-1 Sensor Placement

The 5-in-1 sensor is designed to remain outdoors all year long. Choose an open location with no obstructions above or around the sensor for the most accurate measurements.

It would be a great idea to position sensors away from heaters, air conditioners, chimneys, exhaust vents, asphalt, and concrete (surfaces that radiate heat).

Another thing to avoid is installing sensors near any high sources of humidity, like pools, spas, or other bodies of water. Realize locating near a sprinkler system would be very bad, as an example.

Please remember to still have it close enough to your display unit inside so that you have an uninterrupted sensor transmission at all times. Please take into account how many walls, and what type of walls you will be transmitted through.

Also, be aware that you will need to be able to easily get to empty out the rain gauge should it get full of excessive rain or snow amounts. Having a rain gauge is something you really can use in many practical ways.

If you are a gardener, or on a larger scale a farmer, then collecting the light fall amounts will help you out immensely. If you are raising crops that require a certain amount of moisture, during the germination period (shortly after planting), then you will know if you need to water the garden, or you will need to irrigate the field.

This will ensure a good crop, from the seeds you have planted. Another great thing about rain gauge information is that you are also aware of too much rain, so you may need to turn bales of hay or straw, or maybe even help to drain off excess moisture from a field or from the garden so that the crops (Plants)(your harvest) doesn’t rot from too much moisture.

One more thing before we move on. I found a very interesting dynamic happening with the unit’s solar panel and the aspirating fan.

The AcuRite people recommend heavily that you need to find a good spot for keeping the direct sunlight off of the thermometer sensors.

But then the solar panel is part of the sensor package. This panel powers the aspirating fan which doesn’t seem to do very well its job of keeping ambient (active hot) air from the thermometer sensors.

I would think the fan may be something that would bug me, especially if it wasn’t working that well.

To settle this back and forth, I would personally try really hard to find a lightly shaded area where the direct sunlight wouldn’t toast my thermometers and yet where I was still receiving enough solar power to charge the solar cells.

Type of Transmission

Wireless Range: 330ft / 100m depending on home construction materials

Operating frequency: 433 MHz

Place both units at least 3 feet (.9 m) away from electronic devices (TV, computer, microwave, radio, etc.).

At this point, please be aware of the constant updating (transmitting) of the sensor to the display. Each individual situation should probably be thought about at the very least.

The question raised would be, is this transmission going to be affecting anything else close by that I have going on. For any other computer or electronic type transmissions, make sure you are aware of all of this may be affecting other things around it.

Display

The display is a multifaceted display. It has many exciting features which we will be examining closer. The display may be displayed in either of two languages. The owner will be choosing between either English or French.

As far as placing the display, look for a dry area free of dirt and dust. Then to make sure of the accuracy of the temperature measurement, place it out of direct sunlight and away from heat sources or vents.

The display unit stands upright for tabletop use or is wall-mountable if you choose.

The display features a wind section, an outdoor temperature area, the current indoor readings section, and then the weather ticker display at the very button. There is a lot that goes into the AcuRite 01036 Pro.

The display is backlit (touch-activated) for a few seconds when the display is running only on AA battery power. It is backlit all the time when the AC adapter is being used.

Another thing to be upfront about is that the icons are not truly colored icons, but they only look colored because of a colored shield that is over them. Sometimes at an angle, this is very apparent. You may find that you can’t see the facing well at any angle just the direct straight-on look.

The current wind speed and direction are shown. Also, the past two wind directions are seen as well. The current outdoor temperature is shown as well as an arrow pointing to which way the temperature is trending.

As an example, it will show in the early afternoon the temperature at 75 degrees and the arrow shows it trending upward.

Outdoor information is prominent to the viewer. The current outdoor temperature is seen, and you will see that the outdoor temperature alarm is on.

The current humidity is shown and you will also see the humidity alarm is currently not set. The current humidity level is trending upward currently as well.

You will next see the measuring of any current rainfall. Also present is whether or not the rainfall alarm is set currently.

The 12 to 24-Hour Weather Forecast Self-Calibrating Forecasting tool pulls data from your 5-in-1 sensor to generate your personal forecast.

On the right towards the center of the display center is the rainfall/precipitation area.

In that area, you are shown the current rainfall amount for today so far. Below are two readings. The one on the left is the current monthly amount of moisture, and on the right is the all-time rainfall record for the month.

The next portion of data provided is the low battery indicator for the sensor unit, then as you go left to right you have the current time, shown in either AM or PM, then on the right side is the calendar month and date for your reference.

One thing to point out here is that this is not an atomic clock, so any power interruption could affect the accuracy of the clock.

At the very bottom of the display(as we move from left to right) is where the, very lowest temperature for the day(all-time low) is shown, and next to it is the all-time high for the date.

If you notice right above these two temperature numbers are the high and low-temperature alarms can be set for the day.

These alarms could be used to alarm you as to a close to freezing outside temperature so that you could go cover your plants. Or a high temperature if you needed to move some plants out of the sun because they are young and you don’t want them to dry up or get sunburnt, or dried out and wilted.

On the right of this is the current low for the day and the current high temperature for the day.

Weather Ticker & Forecast

The weather ticker can be used if you would like a current up-to-date instrument feeds to be there to read all the time. You are able to personalize the types of information you would like to be seeing all the time.

When explaining the AcuRite weather prognosticator it is rather cumbersome. But here are the logistics involved. This patented prognosticating tool measures over 4000 barometric readings from your setup site. Basically, one reading for every 12 min. It collects the readings for a 14-day period.

It measures temperature readings as well and puts all of this information against the average global pressure which is (29.92 in Hg.). It then averages out your daily barometric pressure.

Once that is figured out, then it will start reacting and responding to what is actually happening outside in your world now, and it will come up with an actual forecast tailor-made for you.

Please keep in mind this is a process and with each successive new actual pressure reading the forecaster will become more and more accurate.

The Learning Mode icon disappears from the 01036 station screen (example pictured on left). At this point, the self-calibrated pressure is reasonably accurate (although the algorithm continues to run; 4,000 readings = 33.33 days) and the weather forecaster is ready for superior weather prediction.

The forecast icons for model 10306 are the following:

• Storm Likely
• Partly Cloudy
• Cloudy
• Rain Likely
• Snow Likely
• Chance of Mixed Rain & Snow

Back Of Display

At the back of the play area a few buttons and switches you should be aware of. First, there are the following buttons, a reset button which is for resetting the whole display unit. Just above it is the Clear Today button and the Clear All buttons.

The Clear Today button clears all recorded material since 12:00 am. and Clear All button, clears all recorded data without having to reset the time and date. Please be aware that the USB mode will be reset to Mode 2 by default.

Also present is the A-B-C Switch that is set to the same as the sensor’s A-B-C switch, so that the two units can synchronize. A is set in the display, A is set in the sensor unit as an example.

Software

The AcuRite 01036 Pro Weather Station comes with some software advantages. In looking at this you must be aware of what it will do for you and what it will not do for you.

This area was a rather hot button, with some customers. Many people were upset about some of the following items.

Some things to be aware of are that the Microsoft Windows program will need to be accessed by the software. The display does come equipped with a USB port, and also a USB cable to connect the display to a windows connection.

It connects with the weather data collection center of the display unit. This data has been collected by the 5 in 1 sensor.

The display is set up to display logs (or stores) of data so that you can download it to a personal computer in a data file (CSV or comma-separated values file). The downloadable program is called either AcuRite Connect for Windows 8.1 / 8 / 7 or this program is called PC Connects for Windows Vista / XP SP2 or higher.

When conversing with AcuRite support techs it was reported that the program is not available for Windows 10 yet. So it is not compatible with Windows 10.

The technical support person also told me that the program once it is downloaded onto your PC, it has a customizable dashboard. Which data is shown is customizable. The headings and the widgets can be color-coded to help you organize all of the data your 5 in 1 sensor is collecting for you. The dashboard can very much be set up to what you would like to be using.

AcuRite 01060M Color Thermometer Display Smart Home Environment System with My AcuRite Remote Monitoring App

One thing here that needs to be highlighted for you is that the free apps, connections to phones, i-pads, etc will only work if you have a constant connection to the data logging. If that connection is not there then the apps will not perform.

So either you have a constant connection or you can use the Aculink Internet Bridge that they sell separately.

You will have to purchase the software internet bridge unit separate from AcuRite. This extra accessory piece will cost you around $80.00 to purchase in addition to the cost of the weather station.

One more thing that is excellent for the buyer is that you are able to connect with various weather collection sites like Weather Underground. Many kinds of weather fans very much like this, and look forward to submitting a steady flow of raw weather data to Weather Underground.

AcuRite 01036 Manufacturer/Support

Chaney Instrument Co. 965 Wells St. Lake Geneva, WI 53147

(844) 228-5465

Support 24/7 at www.AcuRite.com e-mail at info@chaney-inst.com

Many happy customers rave about the excellent support. One gentleman even shared how upset he was with the software part of the AcuRite 01036.

He was actually called in the evening at home by the CEO of AcuRite. He was floored by the caring, and the top service that was given by the company’s top support agent after that call.

Features

Product Features: Thermometer, Hygrometer, Self-Calibrating Forecasting, Data Logger, Barometer, Clock, Calendar, Rain Gauge, Anemometer, Alarm, Heat index, Wind Chill, Dew Point

Readings: Temperature, Humidity, Atmospheric Pressure, Wind Speed, Wind Direction

The accuracy of the several gauges is very good. They are rated as such.

Temperature accuracy is +2/-2 degrees Fahrenheit Humidity accuracy is +/- 4% from 16% to 20% Relative Humidity +/- 3% from 20% to 80% Relative Humidity +/- 4% from 80% to 90% Relative Humidity +/- 5% from 90% to 98% Relative Humidity Wind direction indicators are 16 points. This means that the anemometer will measure the wind in sixteen termed directions. 4 main directions are North, South, East, and West. The 16 directions are NNE, NE, ENE, E, ESE, SE, SSE, S, SSW, SW, WSW, W, WSW, NW, NNW, N.

Wind Speed accuracy is as follows: +/-2 mph below 10 mph +/- 3 mph from 10 to 30 mph +/- 4 mph from 30 to 50 mph +/- 5 mph from 50 to 99 mph Rain Gauge accuracy is rated as such: +/- 0.05-inches per inch of rainfall

Dimensions

5 in 1 outdoor sensor: 10.8” Height 5.6” Width 13.8” Depth

Indoor Display Unit: 8.2” Height 7.4” Width 1.2” Depth

How Powered

Input Voltage: 4.5 V DC Power Source: AC Adapter, Battery Display powered by 6 “AA” batteries. It also comes with an included AC power adapter.

The 5-in-1 outdoor sensor is powered by 4 “AA” batteries. Please remember to use Lithium AA batteries if you live in colder climates, to ensure uninterrupted power service to the sensor.

Accessories

AcuRite 09155M AcuRite Access: Monitor Temperature, Humidity, and Weather Sensors from Anywhere on a Smart Phone, Tablet or Laptop

Pros

• AC Adapter provided
• 5-in-1 Sensor records outdoor temperature; relative humidity; rainfall; wind speed and direction
• Solar panel on 5-in-1 sensor to run aspirating fan
• Debris filters over the rain gauge to keep large debris from filling up the gauge’s collection area.
• Programmable weather alarms for temperature, humidity, wind, rain, dew point, heat index, and storm alerts Remotely access weather data through Android and IOS app or internet browser
• Uses patented Self-Calibrating Technology to provide your personal forecast of 12 to 24-hour weather conditions Stream data to sites like Weather Underground and share it with friends

• PC connects has a customizable dashboard included in the program once it’s downloaded onto your PC
• The illuminated color LCD display includes indoor/outdoor temperature and humidity, wind speed /direction /chill, rain, barometric pressure, clock, calendar, and more
• Personalize the Weather Ticker™ to stream the information you want programmable alarms alert you when weather conditions change
• All important switches are located on the front, for ease of reach. Better than many other units where you must find the switches on the side of the back.
• If the display is on the wall-mounted or sitting on a bookshelf, away from where you are, you will be very inconvenienced if the switches on not on the front

AcuRite 01036 Cons

• Backlight only lights for less than 10 seconds when on only battery power
• The display is difficult to read at angled views Rain gauge fills up and holds extra rain & snow
• Transmission easily interrupted
• Must buy the Aculink Internet-Bridge as an extra purchase
• Batteries not included
• Not a true colored display. Uses a colored screen to make icons appear to be colored
• Many customers talk of ill-conceived design for the wind cups
• PC connect means it must remain connected to your PC at all times in order to receive information on your other devices
• PC connects is currently not compatible with the Windows 10 program
• The parts are made of plastic
• The software doesn’t record history and doesn’t work with the Virtual Weather Software
• The backlight is too bright at night when powered by an AC adapter
• Spiders & Bugs are able to get into instruments
• Aspirating fan on 5-1 sensor is ineffective

Consumer Ratings

Overall, this unit has the ability to do what it says although there are a few issues. I agree with online ratings and would give this unit 4.3 stars because – despite the few issues – you do get a lot more information than the typical entry-level model and yet for a fairly reasonable price. To get something without these few issues would likely cost twice the price.

The installation is easy and quick. The tools that are offered fit what would be needed by the more diligent weather enthusiast and the additional options for data collection and manipulation (by way of spreadsheets) give you something to do other than simply look at a display screen.

The bump in the road here really is the $80 computer Aculink Internet-Bridge should have been included in the price.

If you really think about that, obviously the market price for the weather station would be quite a bit higher than it is selling for currently.

I do fully agree with some, that AcuRite could do a much better job explaining the computer, and program part of the sales information.

People often are glancing and not digging deep enough to make sure they do understand what is included in the purchase package.

This product is recommended to the serious weather follower, who has some money to spend, but not enough to obtain the best equipment.

It is a far better step up from the many casual weather reporting stations that are available. You will have access to many more instruments, and much more weather data to look at.

If you are in need of a more professional set of weather equipment, I firmly agree with an excellent rating for this product, based on its versatility, the tools available, and the ease of using this whole weather station.

Having used the technical support system I found it to be reliable, able and quick to use. My Questions were answered quickly and honestly.

Price

AcuRite 01036M Wireless Weather Station, PC Connect, My Remote Monitoring Weather AppIf you are price conscious, I think that you will be very happy with everything you will receive, with this weather station from AcuRite.

If you look at all of the features and weigh up the pros and cons, you would make the same decision we would. The purchase would be a very worthwhile one.

When the researcher looks at this model 01036 station from AcuRite, they should be able to see that the cost to the customer, is a fair price for the extensive services and more advanced tools that are provided.

When you compare what you are getting in this weather station against comparable competitors’ products then it should be easily seen that there is value here for the consumer.

The value added to me is the technical support and the quality of the equipment. You are not paying for the top weather equipment, but you are getting very effective, easy-to-use weather sensors that will help you analyze daily your weather world.

I personally would purchase the Internet Bridge, to fully capture the data stream that is available to you by using the 5-1 sensory.

With the fully customized dashboard, The AcuRite 01036 gets my recommendation for a weather observer.

You are not hardcore, but you are probably geek level, and definitely a serious follower of the intricacies that make up our daily weather forecasts.

If you are a casual observer of the weather this is not for you, though. Do not spend the money on all of these instruments because you will not use them.

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George

George is a big fan of the weather. He has enjoyed for years observing all types of weather in several places he has lived. He shares his love by doing reviews of personal weather stations and discussing several key elements that are related to using weather stations.