I just received an e-mail indicating the climate module is going away effective 3/31/2020.  There seems to be multiple weather options for local and maybe some cloud node servers.  Can someone recommend which one is best? 

I have a Polisy Pro with 4 local node servers and I do use the Ring cloud node server as well.  I used to use the climate module more extensively until my ISY controlled sprinkler controller died - now I have a Rachio which is pretty much self-contained and autonomous. 

I currently use the climate module temperature and rain info. to control a bathroom heater and some ceiling fans, to send notifications of freezing/rain and to shut off Christmas lights if it is raining.  Since I have a Rachio and Ecobee thermostats, is there a way to query weather data from either of those?  (I am guessing one of the node servers would be better).  Thanks in advance for any ideas.

Edited February 14, 20205 yr by jtsao
correction

I tried the DarkSky Node Server and it appears to work well as a climate module replacement (and it is also the weather used for my DVR program SageTV).

1 hour ago, jtsao said:

I currently use the climate module temperature and rain info. to control a bathroom heater and some ceiling fans, to send notifications of freezing/rain and to shut off Christmas lights if it is raining.  Since I have a Rachio and Ecobee thermostats, is there a way to query weather data from either of those?  (I am guessing one of the node servers would be better).  Thanks in advance for any ideas.

If you have a weather station that's nearby, you could use any of the Weather Station nodeservers (AmbientWeather, AmbientPoly, EcoWitt, MeteoBridge, MeteoBridgeAuth, WeatherDisplay, WeatherFlowPGC, WeatherFlowPoly, WeatherLink or WeatherPoly -- I hope I haven't left one out).

If you want to subscribe to a service that provides weather and forecasting, you can use either DarkSky or WeatherBit.  Both are excellent.

Really, this is an embarrassment of riches.

I'm using WeatherFlowPoly (I have a WeatherFlow weather station) for real-time weather observations, and WeatherBit for forecast data.  WeatherBit also has Evotranspiration value if you want to tackle irrigation.

In practice, the WeatherBit service provides data that is astonishingly close to what my WeatherFlow provides, close enough to make much of the data between the two redundant.  I could easily get by with just the WeatherBit nodeserver.

I bought the climate module some years ago, and I find that the WeatherBit nodeserver provides better data, and the station that the climate module connects to is only about two miles away.

For my money, I'd flip a coin and install either DarkSly or WeatherBit on your Polisy.  No reason you can't run both at the same time, either, so as to do comparisons.

I'm attaching a couple of screenshots of the forecast data that DarkSky and WeatherBit provide.  WeatherBit data provides more data than DarkSky.

The first screenshot is DarkSky.

 

24 minutes ago, Bumbershoot said:

I'm attaching a couple of screenshots of the forecast data that DarkSky and WeatherBit provide.  WeatherBit data provides more data than DarkSky.

The first screenshot is DarkSky.

 

Now, only if I could get this working . . .   

12 minutes ago, Teken said:

Now, only if I could get this working . . .   

Have you posted about your problems somewhere and I missed it?  I know you had problems when first installing it from the cloud because a bug was preventing it from showing the custom parameters that needed to be set, but that should be fixed now.

There isn't a really good way to provide documentation for the cloud based node servers on how to configure and set them up.  The only place is really the github readme file, but linking to the github repository is a bit overkill for someone that just wants clear instructions.

26 minutes ago, Teken said:

Now, only if I could get this working . . .   

If I didn't mention it, these are running very nicely on my Polisy.

Hi Guys,

I am going to give these node servers a try this week end and should I run into issue. I will surely relay the error logs for a more in depth review from the various developers. One of the action items was completing a forced firmware update of the Polyisy.

As noted in another thread the test controller has been hard reset so I'll give it another shot.

Both Dark Sky and WeatherBug work well for me. I very much like the forecast data from WeatherBit. 

Hello All,

Just closing out my last reply with a few comments as to current status in case a member stumbles upon this thread. I have been able to install the various local node servers on the Polyisy with much help of the group here.

I am currently working toward trouble shooting a few small issues / bugs and will create a new thread to track those.

Thanks to all who have shared here.  Especially to @bpwwer for his work on the DarkSky node server.  I have been preparing for the move away from the Climate Module, and have managed to get PGC and DarkSky installed and working, and can now pull weather parameters into my ISY.  However, I do not see either Evapotranspiration or Moon Phase parameters in PGC so these are not available in the ISY.  What am I missing to enable Evapotranspiration in PGC?

26 minutes ago, wrj0 said:

Thanks to all who have shared here.  Especially to @bpwwer for his work on the DarkSky node server.  I have been preparing for the move away from the Climate Module, and have managed to get PGC and DarkSky installed and working, and can now pull weather parameters into my ISY.  However, I do not see either Evapotranspiration or Moon Phase parameters in PGC so these are not available in the ISY.  What am I missing to enable Evapotranspiration in PGC?

The ETo value is only done on forecast data so it should be showing up in all the forecast nodes.  You do need to configure the number of forecast nodes that you want created as the default is 0, the max is 7 days.

39 minutes ago, bpwwer said:

The ETo value is only done on forecast data so it should be showing up in all the forecast nodes.  You do need to configure the number of forecast nodes that you want created as the default is 0, the max is 7 days.

Thanks.  After enabling 3 days of forecast, ETo does indeed show up in the list of nodes.  I'm really looking forward to your implementation of irrigation requirement.
Great work! 

Just got an e-mail from Dark Sky - 

Hi there,
We have some important news to share: Dark Sky has joined Apple. You can read more here: https://blog.darksky.net.

The self-service API for existing customers is not changing today, but we will no longer accept new signups. The API will continue to function through the end of 2021.

Use of the API service is subject to the updated Dark Sky Terms and Conditions, including the Apple Privacy Policy ("Terms"). By continuing to use the API service, you are agreeing to be bound by these Terms.
If you have any questions, please contact us at developer@darksky.net.
- The Dark Sky Team