I’ll be the first to admit it, I may have a slight gadget addiction. To make matters a little worse, or dare say interesting, I’m slowly trying to make a smart house, the goal of which is to find the best tech out there and integrate it in a way where it’s almost seamless. Meaning that you hardly know it’s there, but it’s enhancing and hopefully saving you some time with your daily workflow.
With sensors finally becoming affordable the Smart Home dream is more of a reality. One of the areas I was really curious about was the general weather / air quality of my home – both inside and out. After looking for the perfect weather system I came across the Netatmo Weather station. It certainly looked pretty but how does it actually work? What’s the setup, and to what level has this system helped?
The Design
While this may not be the most important factor in gadget shopping, design is something to consider when building your Smart Home. While functionality is the most important you certainly don’t want something of an eyesore. When I was searching for a weather monitoring system I started searching via the Apple Store. I was searching for something that would look aesthetically pleasing, but most of all worked.
One of the biggest draws to the Netamo was its very Apple like design. Essentially the base station consists of two cylinders – both made out of an aluminum that felt both sturdy and still very light. Sitting on the shelf it looked very nice; it blended in quite well. The Wind Gauge also had a very high tech look, though it wouldn’t be seen daily it still was nice to see a consistent design scheme.
Features
What does the Netatmo track?
Indoor Model: CO2, Tempter, Humidity, Sound Level
Outdoor Model: Pressure. Tempiture, Humidity
Wind Gauge: Wind Speed, Direction
Setup
I’m not sure how I felt about the setup. The base station seemed pretty straightforward but the instructions leave a lot to be desired. If you are familiar with Ikea this was roughly the instructions in the Netatmo – essentially breaking down each step in a pictograph sort of style. The setup process consists of turning on the base station and connecting it to the home’s Wifi. Once done it should detect both the Indoor and Outdoor unit. The key is to wait to turn on the outdoor version until you already have establish the WiFi connection with the indoor model. I also had a chance to setup the Wind Gauge as well; the setup was easy minus the fact that you have to gain access to the batteries which are protected by some very long screws. It took me a couple of tries to get it synced properly – my advice would be to leave the battery area open until you get it synced.
Day to Day
I’ll be honest once I got the unit setup – I wasn’t sure how exactly I would utilize the system daily. I did check the weather from time to time but it didn’t seem like a necessity. Then it came to me – in a notification from the Netatmo. That night was my turn to cook, so I was making spaghetti but I forgot to turn on the fan – or open a window once I started running the gas stove. The notification that I received informed me that my CO2 level had risen – and the indoor air quality went from Good to Average. I was more then a little shocked so I quickly opened the house up a bit and watched the CO2 levels return to normal.
Overall
So far I’m pretty impressed with the sensors and what they are able to accomplish. The devices work well, and are able to give me a quick warning when the CO2 levels rise in my house, which honestly is a real life saver in the long run. That being said, I think going forward HomeKit integration is a must, as privacy is very important with my ideal Smart Home. Though that is up to the individual – if you are looking to start your own Smart Home the Netatamo is certainly something that makes great addition.