Smart Thermostat Buying Guide

Smart thermostats are increasingly popular in homes to save energy and lower bills, and some recent studies prove that smarthome technology can even boost a home’s value when selling.  Below, you will find reviews of the top smart thermostats on the market.  These top products save you money of your monthly energy bills and learn your daily schedule to warm the house before you get home, get your home up to the perfect temperature before your morning coffee, or decrease heat in your home after you leave for work.

Nest Learning Thermostat

The Nest Learning Thermostat is the most popular smart thermostat on the market, and for good reasons.  Now on it’s 3rd generation, Nest is “smarter” than ever before and has an improved, sleeker physical design and brighter screen interface.  Nest uses motion sensors to determine whether or not somebody is likely to be home, and analyzes that data to learn your schedule and heat or cool your home efficiently.  It allows you to track how much daily or monthly energy you have saved, and it’s latest feature lights the screen up with the time and temperature when it senses you in the room.  You can control your Nest Learning Thermostat from your Android or iOS smartphone, as well as from a computer.

Ecobee3

Beyond the different physical design, the Ecobee3 Smarter thermostat has almost identical functionality as the Nest. Ecobee3’s key differentiator is that you can purchase extra sensors to spread out throughout different rooms in your home.  The Ecobee3 can then make sure each room of your home is at your desired temperature. In June, Coldwell Banker’s Blue Matter blog names the Ecobee3 one the 10 Best Tech Gadgets for Your Home. 

Sensi Wi-Fi Smart Programmable Thermostat

The Sensi thermostat, made by Emerson, is a great choice for shoppers looking for a less expensive smart thermostat.  The premier smart thermostats will set you back somewhere between $200-$250, but the Sensi can be bought for $100-$130.  It lacks motion sensor capabilities found in both the Nest and Ecobee3 thermostats, but still connects to Wi-Fi and be controlled from a smartphone or computer. The design resembles much more traditional thermostats, and it can run on two AA batteries.

Honeywell Lyric Thermostat

Honeywell has a couple different Wi-Fi enable thermostats on the market right now.  The Lyric is a solid choice, but does lack the ability to control it from a desktop computer.  You can still use an Android or iOS smartphone as a remote, and it actually using geofencing from your phone to track when you are close to home or have left home.  The Lyric can then start warming your house before you get home, or turn down the heat after you leave.

Honeywell Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat

Honeywell’s other smart thermostat option has pretty vast functionality and is a popular choice for buyers.  It looks more similar to a traditional thermostat but features a bright, touch-screen LCD screen.  The screen is customizable and can show a variety of information, including outside temperature and humidity.  It can be controlled from a mobile device or computer, but unlike some top competitors, it does not feature any motion sensors. Honeywell’s Smart Thermostat even alerts you when you should change the furnace’s air filters.

Ana Moniz, ABR
Broker Associate
Lifetime Member of the NJAR™ Distinguished Sales Club
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
50 Broadway, Hillsdale, NJ  07642
cell- 201-247-6341 | office – (201) 930-8820 Ext. 441
e-fax- 201-781-6712 | www.AnaMonizRealEstate.com
Ana.Moniz@cbmoves.com