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According to research, cooling and heating take up to 50 percent of a home’s energy use at an average annual cost of around $900. Interestingly, studies show that installing the best smart thermostat can help to reduce the energy bills by about $100 per year.
Therefore, you’ll get a return on investment in just 1 or 2 years, making it one of the most cost-effective energy-saving home improvement upgrades you’ll ever make. At the same, smart thermostats help to minimize your carbon footprint and provide many other benefits of upgrading your home thermostats.
In addition, these app-enabled devices are equipped with many unique features to help you control your home’s cooling and heating with ease. Best of all, they’re compatible with various smart devices, allowing you to control your home’s indoor temperatures from anywhere!
Unfortunately, with so many devices on offer, choosing the best smart thermostat for your home isn’t an easy task. For that reason, I’ve taken the liberty of reviewing some of the best options out there to help make a smart decision.
Let’s get started!
5 Best Smart Thermostat Reviews
1. Mysa Smart Thermostat
Whichever version you choose, these Mysa thermostats will increase your home’s energy efficiency and reduce your energy bill by up to 26%.
In terms of appearance, this device features a sleek and elegant design. Plus it’s compatible with various smart home devices such as Google Assistant, Apple Homekit, and Amazon Alexa. Better yet, it’s quite simple to install seeing that you can get it up and running in just 15 minutes.
After installation, you can conveniently control this device from its attractive illuminated display through the touch-sensitive buttons. Also, you can easily set up a schedule on the smartphone app or use its extensive smart home integration to adjust your home temperature.
Other notable features offered by the thermostat include; remote control, geofencing, shared access, and zoning. All these features help to save energy and heat your home efficiently while keeping the indoor climate comfortable!
Benefits
- DIY installation
- Sleek, attractive design
- Smart functionality
- Compatible with various smart home devices
- Ideal for electric baseboards
- Allows you to schedule temperature settings and control the indoor temperature from anywhere
Drawbacks
- Doesn’t control cooling equipment
- Not compatible with central HVAC systems
2. EcoBee3 Lite Smart Thermostat
The most unique feature of this sleek device is that it allows for voice control. To be precise, it comes with an integrated Alexa speaker, allowing you to control your home’s cooling & heating system with your voice. Interestingly, it also works with Spotify, Apple HomeKit, and Google Assistant.
Moving on, you’ll also note that this device is Wi-Fi enabled, allowing you to control it from your mobile device. Best of all, you can integrate it with various smart home systems and use it to control accessories such as dehumidifiers and humidifiers.
On the downside, this thermostat can only detect the temperature of one room which can lead to cold or hot areas in your home. To solve this issue, the device comes with a smart sensor that monitors the temperature of any room of your choice. Although the device only comes with one sensor, you can add up to 32 sensors throughout your house to ensure optimal cooling and heating.
Lastly, Ecobee3 smart thermostat is equipped with various incredible features such as geofencing and energy consumption tracking. That way, it can easily detect when you aren’t at home and adjust the indoor temperature accordingly.
Benefits
- Sleek, versatile design
- Comes with a remote sensor
- Works with various smart home systems
- Easy to control through its touchscreen, mobile app, or Amazon Alexa voice control
Drawbacks
- A bit pricey
3. Emerson Sensi Touch Smart Thermostat
On top of that, this device is Wi-Fi enabled, allowing you to control it from your smartphone using the companion Sensi app. Even better, it uses geofencing and flexible scheduling to create an energy-efficient schedule that will match your daily needs.
The other benefit of using this smart thermostat is that it’s compatible with most HVAC systems. Moreover, it monitors humidity and sends an alert to your phone via the app if the humidity level rises above the preset range.
At the same time, it monitors cooling and heating patterns to create energy usage reports that will help make energy-saving changes. Specifically, this device will help you save your HVAC energy by about 23%.
Benefits
- Smart design
- Controllable via smartphone and touch screen
- Humidity monitoring & alerts
- Integrates with smart-home systems
Drawbacks
- Difficult to install with heat pump
4. Google Nest Learning Thermostat
That aside, this device is quite simple to install and it’s compatible with most HVAC systems. It works with 95 percent of 24V HVAC systems including heat pumps, solar, electric, gas, radiant, and forced air systems.
In terms of appearance, this device is beautifully designed and features a futuristic look and innovative design. Plus, it’s available in various colors and its screen also acts as a weather/ time clock. To be precise, it comes in 7 finishes, making it easy to choose an option that will work with your home decor.
Lastly, you can pair this device with a Nest temperature sensor, especially if you’ve got a room in your home that runs hotter or cooler than the rest. This will ensure that every room within your house has a comfortable temperature.
Benefits
- Easy-to-read display screen
- Learns repeated temperature adjustments
- Compatible with Google Assistant & Alexa
- Includes geofencing to minimize energy waste
- Sleek, modern design
Drawbacks
- Higher price tag
- Doesn’t comes with the Nest temperature sensor
5. Honeywell Home T9 Smart Thermostat
To start, this device uses remote sensors to measure the temperature and determine if there is anyone present in the house. After that, it will adjust your HVAC system accordingly to ensure that all rooms are comfortable.
Another interesting feature about this rectangular thermostat is that it comes with a 3.5” color touchscreen display. This gives it a more modern appearance while allowing it to broadly show the current room temperature.
As for integration, this thermostat works with various smart home systems such as Amazon Alexa, Samsung smart things, Vera and Google Home. In addition, it has a geofencing feature that allows it to adjust the temperature accordingly when you are nearing home.
Apart from temperature, this device has an exceptional ability to monitor relative humidity, and motion, making it one of the smartest sensor accessories available. Better yet, it provides reliable performance as well as a solid mobile app. Moreover, it’s easy to install as it comes with installation instructions. However, you’ll need an installed C-wire and a home Wi-Fi network.
Benefits
- The geofencing feature allows it to know when you come & leave
- Expandable sensors
- Compatible with various smart home systems
- Easy to set up
- Can be controlled by smartphone or voice control
Drawbacks
- Doesn’t work without a Wi-Fi network or C-wire
- Sensors aren’t included
Buying Guide: Things to consider when buying the best Smart Thermostat
All smart thermostats I’ve listed in this guide have the same objective; helping you save money on your energy bills. However, they can do more than just control your home temperature. As a result, there are several factors you need to consider before you settle on a particular model. Some of these factors are;
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C-wire requirement
When you remove the old thermostat from the wall, you will see a few wires that play different roles in your HVAC system. One of these wires is the C-wire (common wire) that supplies power to the thermostat.
A C-wire usually runs from a 24V (low voltage) heating system to provide continuous power to a smart thermostat. Luckily, most newer HVAC systems have C-wires that are compatible with smart thermostats. However, if your HVAC system doesn’t have a C-wire in place, look for a device that doesn’t need a C-wire to work.
Some smart thermostat models such as Honeywell and EcoBee require a C-wire installation to work. However, other brands like Nest don’t rely on C-wire installation to work.
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House size
If you’ve got a large house, the smart thermostat may struggle to determine the ideal temperature of certain rooms. In that case, you should consider investing in a smart thermostat model that supports or comes with a wireless sensor for more precise control. That way, you can put the sensor in the rooms you need better climate control and link them to your thermostat.
More importantly, this will prevent the thermostat from wasting energy on controlling temperature for rooms that are not frequently used. Even better, these sensors detect motions, allowing the system to return to ‘at-home’ settings when someone is in the room, instead of relying on a connected device for geofencing.
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Installation
Before you select a particular model, consider its installation process to determine whether you can do it yourself or you’ve to look for professional help. On the bright side, most smart thermostats I’ve included above are easy to install and require few tools. In fact, you can install them in about 30 – 45 minutes, unless you’ve got a complex HVAC system. Besides, you can learn how to install a thermostat or follow using the included step-by-step instructions to eliminate guesswork.
However, if your HVAC system has many components controlled by the thermostat, you may want to consider looking for professional help to avoid causing any damage.
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Power Compatibility
Lastly, check the voltage of your HVAC system to determine if it’s compatible with the smart thermostat model you intend to buy. In that regard, most thermostats are compatible with 24, 110, or 240-V systems.
If your home uses a high-voltage heater like radiant, baseboard, or forced fan convector, choose a thermostat model like Mysa that is designed to work with such HVAC systems. But if you’ve got a low voltage system, look for low-voltage thermostats like Nest and Ecobee.
Final Words
If you don’t already have a smart thermostat in your home, there are several benefits you may be missing out on. For instance, some of these devices are compatible with smart-home systems and provide regular weather reports. Best of all, they’re a great way to improve your home decor. Not to forget that they’ll help you achieve significant energy savings by improving your HVAC system’s energy efficiency.