Best smart thermostat


Independent climate control is one of the most important features of a smart home, especially in places with a frequent and abrupt change in weather conditions. The health and comfort of those who live there depend on the microclimate in the house. By choosing the best smart thermostat, you can dramatically improve your home environment.

Thermostat varieties

All thermostats are divided into types: by installation method, by functionality, and technical parameters.

By the installation method, there are wired and wireless thermostats. In terms of their functionality, they are simple (hold the required temperature) and programmable (for example, with an ability to set the desired mode for a certain period).

According to technical performance, thermostats can be electronic, electromechanical, mechanical. The best smart home system uses only electronic ones, which are based on three main elements: a temperature sensor, a signal transmitter, and a thermal relay.

Main features

Smart thermostats not only control the heating and cooling of your home. These smart app-enabled devices let you adjust the thermostat from your phone when you’re in bed, at the grocery store, or on vacation — wherever your phone or mobile device is connected to Wi-Fi or mobile service. Many smart thermostats now also work with Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri, giving you another way to change settings with remote access to smart home systems.

In addition, there are other benefits of smart thermostats:

  • Comfort. The ability to adjust and control the temperature in each room separately.
  • Convenience. The ability to control heating online, through any device with internet access.
  • A smart thermostat is able to learn and adapt to the preferences of the homeowner and his daily routine.
  • Savings. A smart thermostat allows saving money on heat consumption. The device monitors whether there is anyone in the room and, depending on this, assesses the need for heating or cooling.
  • The versatility of the device. There are models that are compatible with 95 % of all existing heating systems, including the centralized heating system.

Thanks to the use of this best helpful smart thermostat in your house, you can track the data on energy consumption, taking into account changes in weather conditions, as well as the presence of residents in the house.

How to choose the best thermostat for your home?

For the device to delight you for a long time, you should consider the following characteristics.

  1. Purpose. Many smart thermostats on the market today can work with different devices. Some of them are designed to work with electric heating devices, others — only with air conditioners. There are also models that can regulate the operation of autonomous boiler equipment. Universal devices are able to control the operation of any electric heating device, up to a kettle.
  2. Construction. There are stationary and mobile thermostats. The first are connected directly to the mains supplying the electrical appliance. It is better to install them on household appliances that cannot be transferred from place to place: air conditioners, boiler equipment control units. Mobile devices are plugged into an outlet, acting as an adapter. They are used in conjunction with portable devices — fans, heaters, kettles, coffee makers.
  3. A set of functions. It is the most important component of any highly intelligent device. Here, pay special attention to the possibility of connecting additional sensors to the thermostat, establishing remote communication with it, the number and complexity of the operating scenarios that it supports.
  4. Cost. The price of the device depends on its functionality. Before buying, you should carefully assess whether you are ready to pay for some additional features of the thermostat, or you can completely do without them, choosing from the best cheap options.
  5. Manufacturer. When buying a smart thermostat, give preference to the companies that have proven themselves in the smart equipment market.

Best smart thermostats

These devices are among the most popular smart home technologies. We bring you a list of the top gadgets that have received the most positive reviews from users and experts.

Nest Learning 3rd generation

Finding external differences between the Nest Learning Thermostat and other models is quite difficult. By design, the device differs only in larger display sizes and installed thermal sensors that detect movements even at a distance.

The main feature of the device is a new design technology that helps to study the behavior of the owner and adjust the temperature according to his needs. Thanks to the network platform, you can integrate Nest into various intelligent home systems. Thanks to the Nest API system, the thermostat is easily connected to gadgets from other manufacturers. Thanks to the integration of Google Home and Amazon Echo, you can also control it using voice commands.

The design and size of the third-generation model have remained virtually unchanged. The device looks like a black stainless steel ring. Its diameter is 8.4 cm and its thickness is 3.2 cm. The thermostat fits easily in your hand. The display of the new model is 40 % larger. Its resolution is increased to 480 * 480 pixels (for the second generation thermostat, it was 320 * 320). The display is much thinner, which allows better viewing of information on the screen, even at a distance.

There are many new features in the 3rd generation Nest thermostat:

  • Auto-schedule, where the device learns the preferred temperature. After that, it is configured automatically using the received data.
  • Auto-away mode, where the device is able to detect when the user leaves the house and turn off the air conditioning or heating. Don’t worry about anything and calmly go make money if you have Nest.
  • Thanks to the built-in Furnace Heads-Up function, the owner is immediately aware of malfunctions in the heating system.
  • The third-generation Nest thermostat is the only one among its analogs that has an Early Detection option: the device detects the appearance of a person in the room and turns on the screen, showing the temperature and time readings.

Information can be displayed both in text format and in the form of indicators.

You can control the gadget can in several ways:

  • manually;
  • using the web interface;
  • via the application on the phone. The program is supported on Android and IOS.

Honeywell Lyric T5

It is the best of the budget smart thermostat. Neat and simple in appearance, it looks like a mixture of older square models with popular modern Nest. The thermostat can be controlled either through a touchscreen or via the free Honeywell Lyric smartphone app with a built-in geo lens, so the system automatically knows what to turn on and off based on how close you are to home.

To install Honeywell Lyric T5, use the professional service, since the supplied unit, which is connected to your boiler, must be connected directly to the network. However, after installation and initial setup, the system is very easy to use. Though, there are some limitations. The geolocation function and the programmable modes for heating settings cannot be used at the same time.

There is also a nice side to this feature: Lyric’s Optimized Start Mode automatically turns on heating a little earlier, so your home is already at a comfortable temperature by the time you wake up.

ECOBEE4

It is the best smart thermostat for multiple home zones. The device works for Alexa and Google Home Assistant. So, you can easily voice your instructions for heating settings to the nearest voice assistant, if one is at hand. This model also interacts without any problems with other smart home devices. Apart from this, the thermostat is also capable of measuring temperatures at various points in your home. Even though you only get one sensor per unit, you can easily add up to 32 more, which is convenient in larger dwellings. However, it lacks intelligent learning, which implies more manual control.

As you would expect from any the best and modern smart thermostat, everything here is also easily controlled by companion apps for Android or iOS. Keep in mind that built-in support for popular voice assistants expands the boundaries of your thermostat experience, opening up thousands of features that go beyond smart heating.

Mysa for In-Floor

It is the best and hi-tech smart thermostat for underfloor heating. The model works with the big three ecosystems: Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple HomeKit. There is also support for SmartThhings and IFTTT.

As with many HomeKit-integrated devices, the new thermostat has scheduling, geolocation, zone control, energy reporting, sharing, and vacation mode. The thermostat is connected to the network via Wi-Fi at a frequency of 2.4 GHz, has a maximum load power of 3.8 kW at a voltage of 120-240V AC. The maximum supported current is 16 amperes.

Plus, it has built-in temperature, humidity, lighting, and proximity sensors. They are visible on the front panel as two black dots.

The device is equipped with a touchscreen display. There are also a couple of physical buttons on the case, which are needed for the GFCI test mode (circuit protection in case of ground open) and for resetting the device.

Of course, it is very convenient when you can control the temperature at home from a smartphone, computer, or tablet. However, another major benefit of smart thermostats is that they save money. Choose the best rated smart gadgets and enjoy comfort.


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