Saving money and energy are one of the driving thoughts of living in your home. Smart thermostats help you control your energy usage by learning your habits or by allowing you to remotely control how they work. It's worth having at least one in your home and we have a solid list of choices to help you make the right decision.
The Ecobee Smart Thermostat is for anyone who wants to control their home environment using a voice assistant. With the Alexa-enabled Ecobee Smart Thermostat, you get all the magic of the HomeKit plus built-in Alexa voice control. Even better, thanks to the built-in speaker and microphone setup, Alexa is just as powerful on the Ecobee Smart Thermostat as it is on Amazon's Echo products.
Ask Alexa to set a timer, adjust the lighting, give you the steps to a recipe, play some jazz. You can do it all right from your smart thermostat. You can also, of course, use Alexa to adjust the temperature in your home, but that's just one tiny detail. It comes with embedded microphones that feature far-field voice recognition (the same technology that makes the Amazon Echo hear you from across the room) and a speaker that makes Alexa sound loud and clear, despite coming from a thermostat fastened to your wall.
With HomeKit compatibility, you get full support for Siri control, including the ability to change temperature with your voice and trigger more complex actions with scenes, using your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch. This device also supports IFTTT, Samsung SmartThings, Alexa, Google Assistant, and many more integrations.
The Ecobee 3 Lite is more or less an Ecobee Smart Thermostat without the room sensors. It has all the same great features, including HomeKit compatibility and Siri control; it's just constrained to the area where you install the main unit out of the box. However, you can buy remote sensors separately to see the temperature in other areas of your home if you choose to expand later.
The main differences between it and the Ecobee 4 are the lack of an integrated Amazon Alexa speaker, room sensor, and occupancy detection. The Ecobee 3 Lite is also slightly smaller than the newer model but isn't compatible with as many heating/cooling systems.
The Nest Learning Thermostat remains a popular choice even though it's not one of the newest smart thermostats on the block. With a HAL-like dial that still looks futuristic, the Nest device is largely simple to use and works great with the Nest app for iOS. It also supports the Works with Nest program, which provides integrations with dozens of other smart home products, including home security systems, cameras, locks, and more.
By definition, the Nest Learning Thermostat takes the temperatures that you like, then builds a schedule that it believes will suit you. In doing so, you'll be more comfortable in your home while also saving on heating and cooling bills. As part of its learning, the thermostat also adapts to the changing seasons in your area.
The Nest Thermostat E, like its more expensive sibling, learns as you use it, creating an automatic schedule for heating and cooling. It also works with voice assistants and features most of the same sensors as the Nest Learning Thermostat. Of course, it is missing the metal casing and color options, that Nest is famous for. However, the real downside is that it doesn't work with quite as many HVAC systems as the Learning Thermostat, sporting 85% compatibility.
Emerson's Sensi Touch thermostat features a large widescreen touch display making it easy to make adjustments on the device itself. Speaking of changes, the Sensi Touch has quick access shortcuts to standard features such as turning on just house fan, directly from the home screen.
This thermostat also includes a backlight option that lights the area around it at night, preventing it from lighting up your room with a huge display. This backlight is also handy for the installation process, as it lights up the wiring terminals, giving you a better look at where your wires are going.
Stay cool, or hot; it's your choice.
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We now have two smart thermostats in our house and have seen a significant saving on our energy bills. Having the control that a smart thermostat gives you, coupled with the intelligent energy savings that are built-in, makes a smart thermostat a smart choice for any home.
For most people, the Ecobee Smart Thermostat is the best around. This thermostat is fully featured and caters to folks who are all-in on Apple or those who prefer Alexa control. Over time, expand your Ecobee Smart Thermostat's footprint by adding additional room sensors. Ultimately, your decision should come down to how much you want to control the temperature in your home and where.