Fall Cleaning: 4 Tips for Weather Station Maintenance
Fall weather brings the end of summer, with leaves falling directly into your rain bucket! Just like the first day of spring, it’s time to some for some basic, semiannual cleaning around your home. While you’re checking on the status of your home, roof, and cleaning out the gutters, make sure to also check in on your home weather station. A clean weather station is a happy weather station! Ensure the highest accuracy possible for reliable weather data from your home weather station with these tips for weather station maintenance during the fall season:
1. Look for Cracks
The hot summer sun can wreak havoc on the materials of your home weather station. Make sure your wind speed and direction measurements are accurate by taking a peek at your anemometer and wind vane to ensure they are not cracked and can spin freely.
If these parts are not spinning freely, try cleaning the sensor with warm water to clean dirt and dust off of the bearings. If you notice a cracked anemometer or wind vane, checkout AcuRite’s affordable weather station replacement parts.
2. Clean Solar Panels and Fix Orientation
Your solar panels must be cleaned regularly to maintain the highest functionality possible. When the photovoltaics are dirty or dusty, the station is not receiving maximum power available. Warm water and soap will do the trick. Also, for highest efficiency, the solar panels should face due south in the northern hemisphere; north in the southern hemisphere.
3. Clean Gutters and Rain Bucket
While you’re up on the roof cleaning out the gutters, make sure to also clear the leaves out of your weather station’s rain bucket. We recommend rinsing your rain bucket out a few times with warm, soapy water to remove all the gunk inside. While you’re up there, you may want to consider checking out these 5 Roof Maintenance Tips to Save You Big Bucks.
4. Check Batteries
For snowy regions, the fall season is also a good time to check the battery indicator on your home weather station’s display. If the signal strength shows medium or low, its advised to replace the batteries before the snow arrives. We do not advise climbing up to the rooftop or top of the fence post when ice or snow are present. It’s better to simply replace the batteries while the weather permits, or consider upgrading to a more accessible solution with the 30-foot battery pack extender (offered for both the AcuRite Atlas® and AcuRite Iris®).
Because the winter months are the most difficult time to service your home weather station, we recommend giving it some love in the spring, too, during your usual spring cleaning!
Fall Weather Station Maintenance with AcuRite
What are your tips and tricks for usual weather station maintenance? What is the craziest thing you’ve found in your rain gauge or in your solar radiation shield? Is it the common spiderwebs and bird poop? Ah the joys of monitoring the elements; share and discuss your stories below!
