Installing a weather station on caravans, holiday homes or recreational vehicles
Last summer we received a picture from a customer who installed the Crodeon weather station on his caravan. Let's go into detail about why this is a good idea and how our customer made it happen.
Why you should watch the weather when leaving your caravan behind
Vacation homes and static caravans are often located far away from their owners, in regions that have a completely different climate than where the owners live. As a result, people often find themselves worrying about their property when the weather turns bad.
The perfect solution to stop them from worrying is by installing a weather sensor with autonomous power supply and remote data access on their caravan or holiday home. As an owner you need data about the actual local weather conditions that your caravan or vacation house is in, not from someone else's weather station several kilometers away. This way you can keep a close eye on stormy weather for example.
The best RV weather station
When it comes to recreational vehicles, you're constantly on the move. Therefore you want your weather station to be mobile too. Mounting your sensor and sensor device to your RV lets you measure and monitor weather anywhere, anytime.
Introducing GPS tracking
When your holiday home is located in a very remote location, it can be useful to know your exact GPS coordinates. Reporter comes with a built-in GPS chip that logs its location multiple times a day.
In the case of a mobile home, RV, or caravan, a GPS can be an extra feature to keep an eye on whether someone or something has moved your property without your knowledge.
What do you need to get started
The Crodeon weather station consists of Reporter, a small solar panel and a weather sensor.The sensor measures rain, wind, temperature and humidity.
Reporter takes care of wireless communication to the internet through the GSM network, and the solar panel keeps Reporter's lithium-ion battery charged. This is an autonomous power supply so there's no need to replace the batteries yourself. Reporter is designed for low power consumption so it stays online even during a long dark winter.
As a customer you enjoy real-time measurements up to every minute. Use the Crodeon Dashboard on your pc or phone to view the data or configure the alarm thresholds. You can be notified by email, sms or voice call for example if the temperatures are below a certain limit, or if it's raining too much.
Installation of the weather station
Our customer says it took him less than an hour to mount the system on his caravan. For pretty much every vacation home, RV, or caravan the installation of a weather station will be different. The main thing you need is a pole or bar of ample length to mount the hardware onto your holiday home.
We recommend installing the weather sensor high enough and away from nearby obstructions. Make sure to watch the level indicator and point the “N” arrow north. Check out all installation guidelines in our manual:
Connecting the weather sensor to Reporter is as easy as it gets. Just plug the M12-connector and gently tighten the connection ring so it's waterproof. Same for the solar panel, which plugs into Reporter's M12 power connector. Once these are connected, the solar powered weather station is ready to start measuring. Watch the data appear on the Crodeon Dashboard.
All our hardware is suited for outdoor use so no further protection is required for your RV's or caravan's weather sensor. Quick annual maintenance helps you keep your weather station in pristine condition.
Additional sensors
Once your weather station is up and running, it's time to think about what else you can measure. Have a look at the sensors in our shop and know that all of these are directly compatible with Reporter. The only limit is the total amount of connectors that Reporter has.
If you're often tormented by floods or heavy rain, maybe think about measuring water level with an ultrasonic sensor. This could warn you when your cellar, caravan, or RV is under water. Another painful parameter is humidity. Some of our customers use Reporter to measure the interior humidity in sailing yachts or to measure water level in a marina during fall and winter.
If your vacation home has a lovely garden with valuable flora, maybe you'd like to measure soil humidity or soil water tension. This could help you protect your plants or trees against drought or an excess of water.
