Best Smart Thermostats 2018

If you’re visiting this review, you likely want to learn about the best smart thermostats for your home. Whether you just want to upgrade your current thermostat, or you want to make your home more energy efficient, a smart thermostat might be a good choice for you. But, with most technology, they aren’t created equal.

Smart thermostats can be incredibly helpful for saving you money on energy costs, controlling your home’s temperature while you’re away, and even for hooking up to other devices for an all-around smart home. In this review, we’ll compare four of the top contenders in the industry so that you can find one that can be an asset to your home and family.

Nest Learning Thermostat Review

The Nest Learning Thermostat is an innovative gadget that learns all about your home and family, and how to adjust the temperature of your home for maximum comfort and savings. Its easy-to-read screen and stylish look allow it to look aesthetically pleasing in just about any home and room.

Features

• Learns your schedule over time so that it can adjust your home temperature for maximum savings
• Lights up when you walk into the room so that you can view the temperature, weather, and time
• Integrates with Google Home and Amazon Echo, as well as several other smart devices, for convenience of remote use
• Connect via your smartphone, laptop, or another mobile device to adjust the temperature while you’re away

What Makes It Different?

The Nest Learning Thermostat is one of the easiest to get set up. You can typically install one of these thermostats in about a half an hour and have it running and learning about your home immediately. And, its ability to learn your temperature preferences and when you’re usually home or out of the home makes it one of the best smart thermostats for conserving energy when it’s not needed in your house.

Potential Drawbacks

The Nest is all about making your home more efficient and saving you money on your energy bill. But, this efficiency comes with a three-degree +/- range after you’ve set your ideal temperature. If you feel the most comfortable when your home is set at 71 on the nose, you might not like it if Nest lets itself get to 69 or 68 before kicking the furnace back on. This could be a deal breaker if you’re adamant about your comfortable temperature.

Verdict

There is a reason that Nest is one of the most well-known names in the smart thermostat industry: its Nest Learning Thermostat is simply one of the best your money can buy. If you don’t mind slight differences in temperature from what you set your thermostat to if it’s in the name of energy savings, then Nest is probably a good option. Its ability to learn your schedule and kick on only when you need it to can save you a lot of money over time.

Ecobee3 lite Smart Thermostat Review

The Ecobee3 lite is a step below the brand’s newest version, the Ecobee4. But, the system offers most of the same features at a much lower cost, making it a budget-friendly option that’s highly comparable to the Nest Learning Thermostat.

Features

• Utilizes room sensors to bring you more even cooling and heating through your home
• Integrates with Samsung SmartThings, Amazon Echo, Apple HomeKit, and more
• Control your thermostat remotely with your iOS or Android mobile device
• Quick, easy installation with everything you need to be included

What Makes It Different?

Ecobee3 lite stomps its competition in one major area: its ability to connect with different room sensors to give your home a more precise, consistent temperature that’s comfortable for everyone. You can place a sensor in each room you want the Ecobee3 lite to measure to manage better the cold and hot spots in your home, which is especially beneficial for older homes with inconsistent temperatures.

Potential Drawbacks

Ecobee3 lite’s most significant benefit is also one of its most significant drawbacks for some. The sensors cost about $40 each, so if you want one in every room, you’ll need to shell out some extra cash. You can, alternatively, just place an additional sensor or two in target areas of your house, like bedrooms, but you’re still looking at more money spent on top of the smart thermostat itself.

Verdict

The Ecobee3 lite is an affordable system alone, but costs can add up quickly when you add room sensors to complete your system. But, the ability to sense and adjust hot and cold spots can likely outweigh the extra costs for some homeowners.

Honeywell Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat Review

Honeywell’s Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat might not look quite as fancy as the Nest or Ecobee, but its bright touchscreen display shows you everything from your home’s temperature to the time, date, and weather. And, you can even manage your thermostat remotely by connecting to the Total Connect Comfort app on your mobile device.

Features

• Total Connect Comfort app is available on most mobile devices and lets you monitor and adjust your system when you’re away from home
• Large, clear interface makes it simple to adjust your settings and view important information right from the device
• Touchscreen can change color to better match your home
• Learns and adapts to your home’s energy uses and adjusts the temperature as needed

What Makes It Different?

The Honeywell Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat has a couple of essential features that make it stand out. Its large display can give you more information than the Nest and Ecobee, like alerts when you need to change your air filters or if something seems wrong with your heating or cooling systems. And, you can get reasonably in-depth with the information you want to know from your thermostat, such as how the weather outside compares to the inside of your home (even the humidity levels!).

Potential Drawbacks

Honeywell’s smart thermostat doesn’t offer the feature of motion detection like some others do, which would help it better adapt to your schedule and temperature needs. And, the Honeywell system may not be as compatible with homes as smart thermostats from other brands, since you must have a C-wire connection to be able to use the system.

Verdict

The Honeywell Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat provides a budget-friendly solution with many similar features of other top contenders in the industry. Although it’s missing out on some helpful features, it does cover the basics that can keep your home running more efficiently, without you needing to interfere much.

Bosch Connected Control Wi-Fi Thermostat Review

The Bosch Connected Control Wi-Fi Thermostat is, perhaps, one of the sleekest you’ll see, combining the minimalist design of the Nest with the large touch display of the Honeywell. This isn’t one of the most popular gadgets of its type, but it will likely leave you impressed with its comparable features to some of the top names.

Features

• Home entrance detection lets you know when someone enters your home by sending you an alert, and also helps to track the schedule of your family members for better adjustments
• Can adjust more efficiently with Weather Compensation technology that detects weather outside and adjusts the inside temperature accordingly
• Creates a heating and cooling schedule using self-adjusting technology

What Makes It Different?

You can choose to use an outdoor sensor that accurately monitors the temperature and humidity outside to help the thermostat’s Weather Compensation technology adjust with the outdoor temperature. If you don’t have a sensor, the thermostat will still change using Weather Compensation by getting local online weather data to calculate the temperature to get a more accurate supply temperature for your heating and cooling system.

Potential Drawbacks

The Bosch Connected Control Wi-Fi Thermostat only works with iOS and Android devices, which can control it remotely via an app, and does not integrate with other smart gadgets, like the Amazon Echo or Wink like other similar thermostats.

Verdict

The Bosch Connected Control Wi-Fi Thermostat offers an excellent option for those who want much of the same features as the Nest Learning Thermostat but at a lower price point. This thermostat does lack on its ability to integrate with other devices in the home, but if you mostly care about connecting to the control app rather than your Echo, this won’t be an issue for you.

The Bosch’s ability to take energy savings one step further with its Weather Compensation technology makes it a viable option for homeowners who want to conserve as much energy as possible.

What’s the Best Smart Thermostat?

The Nest Learning Thermostat and Ecobee3 lite are among our top two for their full-featured systems that integrate with just about any device you own. Although the Bosch and Honeywell smart thermostats are real contenders, they lack a few essential features that can help save homeowners hundreds per year.

Our number one choice is the Ecobee3 lite, which gives you the option to add room sensors to your home for an all-around even cooling and heating experience that slightly beats out the Nest Learning Thermostat. You can purchase this thermostat on Amazon and still benefit from the 3-year warranty.