@SteinyD, we had the same problem at the office. It’s tricky to find the perfect location for a PWS.
This is make or break data for Flex Schedules. It’s amazing to see the range of data that PWS report…1000s of inches of rain or 999+ mph winds!
I may be a bit late to this topic but my 0.02 cents.
I recommend getting a Davis Vantage Pro2+. Yes it will cost 3 times the price of the Rachio Iro but you get accuracy, flexibility, solar radiation data for ET, and great support.
I highly discourage the cheap stations like Acu-rite and Netatmo. My experience with those, all I can say is “you get what you pay for”.
Those bad personal weather stations Franz is referring to, I can almost guarantee that behind 90% of them there’s an Acu-rite, Oregon Scientific, LaCrosse.
I’ve seen Davis stations put out bad data too but usually it’s due to improper siting. The anemometer should be installed in the highest, most exposed location possible with the rain/temperature/humidity about 5’ above maintained lawn in the middle of the yard away from concrete, and brick. Solar sensor have as few shadows as possible.
The best place to get Davis weather stations, scaledinstruments.com. I’ve been a customer of them for a while. They are great.
All,
I believe we should let users to decide if they want to use PWS or a remote weather station. An option to select a weather station is one of the benefits of V2.0 and is is disappointing that PWS data will not be used in Flex. Obviously, I will not blame Rachio if my PWS is providing a wrong data so please do not decide for me.
I was thinking of buying a PWS but figured out a way to use a neighbor’s system that is on WeatherUnderground and get his data into a virtual PWS for my use with the Iro. I agree with Franz that PWS data is more buggy than that from data from a national weather station. My problem is that the closes such station is much nearer the coast here in North San Diego County than my house and the weather is VERY different. Cloud cover is different, temperature, humidity - everything that relates to ET is VERY different. This is why I chose to use a PWS from a neighbor down the street. I checked the data history and it was very clean and I also check it every few days to make sure it is still up and running.
What Franz said about not actually using local PWS data for anything other than rain is somewhat troubling to me as I was not aware of this. It would seem to me that the real power of the Iro would be to harness data about the actual microclimate at your location rather than something from many miles away with a very different microclimate. Add my name to the list of people who would want the option to have my PWS used to calculate ET and other factors.
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you have my vote.
Michel
@Tomzo @michelrochette @dszymkun @Skywatch @SteinyD
Ok change of heart.
I will use PWS data for flex schedules (ET, precip). Hybrid approach way too hard and confusing, and this community is filled with adults (mostly 
) that can make big boy decisions.
Will promote this tonight.
Thanks for beating me down.
Ok change of heart.
I will use PWS data for flex schedules (ET, precip). Hybrid approach way too hard and confusing, and this community is filled with adults (mostly wink) that can make big boy decisions.
Nice to have some influence on the success of Iro.
The future of our gardens depends on it 
Thanks Franz
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That’s awesome. For those looking to set up their own station I’m providing pictures of mine as a reference. I followed the NWS guidelines for siting.
Rain gauge, temperature, humidity sensors 5’ AGL. The stones protect the cables from the lawn mowers.
Solar radiation and UV radiation (sunlight) sensors. I installed these on the fence 12’ AGL with a clear view east to west meaning no obstructions in from season to season.
The anemometer which measures wind speed and direction is mounted on the roof. Note that I’m using a 3rd party anemometer and vane.
For more information on proper siting, here’s a PDF user guide. http://weather.gladstonefamily.net/CWOP_Guide.pdf
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Ok, I want to live near you, this is amazing.
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I understand your hesitation on using the PWS data. I wish I had known all that I read above before I bought the Rachio. The MAIN reason I bought it was to integrate with MY PWS. Seeing that little of my data is being used is upsetting. My data is very accurate and is used by the NWS. The closest station is nearly 15 miles away and not very accurate for my location. Just my 2 cents worth.
Flex schedules will use PWS for ET and precip. I will not exclude that data 
Change of heart on my part, and the passionate community.
THANKS!! Thats what I like about you guys 
yea, last time i checked, it is really hard to sell irrigation controllers to ppl when their neighbors have a burned up yard as a result of that controller.
I could not agree more with @dszymkun. I was lucky enough to get into the Beta of the new app. I was under the impression that it was using my personal weather station to determine whether or not to water with my flex schedules.
My station is a Netatmo and I could not disagree more with anyone above that says it is in inaccurate system. I have a friend who is a meteorologist/storm chaser and he has equipment in his yard that is some of the only equipment other then the national weather service in the entire greater chicago area.
My temperature and rain readings on the netatmo are in line with what he sees (6 miles away) and spot on with his mobile storm chasing setup saw in my front yard.
If you read the directions and follow netatmos recommendations the system is very accurate. The outdoor sensor specifically says put in a shaded dry area. Mine is placed under my deck. The rain sensor says to place it away from your house and trees in an open area. Mine is on my second story deck 15 feet away from the house. It works perfect. I can’t wait for the wind sensor which they just added support for in the latest app update so I assume it is coming soon and I will follow their placement suggestions to the tee. For the price you can not beat the accuracy and ease of use of the netatmo.
If you are a serious weather enthusiast like my friend you can spend 10s of thousands of dollars on your setup. If you are like me that want to have accurate micro-climate information for your yard, pool, and what to wear then the netatmo is a great system if you follow the suggested placement.
Going back to the reason for writing this. Again I agree with @dszymkun I trust my systems readings, I know my netatmo is set up correct. I would prefer to heavily rely on my PWS over the nearest weather service system which is 15 miles away. Our last major storm that particular station registered 2inches of rain. I happened to have a old school reliable rain gauge out to test the accuracy of the netatmo and I registered 3 inches of rain in 1 hour. Both the netatmo and the old school gauge measured the exact same rainfall.
Give us the user an advanced option if nothing else just like you do for those that are landscapers or something because I look at the advanced tab for the zones and my eyes glaze over. I don’t understand soil types or grades or anything but I do understand my PWS and weather and am willing to tinker with those settings to have the best damn looking lawn on the block. I love the Iro and I have tried several other connected systems and gave them away to friends once I finally started using my Iro. I wish I had gone straight with it earlier.
Just my .02
@franz,
How accurate will ET data be from a well-placed high-end Davis vantage pro2 PWS that does NOT collect solar radiation data? (This PWS does not belong to me so I cannot add a module for solar radiation)
I remember that you said solar radiation data was very important to calculate ET. I live on Maui and the nearest national weather station is on the other side of the island with a very different weather pattern. Thanks.
Tomorrow I’m switching over so that PWS will be used for flex schedules.
Also, when we release the Webapp with the 2.0 mobile clients you will be able to track daily ET and precip for each zone.
It is very important (http://www.fao.org/docrep/x0490e/x0490e07.htm#solar radiation), but a lot of weather stations do not report this value, national or PWS. If it is not included we have a way to compute. My best advice when flex are rolled out, start simple with one or two zones and see how it works for you. Tracking the ET and precip through the webapp you will be able to see the real-time decisions being made off of the observed weather data.
@franz guess I should have refreshed the page before hitting submit. I started writing my post then my son interrupted me and never got around to finishing it till much later. Great news. That is why I love the Iro and the company cause you seem to listen to the community. Even on things I suggested during the beta period. Thanks again. Gonna have to read up more on ET.