I use it for general weather information and to stay up to date on changing conditions! Did I misread or can I add lightning detection to my existing unit? After I received and installed my unit, I bought two more and gave them to my two sons!
I've owned a number of Chaney Instruments AcuRite products. I find them to be useful for about 2-4 years before they need to be discarded due to failure. Given the price, perhaps that's all you should expect. My Pro 5in1 outdoor station finally died after 4 years. It was pretty weathered. The failure was the solar powered internal fan. I was getting extremely high outdoor temperature readings during sunny afternoons. Since I have displays and the hub, I decided to just replace it with the current Pro+ 5in1. Luckily the old inside display works with the new station, so I now can watch a five weather parameters on two displays. Be cautious about the description of the display, it isn't a color display, but a monochrome LCD display with colored backgrounds.