Are you looking for a thermostat upgrade? If you are looking for something to smarten up your smart home, a smart thermostat should be a must in your list. They are an excellent addition to your house as they let you control the temperature digitally.
The best thermostat is the one that automatically adjusts your home’s temperature with the least amount of programming required. It not only lets you control and monitor your home’s temperature but also helps to control the electricity bill. An ideal smart thermostat must understand your routine (like the time you leave your house or the time when you sleep), and you should be able to access from anywhere.
As with the technology, there is a wide variety of options available in the market, but we have mentioned the best ones. Have a look!
The 10 Best Smart Thermostat Under $200
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1. Ecobee3 Thermostat with Sensor
The ecobee3 thermostat works with Alexa for voice control purposes. It is a smart thermostat without a smart assistant because the Alexa is not built-in. Based on your home’s energy profile, it automatically understands whether to turn on the heating equipment or the cooling equipment. It also senses if anyone is home and if yes, in which room and thus, delivers comfort to that part of the room without wasting electricity on the rest of the part of your house. As per the survey, it lowers an average of 23-24% of energy bills on an annual basis.
The thermostat comes with special sensors which measure the occupancy and the temperature of the room and then deliver the results accordingly. It is easy to install, but the only disadvantage of this product is it doesn’t have room sensors.
If you have too many Alexa devices at your home, then you must go with this thermostat.
2. Honeywell RTH9585WF1004/W Programmable Thermostat
The Honeywell RTH9585WF1004/W thermostat gives you total control over your home with its incredibly simple controls. It has a customizable and colorful touchscreen. It is fun to read the numbers and other settings in such warm display. It is very easy to install and comes with a simple DIY manual.
The thermostat has some amazing flexible programming options which work according to your availability at your home. It also sends you some intelligent alerts such as it reminds you when to change the air filter or replace the humidifier pad. It also sends you temperature warnings and the connectivity issues, if any. The thermostat is ENERGY STAR Certified and works with a C-Wire.
The only disadvantage of this thermostat is that it does not work with heat pumps such as electric baseboard.
3. Hive Heating and Cooling Smart Thermostat
The Hive Heating and Cooling Smart Thermostat come with a Smart Thermostat and a Hive Hub which rapidly changes the temperature of your home with just one click. You can use the Quick Cool functionality or Quick Heat functionality to change the temperature.
The thermostat is compatible with voice control devices including Alexa and Google Home. You can charge the device using C-wire. There is an app called Hive app using which you can control the device via your smart phone or tablet or even a laptop. It also has special door and window sensors which helps in turning off the system automatically when you are not at home.
Cooling or heating your home becomes easy with this thermostat along with saving the energy. It is very easy to install and works with most HVAC systems.
4. Nest (T3007ES) Learning Thermostat
The Nest Third Generation thermostat is one of the best thermostats available in the market. It is well known for its ability to learn the routines and adjusts the temperature accordingly. It adapts according to your needs, without you putting in a lot of efforts.
The thermostat has built-in sensors which detect if anyone is there at home and works on the temperature accordingly. It also has a location-based feature that tracks your phone’s location and a few manual adjustments.
It comes in four attractive colors and a warm display which helps you see the temperature from any corner of the room. The screen is really beautiful with an analog clock face. The device works with Alexa for voice control.
The most amazing part of this thermostat is it is the first thermostat in the market to get certified by ENERGY STAR.
5. Original Xiaomi Mi Smart Temperature
The Xiaomi Mi Smart thermostat comes with a humidity sensor which detects real-time temperature and humidity. If the device detects any abnormality with the temperature or humidity levels, it rings an alarm. This system is completely automated.
The thermostat gives you a historical energy usage data along with other functionalities using which you can control the temperature and humidity levels. It has long battery life and is very convenient to use.
6. Mysa Smart Thermostat for Electric Baseboard Heaters
The Mysa Smart Thermostat is another great thermostat which is compatible with high/line voltage devices, and thus, it works with Baseboard heaters as well. You can directly use the device via your smartphone, and it works for both Android and iOS smartphones and tablets. This helps in making the scheduling process easy.
The thermostat has a new feature called vacation mode where you can shut it off completely while you are not around. It gives you time-to-time energy usage reports which give you an idea of the energy consumption for the day.
You can integrate this device with any voice control device such as Alexa or IFTTT or Apple HomeKit.
7. Orbit 83521 Clear Comfort Programmable Thermostat
Its beautiful and sleek design complements the interior of your house. It has a large display screen and a warm backlight which gives you an easy and decent view from any corner of the room.
The thermostat has an early start mode which ensures that the room reaches the optimum and desired temperature at the programmed time. There are some amazing programming features such as copy mode, temporary hold mode or permanent hold modes which makes it very convenient and easy to use.
The Orbit 83521 thermostat is not compatible with 3-wire hydronic systems and baseboard heaters.
8. Emerson Sensi Touch Wi-Fi Thermostat
The Emerson Sensi Touch Wi-Fi Thermostat was awarded as the best smart thermostat by USA Today’s Reviewed.com in the year 2018. It is certified by the ENERGY STAR and helps you in saving the HVAC energy costs. The thermostat has some amazing features for the same purpose such as geofencing and pre-scheduling functionality. It also provides you with timely reports of the energy usage. It takes hardly 30-minutes time for the installation, and you can do it yourself with the help of the instruction manual.
It is extensively compatible and can work with all the HVAC equipment using C-wire. It is also compatible with most of the voice control devices such as Alexa, wink smart home appliances, Google assistant, and apple home kit.
You can control the thermostat from anywhere in the world via your smartphone or tablet using an app called Sensi. This app is available for both Android and iOS users. It has an HD touchscreen display along with some amazing enhanced features.
9. Bosch BCC100 SmartPhone Wi-Fi Thermostat
This modern and sleek thermostat comes with a very classy 5-inch touchscreen display that allows easy scheduling and programming from anywhere. The Bosch Wi-Fi thermostat is compatible with Alexa, and you can directly connect it to the internet and access its programming. You can control and change the settings directly via your tablet or smartphone. The amazing part of this thermostat is that it is fully functional even without the Wi-Fi as well.
It is a very good mid-range thermostat with a large and colorful touchscreen. It does not support two-wired systems. This is why you need a C-wire (common wire) to power the thermostat.
It is not compatible with a few Bosch Boiler controls like Logamatic.
10. Karandash F-22 Thermostat
The Karandash F-22 Thermostat also works with Alexa for voice control. The Alexa is not built-in. You have to use it separately. You can control the thermostat via your smartphone or tablet by using an app called My ComfortHome. This app is available for both Android and iOS devices.
The display is touchscreen and easy-to-read temperatures and has an intuitive menu. It has amazing energy saving features such as geofencing which helps you save a lot of money on the electricity bill. It also gives you 7-day flexible scheduling access.
The thermostat comes in a very sleek and intuitive design. It is easy to install and use.
Buying Guide For Smart Thermostats
Whenever you go to buy a smart thermostat, you must keep a few pointers in your mind. Some of them are mentioned below:
- They should meet the C-wire requirement as they are the highly recommended ones.
- The installation process should be easy.
- It must have the geofencing functionality.
- It should give you remote access so that you can access the device from anywhere.
- It should have proximity and motion sensors.
How We Test Smart Thermostats?
To test the thermostats, we install each thermostat in homes which has a conventional HVAC system and test them for a week or more. This helps us understand the effectivity of the thermostat and how convenient is it to use.
The existing thermostats in those houses are wired with C, G, R, W, and Y wires. The C wire was connected to the furnace and was not used previously. Here, C stands for common wire, R stands for Red, which denotes power. G wire is green in color and connects the thermostat to the fan. The W, which means the white wire is present as a secondary source of heat; also called as auxiliary heat. The yellow wire, i.e. Y wire connects the thermostat to the air conditioner of your house (according to the industry practice). Some homes even have separate power cables for cooling and heating purposes such as RC and RH wires. This color coding helps us in evaluating the product even better.
Conclusion
Heating and cooling play a huge role in keeping your house cosy and warm. While traditional thermostats do their jobs, the smart thermostats make your work easier and help you save a lot of energy and power consumption. Compare the options mentioned above and then select a smart thermostat according to your needs and requirements. All the above options are compatible with Amazon Alexa which means you can operate your smart thermostat using a single voice command.
Get a smart thermostat for your smart home. It is a worthwhile upgrade!
