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 and 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.
Image Credit: The Weather Station ExpertsFAQ
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.
We have a much more detailed FAQ and installation tips on our US weather station page.
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.
The HP2553 is Ecowitt's top-of-the-line weather station, and it shows. Accuracy is on par with the Davis Vantage Pro2, and smart home connectivity and a new sonic anemometer make this our top pick.
The Ecowitt HP2553 is the company’s high-end weather station (and sold as the Ambient Weather WS-5000 in the US). With practically nothing different — save for the lack of smart home support — this station is our pick for international readers and one of Canada’s best home weather stations. Our tests of the American version of this weather station were stellar.
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.
- The outdoor sensor contains a haptic rainfall sensor, light and UV sensors, an ultrasonic wind speed sensor, and both temperature and humidity sensors
- Connects to Weather Underground and WeatherCloud
- Includes Wi-Fi hub
Compatible with other Ecowitt sensors
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.
- All-in-One Outdoor Sensor: wind vane, wind speed cups, UV / solar radiation sensor, thermo-hygrometer sensor, and rain gauge
- Wi-Fi Capable, no software needed, support for Ecowitt Weather, Weather Underground, and more
- Large TFT Color Screen
- 100-meter long-range wireless connectivity
- Supports up to 8 WH31 multi-channel temp and humidity sensors, one WH51 soil moisture sensor, and one WH41 PM2.5 air quality sensor
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.
- HD display with battery backup and integrated Wi-Fi connectivity
- Fastest updates to Weather Underground of any home weather station
- Forecasts weather up to 12 hours in advance
- Lightning detection
- Real-Time Weather Conditions: Indoor and outdoor temperature, humidity, wind speed, direction, UV, light intensity, barometric pressure trends, and rain totals
AcuRite is the only U.S.-based weather station brand to sell directly to the Canadian market, so its prices align with others in our list of best home weather stations in Canada. The Atlas is their top-of-the-line station and is much better than you might find at your local home improvement store. When released, we tested the Atlas and found it a decent station. Overall, the HP2551 and HP2553 are generally more accurate.
Like the HP2551 and HP2553, the AcuRite Atlas can connect with additional sensors using the included AcuRite Access base unit. This package does not have a display, but you can view everything from the MyAcuRite app, one of our favourites for UI. It’s super easy to use. However, its accuracy issues prevent us from truly calling this one of Canada’s best home weather stations.
- Wi-Fi Capable, no software needed to upload to Ecowitt Weather, Weather Underground, and more
- The 7-in-1 outdoor sensor array includes wind vane, wind speed cup, UV / solar radiation sensor, thermo-hygrometer sensor, and rain gauge
- High-Resolution TFT Screen
- Optional PC Software
The Ecowitt HP3500B is the 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.
- Measures indoor/outdoor temperature and humidity, wind speed and direction, pressure, rainfall, light, and UV
- PC software operated, requires Windows XP or better
- Large LCD console
- Supports upload to Ecowitt Weather, Weather Underground, and more
The Ecowitt WS2320 is an odd one, for sure. Most home weather stations these days use Wi-Fi to connect to the internet. Not the Ecowitt WS2320 — this home weather station requires PC software (and sorry, Mac users, only Windows is supported). However, it is the cheapest on our best home weather stations in Canada rankings, and you can still upload your data to Ecowitt Weather and elsewhere. You’ll have to do it through the software.
- Wi-Fi built into console for sharing data to the internet
- Measures indoor outdoor temperature and humidity, wind speed/direction, barometric pressure, and rainfallÂ
Finally, the AcuRite Iris is an option that is also available to Canadian readers for about C$270. While it can’t add additional sensors as the Atlas can, the AcuRite Iris has a better console than the Ecowitt WS2320 and arguably looks nicer than the HP3500B’s bulky console.
Regarding accuracy, the Iris will be similar to Ecowitt’s cheaper consoles, although we’ve found from time to time AcuRite’s construction to not hold up as well in the elements. However, for southern Canada, the Iris will do just fine.
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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