Home smart thermostat is simply put, it’s a thermostat that is programmable and connected to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or other technologies. But to be considered “smart,” it needs to go a step further. It should be able to learn your habits and preferences, control the climate in your home according to changes in the weather, your comings and goings, and be responsive to your smart home system.
These new smart thermostats claim to save you money on your energy bills. They learn how long it takes to adjust the temperature in your home and that a forced air system takes longer to change the air temperature than a radiator, and will be able to decide when to turn on the heating or cooling system so that it reaches the desired temperature at the programmed time.
Some even come with occupancy sensors and can tell when you are home and when you are not. They can shut off the climate system to save you energy when no one is home and turn the system back on when you are on your way back.
All the features included should lead to an overall decrease in the amount of energy used in your home and increases in daily savings on your energy bills.
Another great aspect of home smart thermostat is the air setting feature. Most people do not have the desired temperature learned and just overheat their house trying to get rid of the chill.
At this point, the air setting feature will turn the thermostat up to get the desired temperature. This feature is very energy costly. Smart thermostats detect how long it will take to get the desired temperature and turn itself off.
In the case of the previously mentioned person going to bed in a couple of hours, it would just leave the heating and turn it off a bit before the desired time, running the heating less and saving money. All these simple yet smart features could save the homeowner a substantial amount of money.
In comparison to a programmable thermostat, a smart thermostat far exceeds its efficiency potential. Most programming devices are complicated to use, and most people who have them do not program them to save energy. Smart thermostats do not require a complicated programming regimen.
A smart thermostat is a type of technology used to control the home’s temperature with wireless technology. It can regulate aspects of air regulation in a home such as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning.
The technology is constantly improving and allows the user to control the thermostat using the internet from a PC, laptop, or smartphone. This makes it very convenient as when the homeowner is returning home, a simple adjustment via the smartphone will ensure that the house is at the desired temperature when they walk through the door. It also provides the homeowner with various statistics that could further improve the energy expenditure of the house.
- Google Nest Learning Thermostat – 3rd Generation
- ecobee SmartThermostat – Premium – ecobee SmartSensor included – thermostat – wireless
- Honeywell Home Smart Color Thermostat
- Mysa Smart Thermostat for Electric Baseboard and In-Wall Heaters
- Emerson Sensi Touch Smart Programmable Wi-Fi Thermostat
- Artificial intelligence (AI) and home smart thermostat
Google Nest Learning Thermostat – 3rd Generation
The Nest has changed the temperature setting over the years. It used to learn how you like to use the temperature setting schedule and try to learn and replicate it.
But that method was too complicated, so they changed it to the simpler one, manually setting the desired temperature. This data is then sent to the Nest servers at 15-minute intervals so that the Nest can determine your location and forecast the weather to save you energy costs.
A leaf symbol will appear to inform you of an energy-saving temperature, and then you can view the energy usage and tweak the schedule to save even more.
With the display constantly on, the battery life has been reduced from 10-12 days from its predecessor. But there is a simple solution, just plug the Nest into a wall using a Micro USB and forget about changing the battery altogether. It’s not like you would take the Nest off the wall and use it as a portable thermostat.
The best new feature is that the Nest is smarter thanks to software updates that bring new features like Farsight. This allows you to see the current temperature, time or weather from a distance (just the info or big number style clock and outdoor weather temperature).
It uses a light sensor so it senses you walking into a room and lights up the display in your configuration (temperature, clock or weather), which is then memorised for future reference.
The reference motion is displayed on a 2.08″, 480 x 480 24-bit color LCD screen. Farsight is a feature that may not seem like a big deal, but the little things like the display turning on when you are within eyesight can be quite useful.
The Nest is in full learning mode after being installed for the first week. During this time, simply use your heating as you normally would, and the Nest will start to learn your schedule and begin to program itself to fit your lifestyle.
An interesting feature of the Nest is the leaf icon. When you see the leaf, it indicates that you are saving energy and moving in the right direction. This simple yet effective learning algorithm means that the more you have the heating on inefficiently, the longer it will take for the Nest to learn your schedule and stop heating an empty house.
Google Nest Learning Thermostat – 3rd Generation – Mirror Black Check Price
ecobee SmartThermostat – Premium – ecobee SmartSensor included – thermostat – wireless
Since heating and cooling your home is the greatest factor in your energy costs, it’s important to have an easy way to monitor when and how you use your systems.
Having a better understanding of your usage patterns helps you make more informed choices about when to save or consume energy.
Home IQ™ is your solution. It provides simple, practical information that will help you save energy and money. This feature is available in the web portal at ecobee.com and the ecobee mobile application.
Home IQ™ energy reports – Home IQ provides information on your heating and cooling performance relative to the other users in your area. It’s broken down into three basic categories:
1. System Overview – Shows how long your heating and/or cooling system ran and when, gives an estimate of system performance.
2. System Comparisons – Ratings on the number of events ran in comparison to the other users in your area.
3. System Efficiency – System runtime relative to outdoor temperature (usually measured in accumulated degree days).
Smart scheduling allows you to set up a schedule to conserve energy when you are away and make you comfortable when you are present.
Templates are a pre-configured schedule to save on energy. They disable the “home” settings in favour of the less energy-intensive “away” settings at various times. For example, when everyone is away at work and school, an “away” setting can be used to conserve energy during the winter and summer.
Templates are based on a fixed schedule that does not change. This is where Smart comes in. Smart Recovery detects how long it takes to reach the next event and then reaches the desired temperature by that time.
This ensures that the system is not running for too long and too short to reach the desired temperatures. So if your next scheduled event is to start at 7 am and it’s 72°F, but it takes 30 minutes longer than the event duration to reach that temperature, ecobee will start heating at 6:30 am next time.
ecobee SmartThermostat – Premium – ecobee SmartSensor included – thermostat – wireless Check Price
Honeywell Home Smart Color Thermostat
Honeywell’s home smart system may be controlled via smartphone, yet their most claimed and advanced feature is the built-in Amazon Alexa.
The thermostat is equipped with a microphone and speaker for integrated Amazon Alexa voice control. Simply say the word and the device will recognise and fulfill your command.
Commands can range from general “set temperature to 20”, “set temperature to heat/cool”, “set the thermostat to home”, and “set the fan to auto” to miscellaneous “tell me a joke”.
This is a unique feature compared to other models as users do not require a separate Alexa device to control the thermostat.
However, this feature can be both an advantage or disadvantage depending on whether you currently use Amazon Alexa or you are happy to use thermostat Alexa over a separate device Alexa commands.
The device also recognizes and has voice control compatibility with other smart home devices. This can range from other Amazon Alexa Echo/Dot devices to control the thermostat via voice from different rooms “set the temperature to 22” in the bedroom, yet unsure if this feature would possess any advantage compared to using the device’s built-in microphone and speaker.
When home or away, it’s common for people to install a thermostat, but often, life can change at a moment’s notice. With the new flexible scheduling, you can program the thermostat to match your weekly schedule.
Still, you can also select specific times or date ranges to deviate from the current programmed schedule. Flexible scheduling also allows selecting time off events with a single date range or dates and times that repeat allowing a selection year.
Honeywell has also improved on the energy-saving changes with intelligent alerts. The thermostat will provide prompts for things such as a dirty filter that affects the quality of heating and cooling, humidity levels inside, extreme indoor temperatures, and information on the time it takes to reach the set temperature.
Honeywell Home Smart Color Thermostat Check Price
Mysa Smart Thermostat for Electric Baseboard and In-Wall Heaters
Users have the choice of making one-time ‘setpoint’ temperature changes that are ideal for temporary conditions. A more efficient method would be to set up a schedule.
From the scheduling page, users can select the entire week or individual days. A time slot can then be selected to apply a certain temperature. This feature is most beneficial for users who have expensive or uneven time-of-use power rates. Temperature changes can be previewed with a simple colour change on the topmost dial.
When pairing Mysa to the app, you are asked to create a home. This is extremely beneficial for the user who has multiple heaters in different locations. Once multiple locations are identified, users can easily switch between these homes to control each Mysa installed. A home is also beneficial if the user has multiple users wanting to access the devices so heaters can be controlled remotely at different times.
Mysa Home Smart Thermostat is a pioneer in smart thermostat technology targeted at high-voltage heating. It is the single most advanced product to be introduced to line voltage heating in recent history.
As with most line voltage products, the Mysa replaces your existing thermostat as the only control for the heater. Mysa connects to home Wi-Fi and is highly controllable by any smart device having a Mysa App.
With the Mysa smart thermostat, you have endless possibilities when it comes to controlling temperature, and being energy efficient is one of the best.
Using specific settings for when you’re home, away or asleep, it has never been easier to maximize your comfort while saving money on heating bills. Planning a weekend getaway?
With the Mysa app, you can alter settings from anywhere, ensuring you never heat an empty home. Optimization is what baseboard heating is all about and Mysa is the first thermostat to truly unlock its full potential.
With features like Eco+ and the ability to link multiple heaters to one Mysa, the energy and cost savings are substantial. Regress and worry not – the potential energy and cost savings still make Mysa worth it, and you’ll never have to sacrifice comfort.
Experimenting with different settings will provide insight into how you can best utilize Mysa and your heating system to save money without compromising your level of comfort.
One of the biggest drawbacks of electric heating is energy cost. Research has shown that electric heat is the most expensive way to heat your home.
This is mainly because there are no efficient electric heating systems on the market…until now. Mysa knows this is a major pain point for all users.
Because of this, we’ve developed a highly accurate temperature control system that helps users save as much money as possible while maintaining comfort.
The standard in electric heat has been double pole line voltage thermostats that are very basic on/off switches. This results in a high-temperature swings swing whenever the thermostat turns off, and in some cases, the room temperature will rise above the set point before the thermostat completes its off cycle.
This creates discomfort and wasted energy. Mysa has dual temperature sensors that regulate both the room temperature and the heater temperature. It uses algorithms based on thermal energy to determine when to turn the heat on or off to reduce and improve swing and improve accuracy. This results in better comfort and up to 26% energy savings.
Mysa Smart Thermostat for Electric Baseboard and In-Wall Heaters V2.0, BB.2.0.01.NA-US Check Price
Emerson Sensi Touch Smart Programmable Wi-Fi Thermostat
The Sensi Touch WiFi Thermostat has a touch colour display with a modern look that also provides high contrast and a resolution that maximizes its display size.
The large 4.3″ display allows for easier navigation, no matter the user. The user interface has large (finger-friendly) buttons and menu items with no hidden or nested sub-menus.
With the included 7-day programming and the ability to schedule it from the stat or through your smartphone, this simple user face makes scheduling a breeze.
Touching the date will cycle between the current date and the inside temperature on the home screen. The date displayed provides a visual indication when viewing or setting the schedule. This feature is very helpful so you are always sure which schedule is actively controlling your system, especially for those who have programs/schedules that vary widely from day to day.
The inside temperature/relative humidity or outside temperature information can also have a selectable static or dynamic display. Static is self-explanatory, but dynamic display means the stat will change colour (green, yellow, or red) which will alert the user of heating/cooling settings and whether it is off, so no matter what screen you are on you will always know your system status.
This is particularly helpful if you are using the inside or outdoor temperature as a quick comfort indicator and will help ensure you never forget to shut your system off. The comfort settings are also customisable to account for any temperature variances between users.
Emerson Sensi Touch Smart Programmable Wi-Fi Thermostat Check Price
Artificial intelligence (AI) and home smart thermostat
A learning home smart thermostat does away with schedule programming. It utilizes AI to learn from manual inputs by the user in the form of temperature adjustments for the home at different times of the day.
The use of these adjustments and changes in temperature is then developed into a working schedule. This aims to make life easier for the user by saving all the hassle of constantly programming or adjusting a thermostat schedule.
As time goes on, the thermostat will carry on learning and making new schedule programs from further manual inputs, but they can still be overridden when desired
A smart home thermostat is a clever piece of kit that uses artificial intelligence (AI) technology to learn about your preferences for your home environment and then automatically sequences climate control parameters to suit, delivering optimal comfort and temperature control.
A home smart thermostat is a device used to maintain the optimum temperature within an environment. It is used in places where the temperature of the environment tends to fluctuate, such as in an energy-efficient home or computer data centre.
Modern thermostats can sense the temperature of an environment and adjust heating or cooling to achieve a desired temperature. Home heating energy consumption can be reduced using a setback thermostat, as the lower the temperature within a home, the slower the rate of heat loss to the outside environment.
It is important not to turn off the heating, as in colder environments, this can cause dampness problems and damage the building. In the USA, a common setback temperature is around 8 hours each night when sleeping and also during the day when the house is unoccupied.
Smart thermostats learn your home’s climate, usage patterns, and occupancy to manage heating and cooling. More on smart thermostats Read
“Why Is It Really Warm In The Corner Of The Room Where The Smart Thermostat Is? Because corners are always 90 degrees… don’t blame the thermostat!”
Credit: CoolDude
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