[NEEDS UPDATING] Bulbs, switches and sensors, oh my....what to buy (device class features FAQ)

[JDRoberts]

A 2018 thread discussing various thermostat options, mostly by referral to previous forum threads:

2018: Best Smart Thermostat?

Continuing to dip my toes into the smart home water, having a smarter thermostat is one of the big reasons I have wanted to go the smart home route. Been leaning strongly towards the Ecobee 4 - the remote sensors will help even out my house which has a couple of areas that lag way behind the rest of the rooms. But reading reviews on Amazon I’m not so sure - seems like a lot of folks have problems with it, some serious. The last thing I can risk is a thermostat going haywire and either not heating the home and getting me some frozen pipes, or over heating it and getting me a crazy high heating bill. What’s the consensus here - is the Ecoobee any good? If not, what’s better? FYI not really interested in the Nest, not a fan of it’s automated learning feature. The Honeywell smart device…