OT- Smart Thermostats

[Seinfeld]

Anyone have any experience with these? I was just about ready to grab one the other day, but then after reading a little about them, I quickly found that I’m going to need one of the more expensive ones since we have a heat pump and multi-stage system.

Looking at current Nest, Ecobee, and Honeywell prices, that’s around $250-300 which seems a little sporty for a damn thermostat. I don’t think my power company is offering any kind of rebate, so I’m wondering if this thing will really save me on utility bills. Any of y’all used one recently?

 

[JML105]

I've had this Sensi Thermostat for about a year and it has been great.

 

[turkish]

I have 2 ecobees. I like them. I did not care for the “learning” aspects of other brands. I want to be able to tell it what to do and have it tell me how to be more efficient. I’d say I use mine as a “highly programmable” thermostat, more than as a “smart” thermostat. Is it saving me money? Idk.

 

[Faustdog]

I have the Nest and like it because it works with the rest of the stuff in my house using the Google ecosystem of smart home devices. It's extremely user friendly. Does it save money? Probably, but it probably takes a long, long time to justify that $250 or however much I paid for it.

There is pretty much always someone at my house. If we had a schedule where we were gone at regular times it would probably save us more money. It does recognize when no one is there for a couple of hours though and adjusts accordingly.

 

[dorndawg]

I have 2 ecobees. I like them. I did not care for the “learning” aspects of other brands. I want to be able to tell it what to do and have it tell me how to be more efficient. I’d say I use mine as a “highly programmable” thermostat, more than as a “smart” thermostat. Is it saving me money? Idk.

I have a Nest and use it like this. I guess it is nice if you're laying in bed and get hot to be able to not get up to cut down the a/c. And like if you cut it up while out of town, to adjust the temp before you get home.

 

[aTotal360]

I have Nests and I think they do what they are suppose to. They slightly lower your bill. IMO, it will take about 3 years to break even because of the startup cost.

I now want to switch to an Ecobee because of their smart sensor. This allows you to move the thermometer to any part of your home. Example...my downstairs thermostat is on the wall next to my garage. Inevitably this wall is always a little hotter or colder than my interior walls. This means I'm not getting a true reading of the inside of my home. I could theoretically put one of their sensors on an interior wall where the temp is more representative of the actual temp.

 

[Faustdog]

...I could theoretically put one of their sensors on an interior wall where the temp is more representative of the actual temp.

I bought this and like it. We selfishly put it in our bedroom and have it set to adjust according to that temperature at night. Kids can get a little hot.

 

[aTotal360]

I selfishly want to do the exact damn thing.

 

[fedxdog]

We have 4 Ecobee 3 Lite devices at 2 places. Got talked out of Nest by HVAC owner who had troubles w/Nest.
Ecobee easy to setup and use. Easy to use with mobile app.
$169 at Lowe’s. Their website should tell you if there’s a rebate in your area.
Not difficult to install.

 

[turkish]

I have Nests and I think they do what they are suppose to. They slightly lower your bill. IMO, it will take about 3 years to break even because of the startup cost.

I now want to switch to an Ecobee because of their smart sensor. This allows you to move the thermometer to any part of your home. Example...my downstairs thermostat is on the wall next to my garage. Inevitably this wall is always a little hotter or colder than my interior walls. This means I'm not getting a true reading of the inside of my home. I could theoretically put one of their sensors on an interior wall where the temp is more representative of the actual temp.

Yep, yep. Forgot all about the remote sensors. That was a major factor in deciding which to buy for me. That was another huge plus for us. Our thermostat is in a hallway, near the attic ladder. It does not sense the same temp as in our bedrooms. We programmed it to keep our newborn’s room at the desired temp and put a sensor in there.

ETA... we have a heat pump with aux coil heater. The programmability of that setup is nice. Also, if you geek out on data, ecobee let’s you view and download all kinds performance data on your system.

 

[Bulldog Bruce]

I have a heat pump and a Honeywell. It is not the "smart" version just programmable and does have a phone app. It saves us a good amount since both of us work and at night I have a window unit in the bedroom so I can turn the house up all night. The honeywell for heat pumps runs under $150.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

I have Sensis as well. No complaints

 

[ronpolk]

Anyone have any experience with these? I was just about ready to grab one the other day, but then after reading a little about them, I quickly found that I’m going to need one of the more expensive ones since we have a heat pump and multi-stage system.

Looking at current Nest, Ecobee, and Honeywell prices, that’s around $250-300 which seems a little sporty for a damn thermostat. I don’t think my power company is offering any kind of rebate, so I’m wondering if this thing will really save me on utility bills. Any of y’all used one recently?

I have 2 nest. I like them. Like others have said, I didn’t really let this “learn”. What it allowed me to do what set a schedule that reduces our energy use. I’m not sure how much money I’ve saved. Some for sure but I couldn’t say how much.

My favorite feature is being able to control it with an app on my phone. It’s super nice being able to wake up in the middle of the night and adjust the temp from my bed, if I’m hot or cold (lazy I know). I also really like being able to basically turn the ac/heat off when I’m out of town. Usually when I travel, I turn it off and when I’m close to being back home will use the app to turn it on.

For me, it’s more of a convenience thing than money saving.

 

[dorndawg]

We have 4 Ecobee 3 Lite devices at 2 places. Got talked out of Nest by HVAC owner who had troubles w/Nest.
Ecobee easy to setup and use. Easy to use with mobile app.
$169 at Lowe’s. Their website should tell you if there’s a rebate in your area.
Not difficult to install.

 

[johnson86-1]

Google announced it was shutting down the "works with nest" program last year. Honestly not really sure what that means, but before springing for a Nest, you might want to make sure any feature you like is going to continue to get support .

 

[Beretta.sixpack]

I have 3 Nests and I love them...

they work and i use the app frequently .....the do help you save money...

 

[horshack.sixpack]

Same here. Ecobee 3 Lite. But shamefully, I only need 3...

 

[Seinfeld]

Thanks for all the feedback, and it looks like my system will work with an $169 Ecobee lite, so I think that’s the route I’m leaning. Like many of y’all have said, I’m more interested in the app compatibility than the fancy “learning” system, so I think this will work for me.

 

[dorndawg]

Same here. Ecobee 3 Lite. But shamefully, I only need 3...

Man hang in there I'm sure things will pick up for you soon.*

 

[msstatelp1]

I've got a Honeywell T9 and my biggest complaint is it won't stay connected to my Comcast internet. Honeywell says it's Comcast's fault, Comcast says it's Honeywell's fault. I like being able to adjust the temp from the app when it's connected. The geofencing was nice but now I'm just running it as a programmable since it won't stay online.

 

[BigBully]

I just recently purchased the Ecobee with a remote sensor. I really like it and it's very easy to install, use, and connect to your home wifi. I can tell that it keeps our home more consistent from a temperature / comfort perspective. Will it save $? Too early to tell.

BB

 

[SyonaraStanz]

I have the latest Ecobee with one sensor in one of the chillin's bedroom (where the house is hottest). I've been really pleased with it. I really like the humidity sensor and the dehumidifying feature, which continues to cool your house a bit to get below a stated humidity threshold. The vacation mode is really nice, where I can set parameters ahead of my trip and forget about it - temps are higher while I'm gone, and it's cool when I return from the trip.

Does it save me money? Doubtful. I think if you're someone who doesn't adjust your thermostat up when you leave the house or other times, then of course the "smart" functionality will save you money, but I've always manually adjusted mine. I just tell Alexa what to do as I lay in bed and feel a bit warm.

Now, if I was about to burn a couple hunned bones on a piece of home technological convenience, I'd go with a toilet seat bidet....

 

[horshack.sixpack]

Man hang in there I'm sure things will pick up for you soon.*

I just applied at FedEx!***

 

[horshack.sixpack]

consider setting up a guest wifi on your router and connecting your thermostats to that. It may help.

 

[Car Ramrod.sixpack]

I have the Ecobee 3 lite installed at the house and I am the PIC for the HVAC system at my church and have installed them there as well. The programing abilities along with the remote sensors is far better than other systems. For example at my house we have sensors in the living room and in our bedroom. From 10 pm to 6 AM the downstairs unit is controlled by the sensor in our bedroom rather than the whole house average. At the church I have the programing fine tuned so that no one has to touch the them and prevents someone from leaving it switched on for extended periods of time.

Don't bother with the newer units that have Alexa incorporated. I'm not sure if they have fixed the problem with not having a near field mic. This caused the thermostat to answer even if there was another device closer to you. The 3s will sync with Siri so you can still use the voice commands and that is handier than a shirt pocket.

 

[fevans]

Did y'all have a c wire already? I believe there are some work arounds if you don't have one.

 

[Car Ramrod.sixpack]

Did y'all have a c wire already? I believe there are some work arounds if you don't have one.

The Ecobees include a device that allows you to use the thermostat without a C wire.

 

[mcdawg22]

I've had this Sensi Thermostat for about a year and it has been great.

What kind of savings have you noticed?

 

[MarkDallas]

I went a different direction. I have "dumb" z-wave thermostats with a SmartThings hub. All the programming is done in the hub. Definitely not as simple as other options just for running HVAC, but all my devices can talk to each other. For instance, if someone leaves the door open, I can have it adjust the air. Also I have one phone app for all my devices, instead of managing a different app for everything.

 

[Seinfeld]

Thankfully, I’ve already got C wires, but I did see a YouTube where those that don’t will sometimes just use the green fan wire as their new c wire. From what I understand, “most” systems’ fans are going to kick on regardless when cold or hot air is running. The only point of the fan wire is if you want to run your fan independently which 99% of people never do

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

It’s great for scheduling so for example if everyone is out of the house at 8 am then you can set the thermostat to something higher and have it change a little before everyone gets home. I put one on our upstairs unit and the one that controls the master bedroom and bath and it was instant savings on our next bill. They paid for themselves in just a few months.