As we’ve grown, we’ve gotten more and more visits from our friends north of the border. However, many of the weather stations we’ve reviewed in the States either aren’t available in Canada (or elsewhere internationally) or are prohibitively expensive. So, we got to work, researched the best home weather stations in Canada, and were surprised (if not slightly envious).
While brands like Ambient Weather and Davis Instruments are available in Canada, importing them into Canada is expensive due to shipping rates. All is not lost: Ambient Weather licences some stations from Ecowitt. For example, the Ambient Weather WS-5000 is the same as the Ecowitt HP2553 weather station. They’re identical in functionality, except at the moment, Ecowitt doesn’t offer any smart home functionality.
The HP2553 is Ecowitt's top-of-the-line weather station, and it shows.
This Tempest look-alike doesn't have all its features, but is significantly cheaper.
If the HP2553 is too expensive, consider the HP2551 instead.
Best Home Weather Stations in Canada
After much research, including comparing stations to their counterparts (or competitors) in the States, we’ve come up with this list of Canada’s best home weather stations.
Ecowitt HP2553 Wi-Fi Weather Station
The HP2553 is Ecowitt's top-of-the-line weather station, and it shows.
The Ecowitt HP2553 is the company’s high-end weather station (and sold as the Ambient Weather WS-5000 in the US). Our tests of the American version of this weather station were stellar. With practically nothing different — save for the lack of smart home support — we had no reservations about making this our top pick.
The HP2553 features a redesigned sensor suite from previous models and an ultrasonic anemometer, drastically reducing the number of moving parts. This should extend its useable life as the traditional anemometer requires ongoing maintenance to ensure trouble-free use. The sensors are more accurate in our tests than in previous Ecowitt stations, and you can add additional sensors, including air quality, soil moisture, water temperature, and lightning. The brilliant colour, easy-to-read LCD console looks great just about anywhere.
The company’s made it easy to share your data publicly through Weather Underground, Ecowitt.net, and many other networks, which is a nice touch and view station data from the Ecowitt app.
Ecowitt Wittboy Weather Station
This Tempest look-alike doesn't have all its features, but is significantly cheaper.
The Wittboy is Ecowitt's latest Wi-Fi weather station, and it's aimed at those outside of the U.S. who might not want to pay the extra duties to import in the WeatherFlow Tempest. It doesn't have lightning detection or smart home capabilities (that we can tell), but it does pretty much everything else the Tempest does.
The outdoor sensor contains a haptic rainfall sensor, light and UV sensors, an ultrasonic wind speed sensor, and temperature and humidity sensors. Ecowitt also includes its Wi-Fi hub, which allows you to send your data to Weather Underground. The Wittboy is new, so we're hesitant to give it our full-throated endorsement, but it's worth considering.
Ecowitt HP2551 Wi-Fi Weather Station
If the HP2553 is too expensive, consider the HP2551 instead.
The Ecowitt HP2551 isn’t sold in the US under the Ambient Weather brand, but its feature set is similar to the Ambient Weather WS-2000. While you won’t get the accuracy of the HP2553, it is significantly cheaper and measures everything its more expensive sibling does. The nice console you get with the HP2553 is paired with Ecowitt’s base instrument suite.
AcuRite Atlas Professional Home Weather Station
While it's imperfect, the Atlas is the best AcuRite station available.
We have had a chance to test the AcuRite Atlas. While it didn't score high enough to appear on our best home weather stations list, it is an inexpensive alternative to more expensive models like the Tempest and Davis Vantage Vue, especially with the optional lightning detection.
One area where AcuRite knocks it out of the park is their web and mobile app. It's easy to use, responsive, and uncluttered. But like most AcuRite stations, the instrumentation isn't as high quality.
In our tests, we found our test unit undercounted rainfall, sometimes significantly. And while an initial issue with the rain gauge caused the first Atlas units to have unusable lightning data, even after it was fixed its nowhere near as sensitive as the Tempest's detector.
Still, we'd see this as a perfect alternative for those that might not have the budget for a mid-range or pro-grade home weather station.
- Inexpensive
- Great web and mobile app
- Fairly accurate
- Rainfall is undercounted
- Lightning detection issues with our test unit
Ecowitt HP3500 Wi-Fi Weather Station
The HP3500B is Ecowitt's entry level Wi-Fi compatible weather station, but it isn't expandable.
The Ecowitt HP3500B is the company’s cheapest weather station that doesn’t require PC software to share your weather data online. The console isn’t as flashy as the HP2551 but is still readable from a reasonable distance and can display graphs on its screen, something the cheaper WS2320 cannot do.
You do lose the capability to add additional sensors, which may be a reason to opt for any of the above three models if expandability is a concern. But the savings make the HP3500B a contender if you want to save money.
AcuRite Iris Home Weather Station with Direct-to-Wi-Fi Wireless Display
This version of the AcuRite Iris home weather station is often on sale.
Among the AcuRite weather stations, the best cheap weather station is the AcuRite Iris (10544). The Iris comes in several different models, but this bundle offers a nice console with Wi-Fi connectivity and the Iris sensor suite. It's similar to the Ambient Weather WS-1900A but has a few key differences.
The AcuRite Iris does not have UV or solar radiation sensors, but it does include Wi-Fi connectivity to share your data on the internet. If you want a highly functional weather station app, we're big fans of My AcuRite. The clean UI makes navigation a breeze and chock full of information.
The Ambient Weather WS-2902 and this particular Iris model are typically competitively priced with one another, so check both to find out which one is the best deal.
FAQ
Are you thinking about purchasing a weather station? Here are some answers to frequently asked questions from readers, some unique to Canada.
Is a home weather station durable?
Yes. While most will not need to worry about extreme weather conditions, those living in the North deal with more significant extremes. In these areas, weather station maintenance will be necessary.
I want to place the station in an area with little (or no) sunlight during the winter. What should I do?
Weather stations typically include a battery backup if there isn’t enough sunlight (all of the models we recommend do). Regardless of where it is installed, we recommend using lithium batteries, which perform better in colder temperatures than traditional batteries. Most home weather stations will operate without much trouble at temperatures of -20C, although any battery will have reduced battery life when temperatures fall below 0C for extended periods. We do not recommend installing home weather stations in climates where temperatures are well below freezing for much of the winter.
I don’t live in Canada. Can I still buy these weather stations?
Sorry US readers, but Ambient Weather is the exclusive seller of Ecowitt stations in the US under their brand, see our homepage for our recommendations (some Ecowitt accessories are available in the US store, though). Ecowitt is available in many countries outside of the United States. While the prices below are in CAD, your local Amazon site might carry the weather station if you’re outside the US or Canada.
Wrapping Up
Once again, thanks to our Canadian readers for your support. After seeing that many of our station recommendations weren’t available outside of the US (or were too expensive after shipping), we thought a list of the best home weather stations in Canada was the least we could do. Now pass the poutine.
(Sorry, we couldn’t resist at least one Canadian joke!)
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