I have an opportunity to get a $100 rebate from my power company (no contract or thermostat access needed) and I’m wondering what people like to use. My options are Google Nest Thermostat, Ecobee 3 lite, and Sensi Smart thermostat. They also have the upgraded versions of those but that will start being money out of my pocket that I would like to avoid if possible. For context, I work from home most of the time and my partner doesn’t have a consistent work schedule so I don’t think the learning thermostats would really change anything. I also don’t have individual room control. Thanks in advance!
Just check: some energy companies have a clause in the ‘free smart thermostat’ program that lets the energy company change temp settings to assist with peak demands.
Jeffrey said:
Just check: some energy companies have a clause in the ‘free smart thermostat’ program that lets the energy company change temp settings to assist with peak demands.
Yeah, I’ve looked through. I can enroll if I would like but I just get a credit at the end of the year if I let them. Otherwise, I will always have full control and will simply waive the credit
Jeffrey said:
Just check: some energy companies have a clause in the ‘free smart thermostat’ program that lets the energy company change temp settings to assist with peak demands.
When it’s 90 out and the power company limits your AC…
Depends on your ecosystem. I love my Ecobee, I use HomeKit to link it to home assistant.
Carly said:
Depends on your ecosystem. I love my Ecobee, I use HomeKit to link it to home assistant.
Do you have multiple zones? And do you need separate smart thermostats for each zone?
@Tanner
I only have one zone and for the most part and from my understanding you need a thermostat for each zone.
Carly said:
Depends on your ecosystem. I love my Ecobee, I use HomeKit to link it to home assistant.
I’ve got a Google home currently. But just a mini. Been debating on switching to Alexa possibly
@Daisy
Both Ecobee and Nest will work well for you. Personally I’ve got an Ecobee and I’m happy with it.
irmah said:
@AnnaAnalytics
Which Honeywell do you have?
We have a split system in our house. The upstairs and downstairs are both controlled by Honeywell T9 thermostats. No complaints with function or connectivity.
@AnnaAnalytics
The app is really, really bad. And they started putting popup ads in it.
I really like the Sensi. Have one at my house & installed 6 at my church. Scheduling is great. Remote access with app is great. And physical buttons. Does require a C-wire to keep Wi-Fi active and not eat through batteries. But then I believe they all will require that. If you don’t have a C-wire but have a spare wire in the thermostat cable, it’s simple to hook up. Otherwise, you will need to run a new cable.
Paralax said:
Nest. Never any issues.
Unless your Google account is a workspace account… in which case it won’t work with Nest.
We’ve got a pair of Ecobees, one here, one there. Very handy for managing the cottage.
Honestly, I love my Sensi. It’s simple, it’s smart, and there are still physical buttons. I can lock it so no one else can mess with it. It’s a thermostat and it does what a thermostat needs to do. But really, the physical buttons on the thing are what does it for me. I love mechanical things.
I have Nest but had to replace my first one through Google since that model had a problem. The one I currently use works well. I would’ve gone with Ecobee, but my sister gave me the Nest thermostat for free.
I like my Ecobees, and have been impressed with their support.
I’ve been using Ecobee since 2018 and really liked it, just moved to a two-story house and added the Smart Thermostat Premium. Linked through SmartThings, the energy-saving functions have kept my usage down.
I love my Ecobee. I think Nests try to be too pretty for their own good and thus have a confusing UX if you’re not used to it. Anyone can immediately see how to adjust the temp on the Ecobee and I just find it more elegant. Plus for some bizarre reason the thermostat itself functions as a smart speaker. So you can tell Alexa to play music over your thermostat.
@Scarlett
Plus for some bizarre reason the thermostat itself functions as a smart speaker. So you can tell Alexa to play music over your thermostat. Lol! This is only on their premium model, as far as I’m aware. I have 2 Ecobee enhanced models that don’t double as a smart speaker. Which is kinda silly here, because we are very much an Alexa house. 10 devices and all smart functions are through her. But with that many devices I certainly didn’t need the thermostats to double as smart speakers. So I went with the enhanced which was on sale for about $110 less at the time. Which also means I don’t get the air quality feature either, but I also have 4 HEPA purifiers throughout the house so I’m not too worried about that. OP, I highly recommend the Ecobee! It’s still very new for me, less than a month, so I haven’t seen the savings it might generate. But all the data you get and control you have with Ecobee absolutely blows my previous smart thermostats away (which were alarmdotcom tstats. Do not recommend). And with Ecobee you can create a free account with beestats.io for even more information, graphs, charts, suggestions, etc. (Highly recommend). I’ve learned so much about my HVAC system and my house’s energy health. I’m getting an energy audit in January to see where improvements can be done on that front but Ecobee led me to that decision. It also integrates very well with my ring alarm system and Alexa. Which won’t matter to you if you don’t have one but it does integrate well with other smart home systems too.