Acurite Weather Station – A Must for RVers

What is the best indoor outdoor wireless thermometer? Not only that, which one would be a great choice for those of us enjoying full time RV living? Could it be the Acurite weather station?

One thing Pam and I like to keep aware of as we travel is the temperature outside the RV. We also want an accurate reading of the indoor air temperature as well. When it gets cold out we also like to know what the temperature is in our critical bays: plumbing and water storage.

If these bays reach freezing temperatures, bad things could happen to the RV plumbing, the water pump, the water lines, and water valves. This might create immediate problems and also possible future problems as cracks in water lines create leaks.

Now, we don’t stay in cold climates, we avoid snow, and we don’t winterize the RV because we keep south of the freeze line. But we all know that weird weather events occur and it seems lately at least once a year we wind up with freezing temperatures for a few nights a season.

So for us, it is critical that we monitor the temperatures down in our storage bays where water services are present. We also want accurate temperature and humidity readings for both indoor and outdoor values.

After some research and previous experience with the Acurite product that we had for ten years, we decided to upgrade to a new Acurite wireless weather station. We owned a more basic model sensor system for ten years and relied upon it to give us an accurate reading of the outdoor temperature in our plumbing bay.

Now that technology has improved, the Acurite wireless weather stations have multiple sensors allowing for more data recording. We opted for a new three-sensor system so we could monitor data from different areas both inside and outside the RV.

We have had several situations since we started full time RV life back in 2008 where we thought it would never get below freezing, and certainly not snow, but a few years back we were parked on the beach in the panhandle of Florida, and we woke up to temperatures in the teens!

The side of the RV was iced over and we could not even get out of the RV. I had to take a hairdryer to the door to get it open. Once we did that, then we had to deal with our RV steps that were like a skating rink. I used the hairdryer on those too.

That particular day the temperatures never got above freezing. This kind of event has happened to us each year we have been out on the road even though we were in areas that don’t normally see those kinds of temperatures. Global warming I guess. After a few episodes like that, it got to be standard practice to place a work light in the plumbing bay to keep the temperatures above freezing. But I still did not know if my efforts were successful!

Back in 2010 I found an Acurite wireless thermometer that I could place a sensor in the outside plumbing bay and be able to read those temperatures inside the RV. Once I had that I felt more comfortable when the temperatures went below freezing and that I was okay.

Now some of you may be thinking, but RVs have heat to their plumbing bays. Some do and some don’t. It depends on how much money you spend on the RV and if it is designed for full time RV living. We have had three different RVs in our years on the road since 2008, and each one fulfilled our needs at the time we owned them.

But, one of them did not have heated bays, and that one was of the most concern when we wound up with two inches of snow, and cold temperatures, in an area that rarely saw snow. My work light in the exterior plumbing bay and a few towels stuffed around the plumbing kept things warm. The wireless thermometer verified that!

Recently we decided to upgrade our little weather station to include more features and more sensor units. So I went looking where we all go shopping when living the full time RV life, Amazon! I decided to stick with the Acrite brand because the one we owned had worked so well for ten years.

I wanted one with a bigger and brighter screen versus the smaller black on gray that was hard to see at a distance. We keep ours in the main living area where we look for indoor temperatures, the time, and even the date. So it is much more than just a wireless weather station.

With those parameters in mind, I found the AcuRite Home Temperature & Humidity Station with three Indoor / Outdoor Sensors, and in Full Color. It has a lot of cool features that I was looking for:

• It monitors temperature and humidity in up to four locations inside and outside the RV.
• It has a bright, color digital display that shows temperature and humidity from all four locations at a glance. Plus you can name the areas from the included forty-name library.
• The Acurite weather station provides a reliable twelve to twenty-four-hour weather forecast, a humidity gauge, barometric pressure, indoor and outdoor temperatures, and the time and date.
• It also offers programmable alarms that alert you to take action if environmental conditions exceed your preferred range. This is ideal for outside RV plumbing bays!
• And, it includes three wireless, weather-resistant temperature and humidity sensors.

This was just what I was looking for, and at a very reasonable price!

As full time RVers, and an RV inspector/technician, I will say that humidity levels inside the RV play a big role in creating issues that can affect the structure and livability of an RV home. If humidity levels remain high, year-round, mold will grow in places that you can’t see it, like in AC ducts, behind cabinets, etc. The only way to know what that humidity level stands at is to have a way to read it. Knowing the humidity level both inside and outside the RV is really important for any RVer!

Living in tight quarters with mold present creates a very unhealthy living environment!

We placed the three sensors around different exterior areas of the RV: one in the plumbing bay, one in the bay where the fresh water tank is located, and one at the rear of the RV to pick up air temperature and humidity levels. The sensors can be outside but not in a heavy weather location. In other words, not in a place to have wind-driven rain penetrate the sensors.

The sensor at the rear of the RV gets removed during travel to avoid damage. The other two stay safely in the storage bays they measure temperature and humidity from.

We are truly enjoying the accuracy of the readings we are seeing by comparing to other known accurate sources! Once humidity levels reach forty-five percent we know it’s time to fire up the dehumidifier.

We give this product a ten out of ten!

Happy RV Travels!!

Howard, Pam, and Winston