Smart Thermostats 2019: Ecobee, Nest And Alarm.com
More and more people are realizing the importance of switching to smart thermostats for energy efficiency, conservation and to cut down on energy costs. There are several smart thermostats out on the market today, and in this post we’ll be going over the most popular ones, including the Ecobee, Nest and Alarm.com thermostats.
Ecobee4
The Ecobee4 is one truly amazing smart thermostat. It is a smart thermostat that is small and sleek, but is packed with power. Smart thermostats like the Ecobee4 have become a must-have item if you’re looking to make your home more eco-friendly (check out an equally impressive thermostat we sell here at Link Interactive by Alarm.com). The Ecobee4 will allow you to adjust the temperature remotely, set custom timers for when your heating and cooling system should come on and adjust individual temperatures for each room.
Temperature reading
The Ecobee4 is able to read temperature in different spots of the house instead of giving just one overall reading. Most smart thermostats do not demonstrate this capability. The Ecobee4 comes with a room sensor to help manage hot or cold spots in specific areas. When the Ecobee4 is placed in a room, it will detect occupancy as well as read the temperature allowing you to find the perfect temperature for the specific room where the thermostat has been placed.
Built-in voice control
The Ecobee4 comes with the Amazon Alexa voice service built-in. This allows the Ecobee4 to be completely hands-free and controlled easily by voice commands. It has a great range of sound detection so you don’t need to be very close to use verbal commands. The Ecobee4 goes above and beyond what normal smart thermostats can do because of the integrated Amazon Alexa voice service. You can ask the Ecobee4 any questions that you can ask Amazon Alexa pertaining to temperatures, recipes, music etc. This is a great feature to have and people generally find great benefit from it.
Cost and energy savings
Many people decide to make the move to smart thermostats to help with energy costs which in return helps to protect the environment. The Ecobee4 will save you up to 23% in heating and cooling bills per year. The Ecobee4 is Energy Star certified which means that it is energy-efficient and good for the planet too! One really outstanding feature that we personally thought was amazing is the Ecobee4’s Smart Home Away function. This function automatically enables the right mode for energy savings when it senses no one is home. If you are looking for exactly how much energy you can save by using a smart thermostat, the Ecobee4 offers free energy reports showing how much energy you have saved and how much energy your heating and cooling equipment is using each month.
User-friendly
The Ecobee4 is really easy to control. Control on the go directly from the app (iOS or Android), Apple Watch or directly via verbal commands. If you’re ever away for an extended period of time, you can simply make a ‘vacation event’ (even after you have already gone on your vacation). The app also lets you control the volume of the Ecobee4 along with many other controllable features.
Installation
The Ecobee4 is super easy to set up. It takes an average of just 30 minutes to get it up and going. The Ecobee4 comes with an easy to follow installation guide and an in-app step-by-step setup guide making installation hassle-free. The Ecobee4 starter kit comes with everything you need to get your thermostat up and running including a Power Extender Kit for homes with no common wire (C-wire).
Reviews and ratings
The Ecobee4 has some really great reviews on Amazon. It rates 4 out 5 stars on Amazon with over 1,000 reviews. Some of the positive reviews talk about how great it is to be able to have customizable temperatures for each room. Most customers also seem to be very pleased with the integrated Amazon Alexa feature that the Ecobee4 has to offer. The negative reviews for the Ecobee4 mostly talk about the length of time consumers had to wait online to get support for their devices if they ever ran into any trouble.
Pricing
The Ecobee4 has a few options when it comes to pricing. You can buy the Ecobee4 Smarter Bundle directly from their website for $313. This bundle includes the Ecobee4 thermostat along with 3 room sensors. This is the perfect starter kit if you’re looking to cover multiple rooms. If you are looking for a smaller package, Amazon offers Ecobee4 with 1 room sensor for $229.99. You always have the option to add sensors later on ,and generally the sensor packs come with 2 room sensors for roughly $79 dollars.
Our takeaway
The Ecobee4 has a lot of great features to offer. It’s a great option to consider if you’re interested in cutting down on energy costs or making your home energy-efficient. Definitely worth giving a shot!
Nest Learning Thermostat
The Nest Learning Thermostat is the first thermostat to have received the ENERGY STAR certification – it is an eco-friendly thermostat that doesn’t use a lot of power and it can save you a lot of money by cutting down on your monthly energy cost. Studies that have been done on the energy saving power of Nest thermostats have shown that users save an average of 10% to 12% on heating costs and up to 15% on cooling costs. The Nest Learning Thermostat has energy cost reports that show daily and monthly usage of energy and suggests ways for users to cut down on energy uses. When you change the temperature, it will show a little green leaf showing you that the change you have made is saving energy – this makes energy conservation super easy!
Temperature reading
The Nest Learning Thermostat works by learning your heating and cooling schedules. It learns what your temperature preferences are and builds a schedule around them. The learning process of this thermostat takes about a week. After the week is up, it will start to program itself. This way you do not have to worry about constantly adjusting settings to save energy. The Nest Learning Thermostat will allow you to control specific temperatures in different rooms. This works by placing the thermostat’s sensors in the rooms where you want the temperature to be monitored. These sensors not only show the temperature in the rooms where they are placed but will also alert you when there are drastic temperature changes in those areas, such as a fire or a drop in temperature that could cause damage to your pipes and plumbing. The Nest Learning Thermostat also has a bright digital display making it easy to see the temperature, time and weather.
Installation and cost
Installation of the Nest Learning Thermostat is super easy and only takes about 30 minutes to set up. It also comes in at a really great price! You can purchase it directly from Nest’s website for $249. There are a couple of bundle options on the site if you’re looking for more than one thermostat, and sensors can be purchased for $39.
Reviews and ratings
The Nest Learning Thermostat is highly rated with an average of 4.5 stars on Amazon and over 13,000 reviews. It is currently Amazon’s best seller when it comes to smart thermostats. Some of the positive reviews talk about how easy it is to install, the wide variety of energy saving features and its ease of use. Some of the negative reviews seem to come from those who may have received a faulty thermostat.
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