Review on 🌡️ Accurate Monitoring: AcuRite 01096M Temperature & Humidity Station with 3 Indoor/Outdoor Sensors by David Gonzalez

*UPDATE* 2018-06-22 - Downgraded to 1 star. The readings from the remote sensor are even less stable than it seemed at first glance. In the evening it can be +3 degrees above the actual one, in the morning from normal to -1 or -2 degrees. It appears to be around 70°F which is pretty close to (+/- 1 degree), at 75° it appears to be +2-3, and in the mid sixties the reading kind of falls into the minus - at 65°F shows 66°-63° and at 60° 58°-61°. Also, I've found that if one of the sensors fails completely, the console never lets you know. I took one of the sensors with me for additional testing and the console still shows 67° for that sensor. ----- Original Review ----- TLDR: I bought this sensor after reading several reviews. installed to replace a very old system that eventually died. Thought I'd give it a try as I wasn't really looking for a research grade temperature tracker and the price was good. But. I will return it soon. *Pros* Reason for Purchase #1: Setup was quick (+1/2 stars for that) Install a channel selector on each sensor, put batteries in the sensors, then put batteries in the display. 60 seconds and you're running. Reason for Purchase #2: Price (and +1/2 stars for that) But remember, you get what you pay for. So keep that in mind. *Cons* Problem 1: Inaccurate compared to a calibrated temperature/relative humidity sensor. (Note: I wasn't expecting lab-grade accuracy, and I expected them to be a bit different. The temperature sensor commonly used in household consumer sensors costs pennies in bulk and typically has an accuracy of +/- 2°F at room temperature (60-70°F) with decreasing accuracy as you approach warmer or colder extremes.) However. I placed all three sensors and the base station side by side on my desk, leaving about an inch for airflow and giving them 10 minutes to stabilize. Both digital readout sensors showed the same temperature and relative humidity, but the outdoor unit was two to three degrees higher and showed an 8% higher relative humidity. I wasn't expecting much from the RH (no electronic RH sensor is going to be truly accurate), but I wasn't expecting an 8% error. The base station display showed a higher temperature and lower relative humidity than the display sensors. Then I placed a calibrated off-the-shelf Fluke relative humidity and temperature sensor that we use to test our HVAC systems, right in the middle of the sensors and display. The actual relative humidity was 47%. Small displays scored 54%, outdoor displays 58% and basic displays 57%. Overall not bad for dry electronic relative humidity sensors - well within the expected range for consumer devices. The temperature was a little lower. The Fluke meter read 71.2°F. The small displays showed 73°-74°F, the outdoor displays showed 74°-75°F and the display showed 75°. The sensors wobbled a bit. Problem 2: The sensors are not stable over time and put the console next to the display console of our old system. The indicated values were three degrees higher. So either our HVAC thermostats and our old console display are all at the same low reading, or something else is happening. I "calibrated" the display back (pulled out the batteries and reset the display) and then "calibrated" it again so that the base station numbers shown matched what our existing displays showed. They didn't match this morning. Now the consoles were showing lower temperatures than our air conditioner, and the Acurite console was showing higher temperatures than our old console. So not only were they handicapped in comparison to them, but the degree to which they were handicapped changed over time. By the way, "Calibration” only changes the value displayed on the console. So if the remote sensor is off by 3°, the remote will ALWAYS show the wrong value. The base station simply adjusts it up or down by the amount you specify to display the 'correct' temperature on the console. Problem 3: Slow Response None of the sensors are responding quickly. By "quickly" I mean that last night when I turned on the fan to draw outside air into our bedroom, the remote was a few minutes behind the readout on our HVAC thermostat. At one point he was almost five degrees behind and didn't catch him for five, six minutes. I've experimented with this a bit, and while I haven't plotted delay time against temperature change over time, subjectively it seems that the faster the temperature changes (up or down), the longer it takes to the sensor catches up. can be problematic for some. If you live in an area with unstable weather like ours, you can easily get a temperature drop of 10-15° (or more) in five to ten minutes. In the winter, bringing pets (or children) in or animals in the barn and now leaving them outside in the freezing temperatures can make all the difference. Monitor temperature and don't worry about accuracy or consistency over time, and you can deal with remote displays that don't match the base station display by adjusting the base station display readings - this set is for you. I personally am looking for a different product.