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Smart Thermostats

JesasaurusRex

JesasaurusRex

On a break
Joined
Feb 16, 2004
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Kens Moms House
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Poopy McPo
Currently have a couple of "dumb" thermostats in the house and one of them has a button that no longer works. Figure it's a good excuse to upgrade to a "smart" thermostats (two specifically). Don't have any alexa or google equivalent stuff around the house so don't really care about compatibility. Honestly just want it to hook up to the wifi and be able to control it from my phone. Plus anything else I may be overlooking.

What are you guys using? Features I should want plus what to stay away from would be great. Kthxbye
 
Nest. It's easy to install, easy to setup, compatible with everything (used ours in multiple homes)...and furthermore it's easy to remove and take with you if you need to move.

Also, it has a simple app system that allows you to control your thermostat from anywhere as long as your phone has signal. You can purchase separate sensors (pretty inexpensive) to put in any room you want away from the main thermostat which then allows you to keep the temperature set for that room instead of at the main thermostat which, if you live in a multi-story building, is a HUGE plus.
 
I was going to upgrade my dumb thermostat to one that I could control from my phone. I spent a bunch of time researching the options. Then, I actually took my thermostat apart and found that mine didn’t have the power wire in the wall. I didn’t want to deal with fishing one behind the wall, and I did not want to jerry rig an external power wire. So, I ended up just sticking to my existing thermostat.

Before you make a decision, figure out if your existing setup has a power wire.
 
Just curious how often you folks fiddle with your thermostat.

As a rule, we deal with ours twice a year, since we basically have "AC Season" and "Heating season", we just change the number and leave it.

My thermostat may actually have an app -- pretty sure it has wifi, just never bothered with it.
 
I got one of the models that are not "super smart, occupancy and such, google owned"-models .

It works for checking the temp, modifying.. and programming over the phone. But the app is ... quite bad. :dunno from the mega company Johnson, so go figure.

Still okay with it, what can you do, the programming alone helps.

wannabe said:
I was going to upgrade my dumb thermostat to one that I could control from my phone. I spent a bunch of time researching the options. Then, I actually took my thermostat apart and found that mine didn’t have the power wire in the wall. I didn’t want to deal with fishing one behind the wall, and I did not want to jerry rig an external power wire. So, I ended up just sticking to my existing thermostat.

Before you make a decision, figure out if your existing setup has a power wire.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's bad if you don't have the power wires. There are only like ONE or two options of a modern thermostat that works with lesser number of wires, and that's pretty much the one I have (and I seem to recall also the ecobee, with a caveat) The ONE internet-controlled that works with batteries.. works slow.

I assume "Jes" has a modern setup though, at least 3-4 wires.

berth said:
Just curious how often you folks fiddle with your thermostat.

As a rule, we deal with ours twice a year, since we basically have "AC Season" and "Heating season", we just change the number and leave it.

My thermostat may actually have an app -- pretty sure it has wifi, just never bothered with it.
Click to expand...

I fiddle sometimes everyday. But since my new one is 'programmed for every day' now , I fiddle less.

That was the benefit of -internet-connected.

-- what I noticed is that I definitely need time/temperature RE-programming when the season changes.
 
Last edited:
We have a Honeywell model and happy with it (past 5+ years). Got spooked from reports of Nest malfunctions in the past, but that seems a non-issue now. Ours is similar to whats in this comparison
https://www.thermostatistics.com/nest-vs-honeywell/

Favorite features:
- Easy phone app control
- Very flexible schedule (4 time blocks per day, 7 days/week)
- Like the "circulate" fan setting

Pretty much plug-and play install from our old manual unit.
 
Ecobee has been ok for us. We disabled the Alexa integration and microphone.
 
berth said:
Just curious how often you folks fiddle with your thermostat.

As a rule, we deal with ours twice a year, since we basically have "AC Season" and "Heating season", we just change the number and leave it.

My thermostat may actually have an app -- pretty sure it has wifi, just never bothered with it.
Click to expand...

The schedule on ours already has separate heat/cool ranges. I'll might make a few seasonal tweaks, but there really isn't much need. For short term stuff the override settings are really easy...just enter the temp and select temporary (default) or permanent (like min/max if you are on vacation)
 
something to be aware of: a good friend of mine is mindful of his internet security. I'm not sure of the details, but he found that when he observed a huge spike in things trying to access his wifi that they were trying to enter via his smart thermostat. I have reason to believe him but I'm not smart enough to know if this is true or not.
 
AbsolutEnduser said:
I got one of the models that are not "super smart, occupancy and such, google owned"-models .

It works for checking the temp, modifying.. and programming over the phone. But the app is ... quite bad. :dunno from the mega company Johnson, so go figure.

Still okay with it, what can you do, the programming alone helps.



Yeah, it's bad if you don't have the power wires. There are only like ONE or two options of a modern thermostat that works with lesser number of wires, and that's pretty much the one I have (and I seem to recall also the ecobee, with a caveat) The ONE internet-controlled that works with batteries.. works slow.

I assume "Jes" has a modern setup though, at least 3-4 wires.



I fiddle sometimes everyday. But since my new one is 'programmed for every day' now , I fiddle less.

That was the benefit of -internet-connected.

-- what I noticed is that I definitely need time/temperature RE-programming when the season changes.
Click to expand...

I honestly donno, haven't pulled the old one off yet. Home was built in 2014 if it matters. I'll pull off first to be sure tho.
 
mlm said:
We have a Honeywell model and happy with it (past 5+ years). Got spooked from reports of Nest malfunctions in the past, but that seems a non-issue now. Ours is similar to whats in this comparison
https://www.thermostatistics.com/nest-vs-honeywell/

Favorite features:
- Easy phone app control
- Very flexible schedule (4 time blocks per day, 7 days/week)
- Like the "circulate" fan setting

Pretty much plug-and play install from our old manual unit.
Click to expand...



Yeah, the Honeywell was the one that I eventually decided to go with before I found out that I don’t have a power wire on my thermostat.
 
I wanted Ecobee but it wouldn't work without running some kind of "3rd wire" I don't have so I got a Nest. been working without issue for YEARS. Downsides: I have a 3 level house, and the thermostat is on the middle level, so the temp doesn't correlate to either of the living spaces. I was considering adding 3 temp sensors but not sure if they work with my older model.
 
HappyHighwayman said:
I wanted Ecobee but it wouldn't work without running some kind of "3rd wire" I don't have so I got a Nest. been working without issue for YEARS. Downsides: I have a 3 level house, and the thermostat is on the middle level, so the temp doesn't correlate to either of the living spaces. I was considering adding 3 temp sensors but not sure if they work with my older model.
Click to expand...

There is probably some technical misunderstanding that happened there. When I (did) google that, there is NO way Nest would work where ecobee won't

Here, I just googled today, and first result that comes up explains that if you don't hate this or that you need a hack, which you would need for an ecobee anyway
https://www.instructables.com/Nest-Thermostat-With-Gas-Fireplace-or-Other-Milliv/

(yes, I know you possibly have a different system.)
Check out the following comment on the first linked picture about Nest:
"I used 2020 Nest Thermostat, the cheaper one without learnibg ability. During initial configuration it was asking that C wire had to be connecte or it won't work"
Click to expand...
 
I've got the nest and a few of the thermometer dot things. I can change it so it uses the temp of a room we are more likely to be in ad the benchmark. For example at 10pm I'm probably gonna be in bed so I don't care how warm the hall way or living room is. and if I'm off schedule i can just switch it in the App
 
JesasaurusRex said:
Hmm, why not? Consensus sounds good. Kornholio might have sold me on the individual room sensors. That'd be great for the upstairs where the one room we frequent isn't the room with the thermostat in it.
Click to expand...

The less Google in your life the better.
 
Don't forget that PGE will give a pretty healthy rebate on qualifying products! Go to their website. (no, I don't work for them.)
 
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