I’m wanting to order a thermostat by tomorrow that I’ll be able to use with ST.
I’ve never had anything “fancy” so don’t need a million features. I’d like to be able to adjust it from my phone before I leave work (which time varies daily) so my house will be warmer/cooler when I get home, etc.
I’ve seen Nest Thermostat e, ecobee, Honeywell lyric, etc. I’m not understanding the big price differences in some of them - but if there’s a big reason to choose one over another, I feel like it’s an investment so would consider paying more if that’s a better choice (and most would be on an amazon warehouse deal)
I do think a white one will look better on my wall so I was leaning away from most of the nest because of that- it also seems like you’re payinf for the name with that?..
I have found that my Ecobee 4 is far better than what I thought it could be. My brother got out and bought one when he saw mine. When I was doing research, I saw more HVAC technicians recommended it, which was why I went with it. Now, I would not get another.
Ability to cover more applications as far as HVAC. The remote sensors work really well when I am in other rooms than the same one the thermostat is located. I like how it shuts off the furnace or A/C and lets the fan run a little longer to take advantage of that carry-over heat or cool. I love the reports. I was able to run my furnace 2-stage, which is saving me some heating costs and use of my furnace to hopefully get more years out of it. Personally, I do use the Amazon Alexa integration, too. I also use it to control my humidifier, which makes it more reactive with it being in the main floor to things like cooking or showers.
Go with an ecobee and let your HVAC operate independent of ST…but still integrate with ST.
I have remote ecobee sensors in every room with an HVAC register and each sensor is set to be active for home mode or sleep mode based on its location. ST is not needed for this. Scheduling of HVAC routines is independent of ST. I have the Ecobee programmed to automatically drop my AC settings by 2 degrees if the humidity exceeds a certain threshold (happens a lot in south Louisiana). No ST Routine or WebCore piston needed here!
I use ST to monitor and report Ecobee (and room) status. I use the ST Routines to override the Ecobee program, for example, I come home mid-day during a work day. This works great.
The best part is when (not if) ST cloud goes offline (and it does), the HVAC system works perfectly as programmed without ST.
Ecobee also provide maintenance schedules based on run-time hours and provides monthly report on HVAC usage and how I compare to neighbors (anonymous aggregation). This is helping guide me on where I need to prioritize money on improving the home envelope. ST can do this with some pretty complex WebCore pistons…or just plug in an Ecobee and let it do its job.
By the way, the Ecobee remote sensors can be used in ST to report room by room temperature. This as well is helping me determine what parts of the house need insulation improvements.
I have had good success with a pair of Nest’s - easy integration into ST routines, and Google Home through ST. I guess technically they run through their own app, with ST to override when routines require. No remote sensors required, easy installation, and it runs my humidifier too.
Haven’t had need to get this fancy but I’d imagine I could create virtual remote sensors through my other ST devices - if the temperature on a multi-sensor is below the temp reported elsewhere by x degrees, run the fan…
I think so, functionally they are the same in regards to ST integration, just with a few less features. The lite now also supports remote sensors - a HUGE plus. The only difference I can tell is the lite does not support auxiliary structures. I wanted to preserve this capability as humidity is an issue in my house. I plan to reinstate and seal the house in two years…which then may lead to an air quality issues in the house. So I wanted an all-in-one thermostat that can manage the HVAC and any auxiliary fresh air exchange and/or dehumidifier if I still need one. But then I am in South Louisiana. 2/3’s of the US urinates in our water and we drink it and breathe it
Thee ecobee can average the temperature of the thermostat itself along with the remote sensors. I have a 3 lite in my upstairs hallway which is not ideal because heat rises from the first floor and my bedrooms are often colder than what the thermostat was reporting. So I set it to ignore the thermostat temp and average the sensors in my bedrooms instead.
I have a 4 downstairs because I needed Aux capabilities and my kitchen is often colder than other areas because of more windows. So again the thermostat averages the temps to get it to the right temperature.
The remote sensors was the feature that sold me on the Ecobee.
Curious how this works… Say I have the Ecobee 4 with some sensors… Say I set the temp at 67*… It’s 67* in the room where the Ecobee is and 70* on the second floor where the sensor is…
It can’t shut vents so how does it get the second floor to be 67*?
Yep, the lite supports basic AC and heat operations. Not sure about 2nd stage or emergency heat. The “full” version also supports fresh air vents, heat exchangers, energy (heat and moisture) exchangers, humidifiers, dehumidifiers, electric filts, uv add-ons, etc. if you run a basic HVAC setup, the lite is good enough. If you need (or want) and supplemental equipment to run in conjunction with your hvac, you will need the full.
My example is I run a 5-ton AC, a 48k-BTU gas furnace. The lite is adequate for this. Humidity in my house runs 65% to 75%, common in old south louisiana homes. I may add a dehumidifier. Before I do that, i need to seal my home. Once I seal my home, I need a fresh air exchange system. That’s two accessories the lite can’t run.
You can run the lite model on your base HVAC equipment and run the supplemental stuff on ST as well. My concern there is stated above. If it’s important, keep it independent and then use ST for monitoring and supplemental controls or programmatic overrides.
RBoy
(www.rboyapps.com - Making SmartThings Easy!)
20
Why not consider a really basic Z-Wave thermostat like a CT-xx series or a GoControl. Then create your custom rules in SmartThings to do the magic behind the scenes, everything from using remote temperature sensors, opening/closing vents to advanced scenes (turning it on / off based on presence or modes or schedules or motion etc).
