The installation or upgrade of a smart thermostat will increase the comfort levels in your home, as well as the household's budget. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that nearly half of a home's utility bills come from heating and cooling. When you are at home, a programmable thermostat makes the system more efficient by turning it on and off when you're not around. Unlike relying on a simple schedule, smart thermostats go far beyond that. Even when you're away from home, you'll have full control over your HVAC system and a variety of schedules for every day of the week. Based on our testing and evaluation, you can count on us to help you find the right smart thermostat for your home.
You don't even need to stay together to control your home's temperature with the best smart home hub. From your smartphone, you can control the temperature of individual rooms via the internet. As part of your smart home, smart thermostats can also work together to create an automated haven for you and your family.
You need to consider the two types of smart thermostats we mentioned above: thermostats that control the entire heating or cooling system or thermostats that allow you to customize the temperature for each room of your house individually. It is likely that the last type carries a higher price and typically requires additional devices, such as smart radiator valves or cooling vents, in order to be more effective.
Your home's climate can be managed easier with the right smart thermostat, no matter which you choose. You can control the temperature with just your voice by using the best smart speakers and displays. Voice assistants are even built into some models, so you don't need to have an existing speaker installed.
Moreover, smart thermostats are designed to work with everything from smart lights and lamps to smart plugs and switches, bringing the home to a cozy place. As a smart thermostat protects you from accidentally leaving the heating on full blast when nobody is around, switching to a smart thermostat can also save you money.
Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium for Smart Home Hub
Pros
- Industrial design of the highest quality
- Smart home ecosystems that are compatible with a wide range of technologies
- App and device have outstanding user interfaces
- Temperature/motion sensors can also be remotely monitored using radar-based motion detection
- Installation and configuration are extremely simple
Cons
- Apple HomePod or HomePod mini is required for Siri support
- Your HVAC system's fan won't circulate air if your air quality sensor detects an abnormality
- It's expensive
The Nest thermostat usually gets the bulk of attention and deserves credit for shaking up a sleepy market. However, Ecobee's latest thermostat is the most intelligent one you can find today. Despite being a best-in-class device, the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium is everything a smart home device should be: A stunning device on its own but also compatible with all other modern smart home platforms. Ecobee's air quality sensor isn't able to reset the ventilation fan on your HVAC system, and it's a bummer that you also need to have an Apple HomePod or HomePod mini to use it as a Siri smart speaker (Alexa is another option), but that's about the only complaint we can find.
Nest Learning Thermostat for Smart Home Hub
Pros
- Learn by yourself
- Control heating in accordance with your location automatically
- It is very well designed.
Cons
Our second pick for the best smart thermostat for smart homes is the Nest Learning Thermostat, which comes with the right balance between style and efficiency. Over time, your heating system will actually adapt to your lifestyle without you having to do anything. Just by learning your routine, it will be able to adjust itself accordingly, so you can eventually adjust it as per your schedule.
It also comes with location-based features that allow you to turn on or off the heating according to where your phone is. Despite this, don't worry; there are built-in sensors that detect whether anyone is home or not, so you won't have to pay for your heating when you're away.
Nest Learning Thermostats have been criticized for their lack of zonal control, among other things. The heating system can be controlled throughout the property, but individual radiators must still be adjusted manually.
FAQs regarding smart thermostats for the smart home hub
Do smart thermostats require a lot of installation?
Installing a thermostat should not be too difficult, even if you don't have much experience in this area. To assist you in using the product, the manufacturer should provide simple yet comprehensive instructions with plenty of photographs and illustrations to guide you on how to do it. The thermostat itself should clearly indicate which wires go where, and most companies provide labels that you can attach to the wires coming out of the wall as you disconnect and remove your old model. The wires themselves should be color-coded, but a good practice is to photograph your old thermostat for reference before you take it down.
Can I use a smart thermostat without a C wire?
Smart thermostats typically require more electrical power than a set of batteries can provide. Fortunately, they don’t require so much power that they need to be plugged into the wall. In place of a generator, they are powered by low-voltage power supplied by your HVAC system. Many smart thermostats require the presence of a dedicated C common wire for this purpose, while others can siphon electricity from another source, typically the R (power) wire. Nonetheless, some HVAC systems may suffer permanent damage as a result of the latter practice.
If you pull out your existing thermostat to install a smart model and find no C wire connected to it, look inside the wall to see if there’s one that hasn’t been connected. If there’s no C wire, our advice is to have one installed. Some smart thermostats–including our top pick, the Ecobee Premium, come with power adapter kits that can be installed if you don’t have a C wire and don’t want to pay to have one installed.
Does a smart thermostat support a multi-zone HVAC system?
You will install smart thermostats in each of your existing zones, so the answer is yes. Here’s a longer explanation if you’re unsure what a multi-zone HVAC system is. If you have a larger home, your HVAC contractor might have installed a zoned system that lets you set a temperature target for different rooms or different levels instead of heating or cooling your entire home to a single target temperature. In this case, you’ll have multiple thermostats, one for each zone that connects to a central control panel. The control panel opens or closes the dampers in each zone as needed to bring that zone to your preferred temperature. You’ll program the entire system using a single app.
Heat and air conditioning systems that offer multiple stages are better, meaning they can be operated in steps, compared to simply switching between on and off. If the ambient temperature is already close to the desired temperature, the system may not need to ramp its full power to reach you. For instance, a two-stage system might have a low and a high setting, while a three-stage system might have low, medium, and high settings. As the temperature approaches your desired level, the system can switch to a lower-power setting when the ambient temperature is far from it. Therefore, the efficiency of multi-stage HVAC systems is higher than that of single-stage HVAC systems. There are virtually no single-stage HVAC systems not supported by most modern smart thermostats.
Can smart thermostats control heat pumps?
We have reviewed smart thermostats that have been selected for use with air conditioners. Air conditioners are appliances that redistribute warm and cold air. In heat mode, it draws warmth from the air outside your home and releases it inside a ground-source heat pump that absorbs heat from the ground. By not using fossil fuels, such as natural gas, this method of heating is environmentally friendly. The heat pump expels heat from the interior of your home to the outside when it is in cooling mode. While they can be used in conjunction with a conventional furnace when outdoor temperatures become very low, these appliances are best suited to milder climates without freezing temperatures.
Is it possible to use a smart thermostat with portable and window air conditioners?
Some smart thermostats can control portable air conditioners that vent out of a window and air conditioners that sit on your window sill. Most smart thermostats are designed for central air conditioners, but some can control portable air conditioners which sit on your window sill and have casters to move them forward. Remote control is usually required for these types of thermostats, as most modern air conditioners do. Among our top picks, we recommend the Sensibo Air.
When it comes to high-voltage heaters, do smart thermostats work?
Most smart thermostats are designed to work with central HVAC systems. Suppose your home is heated by high-voltage heaters (baseboard, radiant, or fan-forced convection, for example). In that case, you’ll need a thermostat that’s specifically designed to work with that type of heater. The Mysa Smart Thermostat is our top pick if you’re looking for a smart thermostat for a high-voltage heating system.
Conclusion
Smart heating systems vary based on the type of smart home hub you own, the manner in which you use them, and the amount of money you will be willing to spend to save you money over the long term. Every house has ways to make it more comfortable and efficient. Each house will have its own best method. It is essential to decide how smart your heating system is - or how much you want it to be - before you make it.
Smart thermostats usually occupy the most-used room or the hallway, then moderate the entire house's temperature according to that room. The result is probably more cost-effective if you live in a smaller house with a lot of rooms in use regularly. The radiators can always be turned off if you do not need to heat a room unnecessarily or if you want to do so.
