When we create our smart home project, some information that can be interesting is the speed and direction of the wind to create different automations. The Netatmo NWA01-WW smart anemometer fulfils these functions and today we are going to discover the details of this device.
Why does Netatmo NWA01-WW have this price?
The Netatmo anemometer integrates 4 ultrasonic transducers, uses radio frequency technology for its communications and is a quality and durable product with no monthly fees, the reasons for the high price.
Advantages and disadvantages of the Netatmo anemometer
Advantages
- Attractive design: Netatmo usually offers products with an attractive design and this anemometer follows this philosophy.
- No monthly fees: You don’t have to pay a monthly subscription to use the Netatmo App.
- Accurate measurements: This anemometer has accurate measurements of wind speed and direction.
- Compatibilities: The NWA01-WW anemometer is compatible with Amazon Alexa voice assistant and home automation systems such as Jeedom and Home Assistant.
Disadvantages
- You need the Weather Station: You cannot use the anemometer directly over WIFI. You need to use the Netatmo Weather Station.
- High price: The price of the Netatmo anemometer is high but it is a quality product and usually has a long life span.
Tutorial on how to use the Netatmo Smart Anemometer
Wind can have an impact on our environment.
For example, if we have a motorised retractable awning, in a strong wind and in a specific direction, it could be damaged.
This strong wind and its direction could also damage an external motorised roller shutter.
Another example would be wasting water if we have a smart irrigation system because of a strong wind and a specific direction that could divert this irrigation in unwanted areas.
This wind information can also be very useful to receive an alert on your phone and take measures such as protecting terrace or garden furniture by picking up chairs, parasols and more if the wind speed exceeds a certain level.
Or it could simply be practical to know if we have ideal conditions for flying drones, kitesurfing or the other way around, if we are not going to run in too much wind.
General characteristics of Netatmo NWA01-WW
Let’s discover the general characteristics of this Netatmo anemometer.
If we open the packaging, we find the anemometer.
Netatmo takes care of the aesthetics of its devices and this anemometer has a discreet and attractive design with a reduced size of 85 x 85 x 110 mm and with black and white colours.
Underneath, we have its base with 4 screws that we can unscrew to replace the batteries or when we are going to link it for the first time to our weather station.
We also have a standard thread, which is very interesting to be able to fix this anemometer on a stand.
And we have an arrow to help us orient it correctly when we install it, knowing that we must point it towards the geographical north to accurately measure the wind direction.
Unlike cup anemometers, there is no risk of breakage or noise. This anemometer integrates 4 ultrasonic transducers.
At the measurement level, this anemometer measures data every 6 seconds and averages this data to generate a value every 5 minutes.
The units of measurement for wind are
- M/s = metres per second
- Km/h = kilometres per hour
- Knots (nautical unit)
- Beaufort Scale (scale from 0 to 12 that classifies the wind strength)
The wind speed measurement range is: 0 to 45 m/s (160 km/h) with an accuracy of ±0.5 m/s (±1.8 km/h) and the wind direction accuracy is ±5°.
Their operating temperature is -20 °C to 50 °C and their storage temperature is -40 °C to 65 °C.
A disadvantage of this anemometer is that you have to buy an additional weather station as you cannot use it without this station.
This is the case for the user who has the weather station and additionally installed the Netatmo rain gauge and anemometer.
But it can be an advantage because this anemometer does not communicate via WIFI, but it communicates with a frequency of 868 MHz with the weather station and this allows a long range, much more than WIFI, which is necessary for a device that is used outdoors.
And the weather station retrieves this information and, being connected via WIFI, you will have these measurements on your phone.
You should also know that you can only connect 1 anemometer to this weather station.
And speaking of this weather station that communicates via WIFI, you should know 2 other very interesting details.
The first is that Netatmo offers a free App with no monthly fees and free updates, knowing that it is also a long-lasting project.
Proof of this with other users who have been using their Netatmo devices for more than a decade without paying monthly fees. This is a criterion to be taken into account.
The second detail is that Netatmo is compatible with more evolutionary systems such as Home Assistant and Jeedom.
So we can retrieve the information of their different devices as we have already seen in other respective contents such as cameras.
And of course, the weather station, rain gauge and anemometer.
In terms of power supply, this anemometer is powered by 4 AA batteries included and the manufacturer indicates 2 years of autonomy.
How to link the Netatmo Anemometer
To link the anemometer, you must have previously created an account on the Netatmo Weather App and linked the weather station.
From this App, go to the menu at the top left and click on install new products.
Select the option “Additional modules for the weather station”.
We select our weather station.
Make sure you have the large part of the station plugged into the power supply.
The LED of this station should be flashing. If this is not the case, press the upper part of the LED until it starts flashing.
When this is the case, we must choose the colour of this LED that appears, white or blue.
Now we choose our anemometer.
Unscrew the base of the anemometer and remove the battery protection.
The anemometer must be within 10 cm of the weather station to be able to link correctly.
At this point, a green LED starts flashing, indicating that the anemometer is in association mode.
Your anemometer should now appear in the Netatmo App and you can personalise its name.
You can screw its base back on and install it in your garden and remove the plastic from the device.
How to install the anemometer NWA01-WW
To install the anemometer, as I have mentioned, you must orient it correctly according to its arrow pointing to the geographical north in order to accurately measure the wind direction.
For this, you can use a GPS application to identify north and correctly position this anemometer.
It is recommended to install it in an elevated and clear place.
The user has purchased an additional bracket to install this anemometer which comes with a metal ring to attach it to a wall, ceiling, post or railing.
This user has also bought a metal bar to install this bracket and he takes advantage of it to place both his anemometer and his rain gauge.
If your anemometer is installed at a height of less than 10 metres, you can enter the actual height for better calibration.
Netatmo recommends installing your anemometer at least 1.20 metres above the highest point of the roof, in an elevated location with no obstructions such as trees or nearby walls.
Detailed functions of the Netatmo anemometer
Now that we have our anemometer installed, we can view its measurements in real time, from the Netatmo Weather App. For this, we have a wind icon to access the data retrieved by the anemometer.
We can see:
- The wind direction and at the moment, this wind is coming from the northeast (NE), at 52°.
- Wind speed currently blowing at 2 km/h.
- The maximum speed of recent wind gusts. In this case, they have reached 5 km/h. This icon represents a stronger and sudden wind, associated with short but intense variations.
- The highest wind speed recorded today was 11 km/h.
Go to the settings at the top left and click on “Manage my living”.
We enter the area of our anemometer.
We go to the anemometer settings.
We can see the radio signal to know if we have enough range, the battery level and its firmware version.
We have access to a calibration setting to compensate for wind speed if we have measurements that are too low.
To see the graphs with the history of the anemometer measurements, you can go to the website home.netatmo.com and see these measurements of wind speed and gusts for a whole day, a week, a month and a year.
We also have the possibility to download these measures with a defined period and in an XLS or CSV format.
This could be practical in some specific contexts for analysing and sharing wind data.
In graphical comparison, we can compare different measurements of our Netatmo devices on the same interface.
And as I mentioned previously, what is even more interesting about these Netatmo devices is that you can add them to more complete home automation systems like Home Assistant or Jeedom where you have more devices like, for example, devices to control your irrigation, your blinds and more.
This is the case of a smart home user who installed Netatmo devices and has the Jeedom home automation hub so he can retrieve all information in one interface.
Of course, the very interesting thing about a smart home is to be able to interact different smart devices together according to defined criteria.
We could create different scenes, for example:
- When the anemometer detects a wind speed of more than 30 km/h and there is a specific wind direction such as in front of an awning, then this awning can be automatically retracted.
- When the anemometer detects a wind speed of more than 30 km/h and there is a specific wind direction such as from the front or the side of a motorised external blind, then the blind is automatically raised.
- When the anemometer detects a wind speed of more than 15 km/h and in a specific direction depending on the orientation of our garden or irrigation areas, then the watering is postponed until optimal conditions are reached. On the other hand, if it has not rained for 48 hours, the temperature is over 20°C and there is no strong wind, then watering is activated for 30 minutes at dawn.
Your imagination is your limit.
In short, Netatmo is a safe bet for quality and longevity of its devices, with no monthly fees, which is why many users have chosen this solution for their homes.
Generally purchased together
Buy now your Netatmo anemometer
Graduated with a Higher Technician’s Certificate in Home Automation, a Professional Bachelor’s degree in E-commerce and Digital Marketing, and a Master’s degree in SEO, I have been working since 2013 in a home automation e-commerce company called Domadoo, where I have the opportunity to test a large number of the popular Smart Home products on the market.