Smart thermostats have become a huge topic recently and the reason being is according to U.S Department of Energy 51% of home energy consumption is due to heating & cooling which makes it the largest source of energy usage in a household. Due to this reason, people are opting to use smart thermostats. Let’s take a look at some of the incredible benefits a smart thermostat has to offer.
9 Benefits Of Smart Thermostats:
Spending Less on Energy Bills
According to studies done by Nest a smart thermostat can around 10 -15 % on heating and cooling costs. It does this by programming its self to be accustomed to your daily routine, it learns from how you adjust temperatures throughout the day and familiarizes its self with your usual routine. According to Nest individuals who used a smart thermostat ended up saving an extra $131 to $145 a year based on the average energy costs. Which means the thermostat pays for its self in less than 2 years.
Adjust the temperature from anywhere
Smart thermostats can be controlled by your phone which means if you on your from work and want it to be a certain temperature. you can do so through the app. Or if you’re just feeling lazy and don’t want to get out of been to adjust the temperature simply adjust it through your phone.
Motion Sensors
By Activating motion sensors your home can detect whether or not your home and adjust the temperature accordingly. This can even be used as a security feature when it detects motion you will receive a notification on your phone and can be alerted if someone is inside your home.
Self Learning
Your smart thermostat can adjust to your daily routine by learning your patterns thus automating your daily temperature changes. This also helps make your thermostat more energy efficient. If you usually like it colder at night and warmer in the day the thermostat will adjust itself to make your room colder at night right before your tucked in.
Check Your energy usage
Smart thermostats such as Nest provide you with a simple easy to read report monthly. Showing you a full usage report of how much your heating and cooling ran for. It also details how your usage changed over time and provides you with helpful tips on how you can reduce costs based on your needs.
Schedule Your Temperature
Most smart thermostats such as nest allow you to set a timed schedule to your heating and cooling controls. This allows you to maximize energy efficiency and track usages very easily. Therefore saving more in the long run.
Enable Weather Mode
Smart thermostats such as Nest or Ecobee are able to track the weather and are able to adjust temperatures accordingly if the weather reports claim that it’s going to be cold today the thermostat will make suitable changes and make your home warmer.
Temperature Sensor
Smart Thermostats such as Nest work with a temperature sensor that is be bought separately. What the temperature sensor does is detect the temperature in any specific room. This is an incredible feature especially if you live in a cold area where you might be susceptible to bursting pipes. If you have a nest thermostat temperature sensor you would be able to place it in areas where you may have issues with bursting pipes such as a bathroom, kitchen sink, exterior wall & detect the temperature to avoid issues with your pipes.
Pays For Itself
As mentioned above studies done by nest show 10 to 15% savings in cooling and heating which would save you around $131 to $145 a year which basically means in less than 2 years the thermostat paid for itself. This is surely the best feature by far.
Top 3 Smart Thermostats available in the market:
Nest Learning Thermostat (3rd Generation)
The Nest Thermostat has been developed by Google and is one of the leading smart thermostats currently available. Here are its key features:
Features
Auto-Schedule: This feature learned your patterns and adjusts accordingly thus automating your preferred temperatures and certain times for you.
Check Energy History: This feature provides you with a detailed report on how much energy you consumed and what caused that energy consumption.
Easy & Quick Installation: Nest Provides you with an easy installation guide through the app which may take 30 minutes or less to install. It can be installed on your own but you can always call for help if needed.
Nest Leaf: Nest provides a feature called “Nest Leaf” what this does is when you adjust the temperature nest leaf simply point you to the direction of the most energy-efficient temperature. Simply changing your temperature by one degree can cut your energy consumption by 5% a year the nest leaf helps you achieve this easily.
Nest Protect: The nest protects is a separate item that can be bought by the nest and this can be integrated with the Nest Thermostat what it does is helps detect gas leaks and communicate to the thermostat to disable the furnace.
Easy Control: Simply control your Nest with ease through your phone.
Ecobee Smart Thermostat With Voice Control
Features
Smart Home Sensors: This feature detects whether your home or away and adjusts the temperature accordingly. Providing you with an energy-efficient feature when your away and a more pleasant temperature when you’re indoors.
Alerts: Ecobee smart thermostat provides you with an “alerts” feature which notifies you if any issue is detected.
Home IQ: This feature provides you with a detailed report on your energy consumption monthly and provides you with information on how you can reduce energy consumption even more.
Voice Control: The Ecobee smart thermostat has Alexa built-in which allows you to communicate to the device through Alexa.
Honeywell Lyric T5
Features
Compatible with Various Smart Home Assistants: Honeywell lyric t5 is compatible with Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, and Google Assistant. This allows you to automate create routines with your smart assistants and add temperature control as a part of that.
Smart Response: Learns and adjusts temperatures based on your preferences. The Honeywell lyrics will alert you when its time to change your filters or when it finds issues that need fixing.
Easy Control: Simply download the app and control it easily from wherever you are.
What to Look for when buying a Smart Thermostat:
When looking for thermostats its important to know what features are available and not all smart thermostats have the same features. Not all these features are necessary but can definitely enhance your lifestyle due to the automated tasks.
Geofencing
Geofencing uses your smartphone to detect your range from the parameter of your home & once you are no longer in range it will reduce your energy consumption accordingly, and once your back in range it will adjust it back to your preference. This is one of the best energy-efficient features out there that will reduce energy consumption massively.
Smart Home Compatability
Most smart thermostats are compatible with other smart home devices such as home hubs, humidifiers, and much more. This means you can use Alexa to control your thermostat and add your thermostat to your home hubs “routine” feature and have multiple tasks automated easily.
Easy & Simple Installation
There are many smart thermostats that come with a simple step by step guide on how to install your smart thermostat on your own. smart Thermostats such nest take anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes to set up and comes with a full step by step guide. Having a smart thermostat that is easy to install will save you a lot of headache and will just make your life simpler but you can always get help if you don’t want to do the installation on your own.
Sensors
Sensors are similar to geofencing but instead of detecting you through your phone this detects motion. So if there are multiple people in the house sensors may be more effective. This can also be used as a security feature as you get an alert if it detects motion in the house.
Who Should Purchase a smart thermostat:
A smart thermostat was initially created to help individuals cut down on energy consumption. As 51% of home energy consumption is due to heating & cooling smart thermostats do a good job in dealing with this issue with the features mentioned above.
But smart thermostats offer much more than just helping you with energy consumption it also caters to people who want to control their home temperatures easily and effectively through home hubs such as Amazon Alexa or through their phone while on a plane back home.
The fact that most smart thermostats in the market are compatible with other smart devices makes this product more appealing to smart home lovers as it provides immense value by automating nearly all tedious tasks with one “routine” feature.
Final Thoughts
Smart thermostats have been proven to cut down energy consumption costs and save you an extra $131 to $145. Based on this the smart thermostat will pay for itself in less than a year but apart from that their are many incredible benefits as detailed above. Smart thermostats are becoming must-have items nowadays as it eliminates the human error part and automates the whole process on its own. And depending on your preferred temperature it can cut major costs by simply changing your temperature by one degree.
Smart thermostats also provide a sense of comfort knowing you don’t always need to shut off your heat or cooling system before you leave or when your coming back from a trip and know you would like to to be cool you can set the temperature on the way. Or even use thermostats weather feature which adjusts your home temperature based on weather reports. Smart thermostats features are truly remarkable and can definitely be worth it.
