Greetings all,
I am wondering what benefit I would realize by ordering heaters for rain an wind sensors.
I live not too far from you (about 2 hours west of Williamsport). I’ve been running a Davis system for years.
Myself, I don’t do anything with my rain gauge or anemometer. The anemometer has never frozen even in freezing rain. The design with the drip cap works very well.
As for the rain gauge, a couple schools of thought here…
I don’t do anything to protect or heat my rain gauge. It will fill up with snow. As the snow naturally melts, i will get readings of the snow melt. This is the first winter I will be running WD so I might change that. Just reading the snow melt as it naturally melts isn’t an accurate reading of anything.
If you install a heater, you will be measuring “liquid equivalent” of the snow which always varies with each different snowfall. Myself, I really don’t have much need for that reading.
Another option is to cover your guage during winter. The problem with that is you will miss our rain events in the winter.
I will most likely leave my rain gauge the way it is for winter. I will put a small notice on my web page stating that any rainfall recorded during the winter may be snow melt.
If you do a search on this forum, you’ll find some lively conversation about heating rain gauges. A different and economical approach brought up was to use a light bulb (outdoor spot light) as a heater if you have electricity available at the gauge. Also, a 12 volt light had been mentioned.
Well…that’s my take so far - you have a few options here.
Thanks for the input!
This is more of a fun thing for me so NEED really doesn’t come into it. It is more like, can I justify the cost or would I be smarter to spend my play $ on other sensors. My focus is total precipitation for the season. What fell last night isn’t particularly useful to me (I think).
To elaborate on my soon to be setup, I am considering a Peet 2100. The wind sensor heat option is not so expensive, so I will probably get that anyway. The real question is the rain sensor ( the ‘pro’ version with no moving parts ). I like the ‘solid state’ concept of this unit. I also do understand that in the event of ice buildup inside the unit, just about any part can be turned into a moving 
part. I also understand that it will still need occasional cleaning.
I work in the electronics field so I could probably solve the heater problem myself in the event it becomes bothersome. But the time… I have in mind a resistor in my parts bin and maybe that thermostat will operate at the right temp…
I have a WRM968 weather station and I’d like to heat the rain gauge. Where would I put that 20 or 35 watt light bulb. It’s a 12 volt bulb. Shoud I put it under the plastic cover in the electronic box closed to the tipping device or should I lay it on top on the leaves filter?
Thanks again.