Smart Thermostat for Your Smart Home
06 Aug
Smart Thermostat for Your Smart Home
First thing that comes to mind when someone talks about a smart thermostat is a sleek looking device that sits nicely on the wall and does everything that needs to be done without any interference from the homeowner. Most reviewed and recommended thermostats that are currently on the market are Nest Learning Thermostat and Ecobee Smart Thermostat.
Nest is owned by Google which makes the thermostat integration into Google Home a breeze. Ecobee introduced the world's first smart thermostat back in 2008 and steadily improved it to allow integration with many home automation systems including Apple HomeKit.
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One of the biggest advantages of the latest smart thermostats is the user interface and the connectivity. Most programmable thermostats of the past were “set once and forget about it” devices due to their horrendous user interface. The programming was very frustrating. Most people just programmed it to hold one temperature setting.
Latest smart thermostats provide easy-to-use touch screen interfaces that resemble smartphone apps. No more rubber or plastic buttons with cryptic names. By using the corresponding app the smart thermostat can be controlled from the mobile phone either from inside the house or from anywhere in the world via the Internet.
Another benefit of smart thermostats is that it allows an efficient use of electricity. Since many people are working from home these days more electricity is spent during the day on lighting and cooling (read AC running). Yes, you can hide in your cozy home office in a cool basement, but an occasional coffee run to the kitchen will make you realize how hot it is upstairs. Also don’t forget about those peak electricity rates that are much higher during the day. Those have been avoided before by programming thermostat not to run AC in the empty house during the day when everyone is at work and at school. Even though some governments put a cap on those peak rates for the time being due to the pandemic, you know that it won’t last forever.
Remote sensors allow the thermostat to “make smart decisions” on adjusting the temperature based on readings in alternative locations, a second floor bedroom, for example, instead of the location of the thermostat itself.
Geofencing enables the thermostat to automatically change temperature when you are coming home or leaving it, by using location services on your smartphone (GPS and/or WiFi).
To add to all of those benefits don’t forget that saving the planet is still on the agenda. By using properly configured smart thermostat, average energy consumption can be reduced significantly thus reducing your home’s carbon footprint.
Stay comfortable! Stay safe!