Featured Posts Blog

business technology and marketing - Getting Started in Digital Marketing

Getting Started in Digital Marketing

Many of us have weather stations for personal enjoyment and helpful information about our homes. There are some of us, however, that also maintain a weather station or weather station business for the purposes...

Latest Posts

5 Benefits for Hiring Expert Plumbers

there is a leak - 5 Benefits for Hiring Expert Plumbers

If your weather station is showing there is storm coming, how could this affect your home or business? Storms with heavy downpours can potentially cause plumbing issues.  Drainage pipes and other plumbing can be adversely affected by strong weather effects. A plumber is an individual who has the expertise to repair and install fittings, pipes, and other essential apparatus of sanitation, water supply, and heating systems. Hiring the right plumbing service can be a daunting and time-consuming task. There are crucial elements that a homeowner should consider before investing in a certain plumbing company. For instance, you should check reviews and comments to identify the reputation of the plumbing company. You can also ask your close friends and family members if they can recommend an experienced plumbing company. Plumbing isn’t an easy task; therefore, you shouldn’t employ the DIY approach because you can cause more damage to your systems. Doing it yourself can lead to damage to not only your systems but also your property. This will, therefore, increase maintenance costs, especially on a long term basis. There are numerous advantages why you should consider hiring a professional plumber near you. Below are the essential benefits of investing in an expert plumber.

1. High-tech Tools and Equipment

The right plumbing company should have advanced plumbing tools. High tech plumbing tools and equipment enhances the efficiency of work and time management. The key objective of a professional plumbing company is to satisfy the homeowner’s tastes and preferences. This is the main reason why these professionals work tirelessly and effectively to meet your needs. The right plumber should come will all plumbing tools, thus giving you peace of mind. Avoid the DIY approach of plumbing repair or installation because it has more limitations. For instance, you’ll have to buy plumbing tools, thus wasting your time and money. Also, you won’t have enough expertise to use high tech plumbing tools. Lack of sufficient knowledge on how to use plumbing tools may lead to injuries and ineffective results.

2. Professionalism

It’s a great idea to hire a plumbing company with a minimum of five years of experience in this industry. Enough experience shows that a company has dealt with numerous repairs or installations similar to your type. Also, a company with experienced plumbers will have a high probability of having an excellent reputation. Before hiring the right plumbing firm that satisfies your need, it’s important to perform in-depth research. Due to advanced technology, most plumbing companies have an official website. These websites will help you identify the quality of plumbing services. Note that a reputable plumbing company will have positive client reviews and comments.

3. Time Management

Time management is a key factor in plumbing. A professional plumber will work at a certain schedule, thus why they complete the task in time. In addition, these professionals have specialized in plumbing; thus, they have enough training in this field. The DIY technique of plumbing will waste your valuable time. The main reason behind this is that you’ll have to follow tutorials that might mislead you. In addition, you lack enough knowledge of using plumbing tools and equipment. This shows that you’ll have a low-quality installation or repair, which will cost you a lot of money, specifically in the long-run. Therefore, it’s a wise idea to hire a professional plumber who’ll save your fruitful time. You’ll have peace of mind, thus maximizing your production in your area of specialization.

4. Cost-Saving

Investing in the right plumbing company will save you a considerable amount of money in the long-run. An expert plumber will install or repair your systems in the right manner. This is key because it helps in enhancing the longevity of your systems. Avoid the ‘do it yourself’ approach because your systems will be vulnerable to repairs. This will increase your maintenance cost in the long run basis. The right plumbing company will come with the right plumbing equipment. This is essential because you won’t have to purchase costly plumbing tools and equipment.

5. Offer Excellent Services

An experienced plumbing company will strive to excel in their services. These professionals (Dallas emergency plumbers) will use advanced tools that facilitate high quality results. Expert plumbers will provide prime services in a short duration of time because they have detailed information in this industry. The DIY approach isn’t recommended because you’ll have a high probability of damaging your property and systems. This is discouraged because you’ll spend a huge amount of cash on repairs and maintenance. Hiring affordable and reliable plumbers who’ll provide prime services is a great deal.

Conclusion

Plumbing is a time-consuming and daunting task if you lack the necessary skills and expertise in this field. Above-listed are various benefits for why you should consider hiring a professional plumbing service near you.

Getting Started in Digital Marketing

business technology and marketing - Getting Started in Digital Marketing

Many of us have weather stations for personal enjoyment and helpful information about our homes. There are some of us, however, that also maintain a weather station or weather station business for the purposes of running a business and providing services. Just as with anything these days, you need to understand the new online marketing landscape to successfully market your weather station business and services. Business owners nowadays have developed different strategies for growth. If you are too, then you’ve probably considered digital marketing. It may be baffling why you’ve never tried it before because it is only the most effective way to get your business out there but don’t worry, we’ll get you up to speed.

Just like anything else in this world, the beginning is the hardest. We understand that digital marketing is all new to you but the premise is pretty simple – it’s getting your brand out there through the internet for wider reach.

Is digital marketing just like marketing?

Don’t get too overwhelmed with this new thing you’re about to try out. Think of it this way — take all your marketing strategies and imagine that you’re going to do the same thing, except that now, the world wide web is involved. If you’re tech savvy enough, it shouldn’t be that difficult. And besides, you can always hire someone to carry out the technical stuff for you.

So it’s the same promotions you have and selling strategies. It’s just that you’re now publishing them online through different platforms.

Do I need a website for digital marketing?

Ideally, yes. There are so many things a website can do and the possibilities are endless if you hire a web designer to set it up for you. Remember however, that to set up a website, you’re going to need content for it so not unless you’re ready to create content, then you can start with something simpler.

So go for social media platforms as well. Social networking sites such as Instagram and FaceBook are great platforms for any kind of business. You can create business pages without risking letting anyone know who you are personally. These business pages are independent of your personal accounts so you don’t need to worry about that.

Eventually, you will have to setup a website but starting with something you’re familiar with because, let’s face it, you probably use these apps on the daily anyway.

How does digital marketing increase my profit?

Having a wider reach increases your number of potential customers. Brand awareness is where it all starts. It just makes sense that if more people see you, then more people will get to consider purchasing your products. You just have to be creative in panning out your ideas so that your brand stands out from your competitors.

Additionally, it’s easier for you to close deals when you’re available online. Communication with your audience is faster and you get to answer their questions real time. Your great customer service skill is what’s going to help you convince a person miles away to buy. Having a digital marketing platform will also decrease complaints because it will be easier to provide customer service faster.

The e-commerce features of digital marketing is also very easy to understand. People aren’t so skeptic with these things anymore because they can tell what websites are secure and which ones are not. In fact, once your website is fully functional, people can place orders, pay for them and have your inventory updated while you’re asleep. It saves money in the long run since you don’t need to hire anyone for functions that your website already covers.

Who do I need to hire for my digital marketing needs?

It depends on what services you need. So to help you out, here are some of the people you might want to check out.

  • Web Designer – to take care of the back end elements of the website
  • Graphic Designer – to do the aesthetics of your brand if you don’t have it yet
  • Content Creator – to create content for your website (check out the review of Super Affiliate System)
  • Social Media Manager – to manage your social media pages and make sure they’re consistent
  • Digital Marketing Expert – someone to give and carry out fresh marketing ideas for your digital platforms

And those are just to name a few. If, for example, you can do content, then you don’t need to hire anyone for that purpose anymore. The same is true for the other jobs listed. Know that most of these freelancers are project based and you won’t need to keep them once their role is over.

As you can see, it’s not that complicated at all. If anything, digital marketing solves a lot of problems that traditional business owners have. There’s a learning curve but it’s totally worth it.

The Top Characteristics of the German Weather

river

Over the last few years, our team at Weather Station Finder has been travelling to several countries around the world to install our own weather stations and partner with others. The goal was to conduct exclusive studies for our readers. Germany was one of the first missions. And here is a summary of our crew’s conclusions.

The north and coastal regions

The climate in Germany is considered moderate with no longer periods of hot or cold weather. The Northwest region, as well as the coast, have a climate very influenced by the sea, which translates in cloudy winters and warm summers.

Once you go farther inland, you will notice that the climate is more typically continental, with greater and much more distinct variations during the seasons.

The south inland

The south registers more temperature extremes than the north, precisely because it is the most inland German region. Those extremes are felt between both summer and winter and day and night. January is the coldest month in the country. The average temperature is -2ºC (28.4ºF) in the south and around 1.5ºC (34.7ºF) up north.

During July, the warmest month, the situation reverses and you can see the difference between the more moderate north and the continental south. The north is fresher with temperatures rounding the 17ºC (62.6ºF). Meanwhile, the south of Germany usually registers an average of 21ºC (69.8ºF).

Higher altitudes

As you’ve seen, the maritime and continental climates are the most predominant across the German territory. However, the Alpine region in the extreme south, as well as the Central Uplands, even though to a lesser extent than the Alps, have a climate known as mountain climate. It is characterized by low temperatures due to the high altitudes.

The reason why the Alpine regions have a more rigorous mountain climate than the Uplands is because of the fact of conjugating both high altitudes and an inland south location.

In these regions, there is greater precipitation. In the Alps, we were able to register a phenomenon known in the German language as “föhn”, meaning “warm wind”. In this condition, warm tropical air drags across the Alps and loses moisture down south, decreasing precipitation. Some instances of the “föhn” winds have caused severe damage during the winter and even late fall.

Frequent low-pressure systems

Particularly during the months of fall and winter Atlantic low-pressure systems can bring to Germany extremely strong winds and deeply uncomfortable weather that includes heavy rain and thunderstorms.

The summer low-pressures, although weaker, can still cause thunderstorms and regularly lead to showery weather.

You are probably accustomed to see portrayals of the German winter as a very harsh and unreasonably cold season. That can be the case in the southern, eastern and mountainous regions, which can register temperatures far below 0ºC (32ºF). Anywhere else, though, winters are generally mild.

Clothing

If you are reading this not only with a weather enthusiast’s point of view, but also with a tourist’s one you are probably wondering: what should I wear on my trip to Germany?

Well, we recommend light clothing for summer, while simultaneously being armed with rainwear. Waterproof medium to heavyweights are essential for winter. And you can basically count on needing a sweater year-round.

The Final Steps to Build Your Personal Weather Station

planning

Weather Station Finder has already taught you the first steps for building your personal station and join the thousands of Americans contributing to accurate forecasts of the weather across the US. You’ve learned how to measure temperature, humidity and pressure. Let’s learn some more.

Rainfall

rainfall - The Final Steps to Build Your Personal Weather Station

For this, you should buy a standalone rain gauge. Rain will be collected in a self-tipping tray that automatically empties when filled with 0.01 inch of water. Each time it empties, the sensor of the gauge will send a signal to the motherboard inside the container. By the time the tray has tipped 100 times, you’ll have measured an inch of precipitation.

Bolt it to the side of the pole opposite the ventilated housing. Run the cable along the gauge and the plastic housing and into the motherboard.

Wind speed and direction

wind - The Final Steps to Build Your Personal Weather Station

In order to measure wind speed and direction you’ll need an anemometer. You have three types available: the three-cup, propeller and sonic anemometers. With the cups or propeller types, the wind spins them as a way to measure speed. It also turns a vane to figure wind direction. Specialists tend to agree that the propeller anemometer is slightly more accurate than the three-cup version.

The sonic ones have a huge advantage and a huge disadvantage. They are much less likely to freeze or break since they have no moving parts, but they usually cost more than $1,000. You can build your entire station for less than half the price. Whichever type you buy, you must attach it to the top of the pole.

Integrated Wi-Fi

wifi - The Final Steps to Build Your Personal Weather Station

Much of the equipment from the three top brands, Arduino, Particle Photon and Raspberry Pi, comes with integrated Wi-Fi. You won’t have to spend money on wireless modules. Hook it up to practically any device, including your smartphone, laptop, tablet or a monitor. You’ll only have to connect the weather station to your home internet once. For that, you have all the instructions in the package.

Installation

lawn - The Final Steps to Build Your Personal Weather Station

You should place your personal weather station over a natural surface, such as grass, and at least 100 feet away from pavements. You must also make sure that no trees or walls block the sun, the wind and the rain. The station’s ventilated plastic housing must be at least five feet above the surface. The anemometer should be the tallest part and there should be nothing else within five feet of the gauge for rain measuring.

Power

solar panel - The Final Steps to Build Your Personal Weather Station

A solar panel is the easiest and most efficient way to power your weather station. The minimum requirements are 3 watts and a battery of 2,000 mAh. Ideally, the panel must be installed separately to prevent blocking any of the station’s equipment. Just run its power cable to the motherboard. It’s finally up and running. You should start receiving data online at your home.

Lastly, you can do what you’re probably most excited about. You can connect your personal weather station to a sharing service. Weather Underground is widely known for providing incredibly localized accurate data on the US weather. Now you can be one of the agents to help improve the forecast in your location for all of your neighbors.

The First Steps to Build Your Personal Weather Station

craft

Perhaps you feel like getting into the hobby of collecting your own weather data, but think that the process of building your personal weather station will be complicated. It can actually be really easy and fun.

There are more than 12,000 public weather stations across the US. That may sound like a lot until you hear that more than 200,000 people in North America run their own devices from home and contribute with accurate hyper-localized forecasts of the North-American weather.

You can build your personal weather station, or PWS, for less than $500. Vendors like Ambient Weather and Adafruit have all the necessary parts available. Let’s start the fun.

The structure

capacitor - The First Steps to Build Your Personal Weather Station

Particle Photon and Arduino are known to be the best motherboards. Mount the motherboard in a waterproof container and then in a plastic housing that is well-ventilated. The larger housing will hold most of the sensors. Attach it to one side of the pole, a few feet from the top. The ventilation of the housing is the biggest contributor to accuracy.

Temperature

thermometer - The First Steps to Build Your Personal Weather Station

Look for a waterproof coin-sized thermometer to attach to the motherboard. It looks like a cable with a stainless-steel pin on one of the ends. That pin is the part that will pick up the measurements.

You should mount it inside the ventilated plastic housing but outside the waterproof container. This sensor should never be exposed to direct sunlight as it would register inaccurately hot values.

Humidity

hygrometer - The First Steps to Build Your Personal Weather Station

To measure humidity you’ll use a hygrometer, which is a polymer sensor that absorbs water from the air. When water soaks into it, the electric current slows down its flow. So, the hygrometer is able to measure humidity based on how quickly electricity is flowing through it.

If you buy a 2-in-1 thermometer/hygrometer you’ve been taught all the steps above. Otherwise, mount the hygrometer near the thermometer and connect it to the motherboard as well. Only when the two sensors are very close, can they measure the exact same sample of air.

Air pressure

barometer - The First Steps to Build Your Personal Weather Station

Don’t opt for an analog barometer. Instead, you should buy a digital one with an electronic pressure sensor. How does the barometer’s sensor measure pressure? As atmospheric pressure rises, more and more weight of the air will press down on the sensor. It then sends an electric signal to the motherboard.

Tracking atmospheric pressure allows home weather data collectors to help forecast storms and movements of warm and cold fronts in their location in North America. For this one, you can connect it either directly to the motherboard inside the waterproof container or next to the other two sensors, the thermometer and the hygrometer.

There you have it. These are the first steps for building your personal weather station at home. It requires a lot of your attention, but is not necessarily complicated, and it definitely is fun.

Many people stick to these three sensors, the thermometer, the hygrometer and the barometer. However, if you’re curious about collecting more data, we will teach you how to measure rainfall and wind speed and direction. We will also go over the final steps, including installing the station and hooking it up to the internet. All in a new article coming soon.

The 4 Best Home Weather Stations

map-jumping

As a fun and interesting project, you can build your own personal home weather station nowadays, without much fuss and cost. Weather Station Finder will teach you how to.

But maybe you lack the time or are simply looking for a more immediate solution to start analyzing the weather status and share it online. In that case, take a look at some of the most reliable options in the market.

Ambient Weather WS-2902

The WS-2902 is arguably the absolute best home weather station in the market. The 10-in-1 system measures temperature, radiation, UV, humidity, pressure, rainfall, wind direction and wind speed. It connects via Wi-Fi and lets you read your data on the go on your phone, tablet or laptop.

The LCD display has all the measurements color coded. And with the Wi-Fi integration you can collect data from the entire network of Ambient Weather’s home weather stations. Not to talk about the state-of-the-art tech. You’ll feel like an actual meteorologist.

La Crosse Technology S88907

For those whose main concern is the cost, the S88907 system is a great and affordable solution. It’s perfect for beginners since it keeps it simple with a thermometer and a hygrometer.

This is the system with the best accuracy rate within its price range, up to 75%. You can receive your data wirelessly over 300 feet and be warned of forecasted sudden weather changes.

AcuRite 01036 Pro Weather Station

This is a 5-in-1 wireless system with sensors that measure temperature, humidity, precipitation, wind speed and wind direction. It uses self-calibrating technology to deliver high-precision forecasts.

You can hook it up to your devices via USB. That way, you´ll be able to monitor your collected data remotely and download it to share. You can also set up text or e-mail alerts for each of the measurements. The 01036 station has one of the best quality-price ratios in the market.

AcuRite 00589 Pro Color Weather Station

If you plan to use your station to collect only the most essential data you don’t need to spend money on a more advanced system. This top quality 3-in-1 station may very well be the best answer.

The unit consists of a thermometer, a hygrometer and an anemometer to measure temperature, humidity and atmospheric pressure, respectively. It also measures wind speed and direction. The color-coded data display is simple and quick to analyze, just how you want it to be.

Evaluate to what degree you want to analyze the weather conditions at your location and choose one of these dependable stations.

The Top Characteristics of the Swedish Weather

snowy-day

Our last overseas trip to measure atmospheric data with our weather station installations was to the incredible country of Sweden. Our team was able to gather conclusions that made us think about the Swedish weather differently than what is usually portrayed.

Many people picture harsh winters and never-ending cold when thinking about Sweden. However, the Swedish weather can be much milder and that’s greatly thanks to the warm Gulf stream.

The seasons and regions

One of the things Swedes love to highlight about their climate is that each of the four seasons is extremely unique and different from one another. They are also very different depending on the region.

The Swedish territory can be divided in three regions: “Götaland” in the south, “Svealand” in the middle and “Norrland” up north.

The south – Götaland

In the south, winters are milder and shorter and summer temperatures frequently reach 25ºC (77ºF). Daylight averages 19 hours in the peak of the summer. Due to the significant levels of humidity, cold days feel colder and warm days feel hotter. Snow is rare during the Götaland’s winter.

The midlands – Svealand

Stretching across Stockholm in the east to the Norway border in the west there is the Svealand region. The weather is generally slightly colder than in the south throughout the entire year. Snow is much more common, particularly in the northwest, the place of several ski resorts. Average temperatures are just bellow 0ºC (32ºF) in January, the coldest month.

The north – Norrland

The Norrland up north is the home of the extremely challenging climate the general consensus somehow associates with the entirety of Sweden, even though few people inhabit the area. Winters are cold, dry and long with very low temperatures dragging across several months. Summers are short. However, the temperatures are very comfortable during the season, from 15ºC to 25ºC (59ºF to 77ºF).

We are sure that as a weather enthusiast who probably has their own weather station, you are glad you were able to gain some new and demystified insights about the Swedish weather. If you’re into travelling, you now know you shouldn’t be so afraid of visiting Sweden.