I now have a moisture sensor in my garden bed that tells me how dry my soil is. This is a great way to know to turn on my remote sprinklers while on vacation. An air quality monitor in my work area tells me temperature and humidity (important for some of my acoustic guitars), and another monitor really made me want to open the window when I was cooking inside. All of these things are trivially combined by the system and displayed along with my other readings in the ambient weather dashboard. It’s the easiest setup ever.
Ambient Weather recently added a better digital display that you can purchase aftermarket. As I said, the device that comes with the device is a bit retro-chic, requiring the use of physical buttons to enter logins and passwords, and there are few selectable layouts. The new Weather Window, as the brand calls it, is much larger and more modern, and while it does have touchscreen controls and variable layouts, it’s still not as fantastic as it could be.
Photo: Parker Hall
I wish there was a way to display the weekly weather forecast on the main screen instead of having to tap the display to see that, among other UI problems. I like that the weather window has a frame-like edge, making it particularly easy to place in a spot where you could place a family photo or hang it on the wall.
Through the numbers
Most of us don’t need little things like that in our lives, and that’s okay. For the person who wakes up and plans their entire day based on temperature and precipitation, or who constantly checks and talks about the weather radar, the ambient weather system is the closest thing to nirvana on Earth.
It may not be you, but it’s almost certainly someone you know. I love being away from home and knowing how moist the soil is in my garden and whether the temperature and humidity in my house are right. I like being able to see at a glance when the sun and moon rise and set, and know how many inches of rain we got in one spot over my head in rainy north Portland. Every time my father and I get together, we talk about what our broadcasters tell us, when we’re not talking about Formula 1 or the current problems of the local football team.
If learning the microtrends of your garden and having meaningful conversations about the weather with friends, family, and strangers is your thing, then an ambient weather system, any one of them really, is probably a fun thing for you to try out. You might even find it useful.