If you’re not ready to make your entire house smart, a smart thermostat is a great place to start. But how do you know which smart thermostat is right for you? They are designed to learn your habits, such as what temperature you prefer in different seasons and when you are at home or away, and then adjust to them. When you’re at work or on vacation, the thermostat knows it’s time to save energy. Before you arrive home from work, it adjusts to your desired temperature. They not only offer the perks of home automation, but they also help you save money on your energy bill and reduce your carbon footprint. Why not save the earth while also enjoy life in your home a little bit more?
There are quite a few smart thermostats on the market already, which goes to show just how popular and in demand they are. Of the many available, there are a few that stand out from the rest in terms of brand power and capabilities. Let’s look at three, top-of-the-line smart thermostats:
The OG Smart Thermostat
Nest has been creating smart thermostats since 2011 and has recently released its newest generation. The third generation is the best looking, the thinnest, and the sleekest, with a bigger and sharper display. One of the new features is what Nest calls Farsight. Whenever you walk into the room, Farsight lights up so you can see the temperature you set or the time from across the room, depending on your preference. They also added additional temperature sensors so the thermostat is more accurate and smarter at understanding how your home naturally heats and cools so it can adjust accordingly. With these additional sensors and improved technology, Nest just might be the smartest thermostat in terms of understanding your home’s heating and cooling tendencies and your preferences.
The Good Looking Smart Thermostat
The ecobee3 Smarter Wi-Fi Thermostat with Remote Sensor might just be the best looking smart thermostat on the market right now. But perhaps its greatest feature is within its tagline: “For homes with more than one room.” The idea is that your home has multiple rooms, each with its own temperature. Some rooms tend to stay warm, perhaps due to windows, while others are chilly. Your standard thermostat reads the temperature of one room and adjusts to that, resulting in uneven room temperatures. ecobee3’s remote sensors deliver the perfect temperature to the rooms that need it. You can have up to 32 sensors connected, so even the largest homes can use the ecobee3 thermostat. What I love about ecobee3 is its combination of good looks and hard-working smart features.
The Easy-to-Use Smart Thermostat
The Honeywell Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat is all about keeping things simple. Keeping this in mind, the Honeywell thermostat accomplishes three main tasks: allows you to remotely control the temperature, monitors humidity levels and other criteria affecting your home’s atmosphere, and learns your energy use habits and adapts to them.
The navigation is so intuitive and easy to follow, your grandparents would be able to figure it out. The best way to make its navigation simple is to spend some time configuring the thermostat. Customize the names of each thermostat and room to easily distinguish among them. Then, you can select what thermostat you want to adjust and you can see its current status, such as the temperature and humidity level. I love that the Honeywell thermostat is a great option for both home automation novices and experts.
Photo by: Green Energy Futures – David Dodge
