Ecobee. Stay away from Nest.
Do you have a smart or dumb thermostat?
- Thread starter ZZman
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I have a smart thermostat named Robyn. I never need to adjust it and if I did there would be a finger correcting my dumb thermostat idea.
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
Basic $30 Honeywell thermostat.
I have no desire to come home from work to a hot house in the summer. So what’s the point?
If I let it warm up during the day, then it would have to cool the house back down in 110* heat during my electricity peak hours from 4-7pm.
I have no desire to come home from work to a hot house in the summer. So what’s the point?
If I let it warm up during the day, then it would have to cool the house back down in 110* heat during my electricity peak hours from 4-7pm.
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- Oct 25, 2021
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It’s pretty legit. Like it a lot.
Yep. Ours basically bricked itself after 2 years, would show it’s connected but then freak out and say it’s not connected. Didn’t like that I couldn’t set the fan to circulate air randomly either.
Our tool and die guys at work do the same for their office lol… my smart thermostat was not bought with any utility rebates so they have absolutely no say over what I do with it nor do they know I have one.Aside from these thermostats the utility can control, hotel thermostats are the same. Woke up sweating and threw the thing on the lamp just to get some cool air and sleep.
I have a LUX thermostat too, 7 day programmable. I use it in the manual mode. Main reason I like the LUX is because it has adjustable temperature swing or differential. As far as I know LUX is the only brand that has that feature.
There is "dumb" then there is programable without the "smart" and after that comes "smart"
I have a programable without the smart Z-Wave thermostat for maximum energy savings.
I set the thermostat and we live by the settings. No turning it up or down is someone is hot or someone chilly. It's set to recognized standard comfort zones. You can also do this with a dumb thermostat for max savings.
1.
Winter = 63 at night when sleeping, 73 daytime, Summers 72/73 nighttime sleeping, 76/78 daytime
When away from the house it gets turned way down in the winter or way higher in the summer. That is where the Z-Wave (wifi can also do the same) comes in, if I forget to turn down the stat, I pull up the app on my phone, and within maybe 15 seconds adjust it.
2. I would propose that most people using so called "Smart" Thermostats other than the programmable and accessible mentioned above. Waste more energy than they think they may save and that is ok. They use "Smart" not to save money, whether they know it or not but to be most comfortable. By this I mean, outdoor sensors to turn up the heat sooner if its really cold outside or the AC on earlier than programmed if its hot outside.
Other sensors to sense when you are in the room OR sensors that get placed in other rooms to level out the overall temperature in the home instead of just living with it. This is all ok, I am NOT knocking it, but I look at "Smart" for people using these features, it's about matching air temperature to how you dress and to your liking for instant gratification. Repeat, that is fine, it's a luxury item but they are promoted as energy saving. Sorry but a dumb stat or programable stat is the energy saver for most the public except for the very few that actually try to use a "smart" stat to save money. It's doable, Im just suggesting most people have to no clue to properly do that and when they do, its not saving any more money than the others. But the corporations selling them are making boatloads on them AND selling (or using) your personal information.
I have a programable without the smart Z-Wave thermostat for maximum energy savings.
I set the thermostat and we live by the settings. No turning it up or down is someone is hot or someone chilly. It's set to recognized standard comfort zones. You can also do this with a dumb thermostat for max savings.
1.
Winter = 63 at night when sleeping, 73 daytime, Summers 72/73 nighttime sleeping, 76/78 daytime
When away from the house it gets turned way down in the winter or way higher in the summer. That is where the Z-Wave (wifi can also do the same) comes in, if I forget to turn down the stat, I pull up the app on my phone, and within maybe 15 seconds adjust it.
2. I would propose that most people using so called "Smart" Thermostats other than the programmable and accessible mentioned above. Waste more energy than they think they may save and that is ok. They use "Smart" not to save money, whether they know it or not but to be most comfortable. By this I mean, outdoor sensors to turn up the heat sooner if its really cold outside or the AC on earlier than programmed if its hot outside.
Other sensors to sense when you are in the room OR sensors that get placed in other rooms to level out the overall temperature in the home instead of just living with it. This is all ok, I am NOT knocking it, but I look at "Smart" for people using these features, it's about matching air temperature to how you dress and to your liking for instant gratification. Repeat, that is fine, it's a luxury item but they are promoted as energy saving. Sorry but a dumb stat or programable stat is the energy saver for most the public except for the very few that actually try to use a "smart" stat to save money. It's doable, Im just suggesting most people have to no clue to properly do that and when they do, its not saving any more money than the others. But the corporations selling them are making boatloads on them AND selling (or using) your personal information.
Many allow this, buried in the programming though, typically under the "installer" programming but not always, Ex. Many Honeywells allow this.
Ecobee Premium. It works fantastic. I probably did what you aren't supposed to do and mounted it to the wall next to the furnace enclosure so I wouldn't have to run wires.
I have a LUX that's about 20 years old. Bought a newer one but don't like it as well so put the old one back on. But only use it for AC and fan if I need it.
I ran it for years with no 24v ground. It will run off the batteries for a long long time.
I ran it for years with no 24v ground. It will run off the batteries for a long long time.
How come?
I have had a couple of Nest thermostats although I haven't switched the dumb thermostatus out at our 2022 build house yet. I will eventually.
The best thing about them is being able to change your thermostat without getting out of bed, assuming that you keep your cell phone on the nightstand like I do. The 2nd best thing is being able to turn them down remotely when you forget before going on vacation. Another good thing that the Nest and some of the other platforms have is remote sensors, we kept the temperature set at the thermostat in the main part of the house during the day, but at night we would run it off of the remote sensor in our bedroom.
I tried using the geolocation at our prior house but it didn't work very well for us. I think the unit was undersized for the house, and if you turned down the AC when leaving for the office in the summer, it had a hard time catching up when we got home. So we left it on the set point all the time in the summer. This feature would probably work better if you lived in a more moderate climate, in addition to having an AC appropriately sized for the house.
I have that one too. Mostly because I'm not home 3 weeks out of every 6 so it'll alert if the heat isn't working.
It stays at 68 year round. Might shut off a few days in July or August, about it.
My PA 4br house had 2 Nest thermostats, heat pump and NG 175,000 BTU furnace.
I was able to keep the house at 50ºF when not there in the winter. Which was as low as I dare, didn't want pipes to freeze.
While it's nice to think it saved money, it didn't seem to make much difference. The heating bills were still $600 per month.
I was able to keep the house at 50ºF when not there in the winter. Which was as low as I dare, didn't want pipes to freeze.
While it's nice to think it saved money, it didn't seem to make much difference. The heating bills were still $600 per month.
I use Ecobee, but I don't connect it to the wifi. The only complaint I have is that is runs fast
It is super convenient since its programmed to be lower when you're away, sleeping etc.
It is super convenient since its programmed to be lower when you're away, sleeping etc.
Very problematic.
I haven’t had any problems I’ve used it with google home and now on Alexa all integrated just fine. On the hardware side or software side you find it problematic?
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