Smart thermostats have been around for a while, but would one work in your home situation? Warner Service has put together this guide to help you decide your opinion on smart thermostats to compliment your home comfort system.
What Is a Smart Thermostat?
There are three main types of thermostats: Traditional (also known as manual), Programmable, and "Smart." Traditional thermostats are the classic, basic tools many of us know. They feature a dial or slider that controls the temperature in the room by heating or cooling until the room arrives at the set number. Programmable thermostats take this control a step farther. Rather than just adjusting the temperature to the desired level, programmable thermostats add the variable of time. A programmable thermostat can conduct an entire heating or cooling agenda for your home, being warm some of the day and cool other times without you having to manually change the setting each time. This can be especially useful when setting the temperature for your home when you are at work, allowing you to save energy without even noticing a difference in comfort.
Finally, smart thermostats take the control and ease of use even farther than programmable models. Smart thermostats can monitor many more variables than programmable thermostats, including the humidity in your home as well as your behavior. Plus, you can access smart thermostat controls from anywhere using a smartphone or computer. Finally, one of the biggest differences is the ammount of data a smart thermostat can give you for your energy consumption.
Most smart thermostats show you how long it takes to make the change you've requested, so you can see how effective your climate control system really is, and it discourages people from turning a thermostat all the way down to try "cooling off the house faster" (which never works). You can always see how much you're spending on heating or cooling costs, tweak the programming to you save money, and see the results immediately.
What Smart Thermostats Are Available?
Smart thermostats usually come in two varieties: The type that learn automatically from your behavior and adjust themselves accordingly (and therefore don't even need you to program them), and the type that offer internet connectivity for remote management and programming. The best models fall into both groups.
You may be familiar with the Nest Thermostat, one of the first smart thermostats to hit the market. The Nest combines a good-looking design and a bright LCD that provides a wealth of useful data with powerful remote management apps and tools to help you save money. It's also a learning thermostat, which can sense whether someone's home, whether the air is suddenly getting humid, or someone's fired up the oven, and adjust itself accordingly. It's a pioneer to be sure, but it's not alone. Ecobee and Honeywell offer their own takes on smart thermostats as well, and each feature both of the learning and networking options.
The catch is that smart thermostats tend to be expensive. The Nest retails for $250, while the Ecobee varies between $200 and $500 depending on the model and features you want. Honeywell's models vary too, with some models requiring a professional contractor to come and install—so you can imagine how expensive they get. Almost any smart thermostat will require more money at the outset than a simple programmable model. The Nest and the Ecobee are designed so you can install them yourself if you're willing to tackle the project, but none of these are exactly "plug and play," so factor in the time and/or the cost required to have it installed when you consider the cost.
Will a Smart Thermostat Save You Money?
Whether or not a smart thermostat will actually save you money depends on a few factors. You have to consider how long it'll take for the initial investment to pay for itself, how long you plan to stay where you live, and whether you really need the different features. Here are some questions to ask to see if a smart thermostat is for you.
Do You Feel Comfortable Installing One Yourself? As we mentioned, the initial costs for a smart thermostat can be pretty high, especially if you have someone install it for you. Thankfully, you can install models like the Nest and the Ecobee yourself if you're up to the task. I've seen people say they installed the Nest in less than 15 minutes, though others have reported nightmare stories. Whatever you do, make sure to read the instructions carefully and maybe grab a handy friend to help, or check some tutorials on YouTube before you begin. If you can grab a bargain and install yourself, your thermostat will pay for itself sooner.
Do you already have a programmable thermostat? Are you the source of the problem? Think about your own usage patterns. The EPA's Energy Star program concluded that homes with programmable or smart thermostats can save up to $180 per year on heating and cooling, which is a sizable chunk of change. Still, those same savings can be achieved with a more affordable programmable thermostat. If you already have one, a smart thermostat won't save you too much more money, aside from showing you what you can optimize to save a few bucks here or there. Similarly, if you're the type who religiously turns the thermostat off when you leave the house, and then turn it back when you come home, you may be able to get away with a more affordable programmable thermostat instead. You'll get all the energy savings, without the hassle of adjusting it yourself every day.
However, if you don't have a programmable model, or if you're the forgetful type who'll leave the AC or heater running all day even if you're not at home, a smart thermostat will really save you some money. The learning models can take all of the hassle out of managing your home's temperature, so you can just go about your daily business and let the climate in your house take care of itself. All you have to know is that it'll be comfortable whenever you're there.
Also, if you're the type who loves data and loves tweaking systems to improve them, a smart thermostat will definitely save you money on your energy bill. You can obsessively check your thermostat's mobile app to see how much money you're saving or energy you're actively using, and use the webapps to plot out how much more you can save if you adjust the temperature by a few degrees here or there.
Ultimately, all smart thermostats really do is take the hassle out of adjusting the temperature and climate in your home in a way that walks the line between comfort and energy efficiency. It stops cooling or heating an empty apartment so you don't have to remember to, and it makes sure you're comfortable when you're home. Remember, they don't save you money on their own—they just automate what you could do with a bit more discipline.
On the other hand, if the thought of manually adjusting the thermostat every time you leave, every time you get home, and thinking about whether you should change it for the amount of time you'll be gone running errands makes you roll your eyes, they may be worth the money you'll spend to get the savings back in the long run.
For more helpful articles like this, subscribe to the Warner Service Blog!
