$100 coupon towards smart thermostat - help me pick please

[04SE]

Our utility company is giving us a $100 coupon/rebate towards a new wi-fi smart thermostat.

Our choices are:

1. Nest Thermostat E
2. Nest Learning Thermostat
3. Ecobee 4
4. Ecobee 3 lite
5. Honeywell Lyric T5
6. Honeywell Lyric Round 2nd Generation

It seems most are sold at Lowes and I can read reviews there. Our current thermostat is a 22 year old Honeywell. My out of pocket cost will range from $50 to $150 depending on the model we select.

Our HVAC system is a 3 year old Rheem with no special features. It seems some of these thermostats control variable dampeners, multi speed blowers, and other things we don't have.

Any input/ideas or first hand experience?

 

[NYSteve]

Have two Nests and they are fantastic. Depending if you have other smart home items or a central hub (like you're alarm system), Nest integrates with most. Check to make sure the Honeywell or Ecobee don't need an additional wireless gateway to use the app/wifi features.

 

[Saul]

Have a Nest regular thermostat. Very happy.
You can find them on ebay, factory sealed, for much below retail. On top of that, wait for a day when there is a ebay coupon.
Got $50 from my gas company for a Nest receipt from ebay.

 

[MrHorspwer]

My parents have a Honeywell. It's awful. I'd say avoid that.

I have a 2nd gen Nest. No complaints.

Nest does not have Apple HomeKit integration, while Ecobee does. If you're an Apple user, that may be a consideration if you're looking to stay within the HomeKit ecosystem.

On the other hand, Nest also offers number of other things that work well together, like smoke/CO detectors and cameras. If you're looking to expand some of the smart items in your house, they're pretty tightly integrated.

 

[CoolShirtDude]

I have the Ecobee 3, with 1 remote sensor upstairs. I use this with Apple HomeKit, using an Apple TV as the hub. Homekit was important for me and overall it works great, I have an AC/Heatpump system in a 1200 SF town house. These units come with a wiring adapter if you only 4 wires between your existing thermostat and air handler.

I have setup home/away modes as well as reminders for filter changes. Have been very happy with it. Install was easy.

My BIL has the Honeywell, not impressed with it.

 

[Dave9]

Make sure you keep your old thermostat because you're going to need it when the smart one fails.

 

[14Accent]

My utility company was offering the same thing, I went with the Ecobee 3 Lite for a grand total of $50 after rebate.

I only have heat in my house, so it's really just sitting there looking pretty right now, but it sure is cool. Instant weather forecast, inside/outside temp and humidity display, and the ability to add room sensors is great!

Highly recommend.

 

[edwardh1]

Originally Posted By: Dave9
Make sure you keep your old thermostat because you're going to need it when the smart one fails.


or you forget the wifi password

whats wrong with the present one.
Mine works fine
I dont need to access it while I am on vacation.
or run software updates.

many things are solutions looking for problems.
KISS

 

[Colt45ws]

Originally Posted By: edwardh1
Originally Posted By: Dave9
Make sure you keep your old thermostat because you're going to need it when the smart one fails.


or you forget the wifi password

whats wrong with the present one.
Mine works fine
I dont need to access it while I am on vacation.
or run software updates.

many things are solutions looking for problems.
KISS

+1
I say buy whatever is most popular and then take the money and sell the POS on ebay for profit

 

[wallyuwl]

Have had an Ecobee 3 and Ecobee 4 (different houses). Very happy. The 4 has a little bit larger screen and Alexa, but I might disable that feature. Like getting the weather on there. Install is easy and the app is easy to use.

If you have a two story house the ability to have the room sensors is a must. Only complaint some people have is the sensors sometimes disconnect from the main unit if too far away. Has not been a big problem for me.

 

[gregk24]

I can only speak for Nest since thats what we have, I installed it (the Nest learning thermostat) about a year ago and its been great. I love being able to turn it on on the way home form work to get the a/c going and the ability to control it through our Google Home Mini is super nice when laying in bed. No need to get up, or even pick up the phone! Lazy, I know.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: 04SE
Our utility company is giving us a $100 coupon/rebate towards a new wi-fi smart thermostat.

Our choices are:

1. Nest Thermostat E
2. Nest Learning Thermostat
3. Ecobee 4
4. Ecobee 3 lite
5. Honeywell Lyric T5
6. Honeywell Lyric Round 2nd Generation

It seems most are sold at Lowes and I can read reviews there. Our current thermostat is a 22 year old Honeywell. My out of pocket cost will range from $50 to $150 depending on the model we select.

Our HVAC system is a 3 year old Rheem with no special features. It seems some of these thermostats control variable dampeners, multi speed blowers, and other things we don't have.

Any input/ideas or first hand experience?


The smart thermostats track when you are there and not there and develop a schedule accordingly. If you have a very regular schedule they might not do much more that a programmable thermostat. For people with hot water baseboard and many zones I cannot see how they would work well. They also provide remote capability to set the thermostat remotely from your smartphone. I have two Trane thermostats for a heat pump system with two units. The thermostat provides a lot of system and history information and is Wifi capable, and I would think a Nest could not provide all of that handy information.

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted By: edwardh1
Originally Posted By: Dave9
Make sure you keep your old thermostat because you're going to need it when the smart one fails.


or you forget the wifi password

whats wrong with the present one.
Mine works fine
I dont need to access it while I am on vacation.
or run software updates.

many things are solutions looking for problems.
KISS


They save money-but your comment is the old " new tech phobia" syndrome here on BITGO. I can set the thermostat higher when I leave (the dogs don't need it as cool as I do) and then on the freeway when I'm coming home I can turn it on via wireless from the car to the normal setting.

I'm sure you have an excellent memory and have always turned your thermostat up or down when you leave the house on a Saturday for several hours-RIGHT?

 

[Spector]

IMO the verdict is still out on whether a set back thermostat in a Heat Pump situation is worth anything. Supposedly one should not alter the temps by more than 2-3 degrees with a heat pump especially in the winter as the electric backup cost offsets any savings when it kicks on to heat the house. As to summer and the A/C again, not sure of savings by upping the temp for the day and than running a long time to re cool the house. What is your calculated payback period for this new device, ie: cost savings per year versus the cost of the device. If 10 years or more don't waste your money.

Same arguement when going to a higher SEER unit, from 14 to a 18 or 20 SEER in most cases has over a 10 year payback, by then the unit has just about used its average life of 12-15 years so did you actually save any money. Payback for me has to be less than 5 years for it to be worth the price.

 

[KrisZ]

Any savings from a thermostat change I would count as either miniscule or non-exixtent for most people. Perhaps it makes some people pay attention to the set temperature because it's easily accessible, where otherwise they wouldn't.
Constant fiddling with the set temp would yield saving only for those with hectic schedules.

I have a coworker that one day proudly showed off his Nest thermostat along with some dampers or something that blocks off the vents from a smartphone and was all proud about his savings. His rationale was that by blocking off most vents he would save a lot on air conditioning and heat. No idea where he got this bad idea from, perhaps from Nest themselves, but he was not too happy when I told him that he might hurt the air handler and his evaporator might start freezing and that he is not really saving any money this way on a central air con system anyways. I told him that he most likely uses more electricity as the air handler has to overcome more back pressure and in all likelihood will wear out sooner because of that.

I would be careful with these so called "smart" solutions.

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted By: KrisZ
Any savings from a thermostat change I would count as either miniscule or non-exixtent for most people. Perhaps it makes some people pay attention to the set temperature because it's easily accessible, where otherwise they wouldn't.
Constant fiddling with the set temp would yield saving only for those with hectic schedules.

I have a coworker that one day proudly showed off his Nest thermostat along with some dampers or something that blocks off the vents from a smartphone and was all proud about his savings. His rationale was that by blocking off most vents he would save a lot on air conditioning and heat. No idea where he got this bad idea from, perhaps from Nest themselves, but he was not too happy when I told him that he might hurt the air handler and his evaporator might start freezing and that he is not really saving any money this way on a central air con system anyways. I told him that he most likely uses more electricity as the air handler has to overcome more back pressure and in all likelihood will wear out sooner because of that.

I would be careful with these so called "smart" solutions.


Disagree when you can change the temperature several degrees (remotely) when your not home. All from your cellphone.

 

[KrisZ]

A 7 day programmable thermostat can do the same thing, minus the remote part. If people don't know how to take advantage of the programmable thermostat, then that's an error on their part, not the technology.

 

[wallyuwl]

Originally Posted By: KrisZ
A 7 day programmable thermostat can do the same thing, minus the remote part. If people don't know how to take advantage of the programmable thermostat, then that's an error on their part, not the technology.



Or... some people dont have the same schedule every day each week.

 

[wallyuwl]

Originally Posted By: KrisZ
Any savings from a thermostat change I would count as either miniscule or non-exixtent for most people.

I would be careful with these so called "smart" solutions.


If you have a 1.5 or two story house with the bedroom upstairs and live in a cold climate, an ecobee with the room sensors will save you a lot. It did for us, you just program it to only read the upstairs bedroom sensor at night. Since heat rises, you are not heating the whole house to get the temp you want. Now we have the newest ecobee 4 in a single story ranch and I dont think it saves much, but I like the convenience features.