2019 – Trusted Smart Homes

Let me guess, You want to get a smart thermostat in 2019 to make your home smarter and automate a lot of things but there are so many options out there and you don't know which one will be the perfect fit for you. Or You already have a normal thermostat and you don't feel you need to upgrade to a smart one but just want to check out for reasons to see if you'll be convinced to get one for yourself. There are a lot of solid reasons why you should upgrade to one of the best smart thermostats in 2020 and a few things to look out for when you want to get one for yourself. In this post, I'll be talking about the 6 of the best smart thermostats to get in 2020, alongside looking at their pros and cons. You'll get to know what makes a thermostat fit to be called smart and giving you a lot of reasons why you should consider getting yourself one. With all these quality information gotten based on long hours of research, you'll never go wrong in picking the right one to enjoy in 2019. Top 6 Best Smart Thermostats at a Glance Ecobee4Nest Thermostat E Nest Learning Thermostat (3rd-gen)Ecobee3 LiteHoneywell Lyric T5Emerson Sensi Wi-Fi ThermostatDimensions4” x 4” x 1”5.5" x 4.8" x 2.2" 3.3” x 1.2” x 3.3” 4” x 1” x 4” 4” x 4” x 1” 5.88” x 0.94” x 3.75” Power Options Includes power extender kit Includes power extender kit Includes power extender kit DisplayTouchscreen DigitalDigital Touchscreen Touchscreen VisualCompatibility Amazon Alexa, Apple Homekit, Android, iOS, Samsung SmartThings Google Assistant, iOS, Android, Nest Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, iOS 8+, Android 4+, Nest Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Android, iOS, Samsung SmartThings Amazon Alexa, Apple Homekit, iOS, and AndroidAmazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Wink, iOS, and Android Warranty3-year limited warranty 2-year limited warranty 2-year limited warranty 3-year limited warranty 1-year limited warranty 3-year limited warranty Let's get to know the basics first... What is a Smart Thermostat? Smart thermostats are thermostats that learn from your behaviours to adjust the temperature of your home accordingly and are controlled from anywhere in the world. They can be remotely controlled through using your smartphone, tablet or your voice through a compatible voice assistant. This means that the thermostat can study your home life and determine the most appropriate temperatures for the whole house or for a particular room (if done on the room-by-room basis) at different times of the day or year depending on who is in the house. Smart thermostats just take you from a world of traditional temperature control to a world of internet of things. It differs a lot from normal temperature controllers where you have to manually set the desired temperature on the device then the system regulates the heat to meet it the programmed temperature then switches off. Also with those manual controllers, you have to manually set your desired temperature a couple of times and your preferred heating ranges, this has a lot of disadvantages as it is difficult to override already scheduled temperature settings. When you integrate the Smart thermostats with a service in IFTTT called "Recipes" it makes your thermostat able to work in a certain way based on external weather conditions depending on how you set it. For example, you can tell the thermostat to turn on the heater if outside has a really big cold coming... Cool right. Finally, Smart thermostats don't just have the wonderful ability to change the way you heat your home either directly or through device learning but it also helps in energy efficiency, financial savings and lot more which will look in details in the later part of this post. Now to the crux of the matter... Top 6 Best Smart Thermometers for 2020 1. Ecobee4 Smart Thermostat Ecobee4 may as well be seen as "the best" smart thermostat to get in 2019 based on its outstanding features. It has Alexa built right into it so you can easily control the thermostat with your voice without needing the presence of an external voice assistant. Whatever Alexa can do this beautiful gadget can also do which includes playing music, reading out the news and weather updates, setting a reminder, regulating the temperature(what the smart thermostat is primarily for) and so much more. It also comes with room sensors you can put in the most important rooms in your house to also keep track and regulate a balanced temperature throughout the house. The sensor has the ability to detect the presence of someone in the room where it is placed and the temperature of the rooms then send signals to the Ecobee4. The signals help it to adjust to the right mood to give you ultimate comfort when you are home and reduce your financial bills (helping you save) when you're not. Setting it up should take about 30 minutes, Thanks to the installation guide and step by step guideline in the smartphone app. It comes with a power extender kit for homes without a c wire. It is compatible with Amazon Alexa, Apple Homekit, IFTTT and smart home hubs like Samsung SmartThings, Wink and Logitech Harmony amongst others. The Ecobee4 saves up to 23% annually of your energy bills thereby paying for itself in under two years. The $235 beauty is by no means the cheapest thermostat you can get in 2019 but it's actually worth it. 2. Nest (T4000ES) Thermostat E The Nest thermostat E is a cheaper alternative to the third generation of Nest smart thermostat which we will look at next. It doesn't have as most features as the Ecobee4 and the Nest thermostat (3rd generation) but it sure does the basic things of a best smart thermostats. The thermostat is able to study and learn your heating and cooling schedules and naturally make adjustments to them in the future without you having to make frequent alterations. You can regulate it from your iPhone or Android app which makes scheduling and controlling the temperature easier. With your phone, you can view energy usage history, change the temperature and edit your schedule from wherever you are. Compatibility with Google Assistant creates more options to use the device remotely. It also detects motion so when you're close it turns itself on but when you go away it goes back to sleep. It has a very beautiful design that easily blends into your home decoration and it displays only basic information about your room temperature and not external details like the outdoor weather. The Nest thermostat E saves about 11% on heating bills and 15% on cooling bills which is an average savings of $131 to $145 per year. 3. Nest (T3007ES) Learning Thermostat (3rd Generation) There are surely a lot of things to say about the Nest thermostat (3rd generation). It has the Nest learning feature which learns your habit and automatically starts adjusting the temperature after you make a few initial manual adjustments. The thermostat is able to save you about 10 to 15% of your energy bills. It is compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant for controlling it remotely. What makes it better than the Nest Thermostat E is the possession of an outstanding feature called Farsight that makes it light up to show you the temperature, the outdoor weather and also the current time either in digital or analogue clock display from a distance in the room. You can pick from a variety of colours depending on which one matches your home. Smart Homes filled with Nest devices really get to enjoy this thermostat because Nest smart devices are designed to communicate with each other. For example, if your Nest smoke detector picks up smoke it communicates with your smart light bulbs to give warning signals and also your Alexa assistant to give voice warnings. You can count on the Nest thermostat (3rd generation) as it is Amazon's #1 Best Seller in Smart thermostats. But that's not all, we still have... 4. Ecobee3 Lite Smart Thermostat The Ecobee3 Lite isn't as sophisticated as the Ecobee4 but it sure has its outstanding features. It also works with room sensors which you can keep in specific rooms though they have to be bought separately. These sensors are able to detect the presence of a person in the room and send signals to the Ecobee3 Lite to balance the temperature in the house hence providing comfort when you're home and saving your energy bills when you're not. As with all Ecobee thermostats, it saves up to 23% annually of your energy bills and is also believed to pay for itself under 2 years. Even though it is not integrated with Amazon Alexa like Ecobee4, it is compatible with the Apple Homekit, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Samsung SmartThings, Wink and also IFTTT. Installing it takes 30 minutes at most because of the installation guide and the smartphone app guide that it provides. You can control your Ecobee3 Lite from anywhere using the Ecobee app on your iOS or Android device. 5. Honeywell (RCHT8610WF2006) Lyric T5 Thermostat If you want to make your home really smart with the cheapest amount that still delivers quality then the Honeywell Lyric T5 was specially designed for you. Just like other Honeywell thermostats, it has a 7-day flexible scheduling option but a recent addition to this is the Location-based temperature control through Geofencing technology. Geofencing makes the thermostat keep track of your location to enable it to set your house to your preferred temperature before you arrive. It is compatible with Amazon Alexa and Apple Homekit for controlling remotely through voice assistant and it also has an app for iOS and Android phones and tablets for this same reason. Unfortunately, it doesn't support the Google Assistant. The thermostat sends notification to your smartphone when things like your air filter needs to be changed. The Lyric T5 is a good choice if you want to enjoy a feeling of the Ecobee4 and the Nest Thermostat E for half the price. 6. Emerson Sensi Wi-Fi Thermostat The Emerson Sensi thermostat possesses the Geofencing technology which monitors your location and set the temperature in your house to your desired temperature just before you arrive. It also has the 7-day flexible scheduling technology. The Sensi thermostat helps you to save about 23% on your HVAC energy bills. Setting up the sensor should take at most 30 minutes because of the installation guide and video tutorials in the mobile app. It is compatible with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple Homekit voice assistants which makes it possible to control remotely and Wink smart home hub. It also has an app for Android and iOS devices that increase your remote control options. Sensi thermostat does not appear as smart as I would have expected. It uses physical buttons instead of a touch screen and unless you click on a button the display stays dim. It only informs you about the temperature, the time and the battery level. Reasons You Should Get a Smart Thermostat 1. Save money Your heating and cooling systems takes about 42% of the energy usage in your home according to statistics and a lot of people just leave their temperature set at 70 degrees even when they're not home. If you fall into that category letting a smart thermostat take care of your home's temperature regulation throughout the day taking advantage of the times when you are out of the house it could save you can save $50 a year on your energy bills, according to Energy Star, and some thermostat manufacturers claim those savings can reach $100 or more. 2. Convenience It is very easy to set a schedule on a smart thermometer when compared to how hectic it is in a normal thermometer. Some smart thermometers like Nest have an extra feature of learning your heating routines throughout the day and building a convenient schedule for you. Don't forget you can also regulate the temperature without leaving your bed and automatically preheat your home before you arrive from work. A lot of them also display extra information like the outdoor weather. 3. Bigger display size All smart thermostats have bigger and brighter display screens so you won't have to deal with the small LCD screens of the normal thermometers. A lot of them also have an app that makes it visible and handy to adjust the thermostat. 4. Easily change schedule People with normal thermometers know how difficult it is to override the day-time schedule on a day when you are off from work for instance. But you can just open an app and override the default settings with a smart thermometer. 5. Be informed about the status of your home You can monitor the temperature of your home from anywhere you are using your smartphone. So people that live in places with extreme climate and weather conditions don't have to bother again about their pipes bursting if the temperature falls below a particular level. 6. Track your energy usage Smart thermostats offer updates on energy usage in your home so it helps you to know the highest consumer of energy in your home and make necessary adjustments to reduce energy bills where possible. 7. Seasonal changes are a workover People that live in places like North America can testify of how frustrating it is always reprogramming their normal thermostats a lot of times in the year to keep up with the adjustments in the weather and seasonal changes annually. With smart thermometers you don't have to do anything, it automatically makes the adjustments because seasonal shifts were already taken into account when producing them. Conclusion Getting the right smart thermostat depends on your taste and your financial ability. There are a few features you should take note of when getting your smart thermostat. You have to take note of the voice assistant is compatible with if you intend using voice assistant to operate it remotely, you have to also check if it has the geofencing technology if you really love that feature and you are interested in it. Be sure of the kind of display information it gives whether it's basic temperature information alone or if it also gives info about external weather condition alongside. Now it's over to you, I hope this post has been able to tell you reasons why you need to get a smart thermostat and also show you the best out there for you to pick according to your taste and preference. I would like to know which one of the reasons you like the most and which one of the smart thermostats you intend getting for yourself. Drop a comment in the box below and I'll keep in touch.