RMR500ES solar-powered weather station
The RMR500 is the solar-powered weather station from Oregon Scientific and is currently being offered with two extra sensors at no additional cost… meaning a total of four sensors and the solar-powered base station. With the extra sensors you’ll be able to measure temperature and humidity in four remote locations. You could choose to put the sensors outside, but a very clever use of the system is to have them in separate rooms of your house and be able to see at a glance whether your bedroom is too hot or your living room too cold.
If you have mold in your bathroom and are taking steps to reduce the humidity levels, the RMS500 will help you monitor the humidity levels until that mold is gone for good! The base unit even has a display icon for when humidity is over 60%, letting you know that when the icon is on, mold could grow, and when the icon is off, the humidity levels will help prevent mold from growing. How cool is that? It’s called a “moisture alert function” and just shows that the Oregon Scientific guys think of everything!
Take a look at how an example RMS500ES home climate monitoring system can be set up…
RMR500ES Eco PLUS solar-powered weather station
The central unit (base station) also measures local temperature and humidity itself, so you can have a total of five different sensor readouts.
All the while, the +ECO Solar Charging Clima Control will be running on solar power by using the 600mAH rechargeable battery, helping cut your electricity bills and save the environment. To charge the battery all you need to do is tilt the solar panel on the back of the main unit so that it points towards the Sun. You need to ensure there are no obstructions to the device getting direct sunlight, which means don’t try to charge it behind glass windows, but, instead, actually place it outdoors pointing the solar panel at the Sun. Charging for just five to six hours will power the RMR500ES for a couple of months! If the battery power level gets low, a light will flash on the front of the base unit letting you know it needs to be recharged. If there’s not enough sun to power the device, backup battery kicks in (2x CR2032) to make sure you’ll always be able to get the information you need. The main unit will also let you know if battery power for any of the external sensors is running low. For more details, here’s the full RMR500ES manual.
In addition to the temperature and humidity readouts, there’s also a clock and a 12-24 hour local weather forecast (with cool icons… Sunny, Partly Cloudy, Cloudy, Rainy and Snowy!) which will help you set your thermostat at the perfect temperature for the upcoming weather… again saving you money by minimising your energy consumption.
According to Oregon Scientific, “lowering thermostats by just 1.5 degrees can lower your heating bills by up to 10% and reduce the greenhouse gasses your household produces by up to a tonne”. The weather forecast is claimed to be 75% accurate for a range of 20-30 miles over the next 12-24 hours.
To see how the RMR500es compares to several other weather stations, take a look at our weather station comparison page.