Weather Intelligence Plus vs. Personal Weather Stations

I’ve used Rachio for three years now, heading into my fourth season. I have a Rachio 3, the flow meter, and a PWS (Davis Vantage Vue) that reports to CWOP. My Rachio account uses my PWS not Weather Intelligence Plus. I noticed on the FAQ it recommends AGAINST using a PWS if you have a Rachio 3 and access to Weather Intelligence Plus… that’s news to me? It basically implies it may be more accurate?

Ok let me ask some specific questions, assume I have a quality PWS and accurate data.

  1. Rainfall data will NEVER be more accurate that my PWS, it literally IS the rainfall at my home.
  2. Temp and humidity data is also VERY accurate with my PWS.
  3. Winds are accurate at the height I’ve mounted my stations (10 ft. off the ground) but not “standard” for weather reporting which is far, far higher so my wind data reads “low” (but most other PWS’s in the area would have the same problem.) I suppose in a way my wind data might benefit being low since that is the wind experienced by my lawn?
  4. My PWS does NOT track solar which I know Rachio uses.

I believe franz over a year ago talked about this all somewhat and implied if you have a good PWS you should continue to use it and Rachio fills in the data missing (ie. solar) if your station doesn’t report it. If I’m fairly confident in my station why would I want to switch to Weather Intelligence Plus?

Thanks, I’m doing my yearly “review” of my system as I just turned on watering for the season.

@boldblue737

Agreed!

I recommend continuing to use your PWS if it is accurate and available.

:cheers:

So… will the FAQ be adjusted?

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