These days, everything is “smart.” We have smartphones and smartwatches, so why not smart homes?
What is a smart home?
Smart home technology is technology that allows all your household tech–we’re talking appliances, TVs, lighting, and even your heating and cooling systems–to communicate with each other and to be controlled by you over wifi with a device.
To the luddites among us, this might seem a little creepy. At the very least, it’s extravagant, right?
Well, maybe not. There’s a chance that by using smart home technology like Nest or Ecobee you can even save money on your energy bill!
What is a smart thermostat?
Years ago, thermostats were wired to your heating unit and were alerted of temperature change using a mercury switch.
Then came electronic digital thermostats. These were easier to use and allowed you to have settings for comfortable temperatures while you were away and while you were home.
Now, we have “smart” thermostats. Smart thermostats are, well, smart. They learn from you and your habits to help you save money without infringing on your lifestyle. You can control them with your phone or tablet. So whether you’re leaving work and want to come home to a nice toasty house or it’s unseasonably warm and you decide to turn the temperature down while you’re not around, you can do that!
One of the most popular smart thermostats out there is the Nest. And while there are certainly some advantages to using Nest, that’s not the smart thermostat we recommend to our clients throughout Malden, Medford, Stoneham and the North Shore. One of the main reasons we don’t recommend Nest is because we’ve seen a lot of homeowners experience odd problems with their Nest, including the fan being turned on rather than the heat (and vice-versa).
Because of this, we don’t provide them to our clients. However, we will install Nests if the homeowner provides the equipment, and only after we go over our concerns.
So, what do we recommend? Glad you asked. We recommend the Ecobee smart thermostat.
What is Ecobee?
Ecobee offers a sleek, clean looking thermostat with a full color touchscreen that is easy to install. The system comes with one remote sensor that you place in another room separate from where the thermostat unit is. This sensor uses motion sensors to redirect heating or cooling only to rooms being used at the time.
What it does
The Ecobee smart thermostat learns about your lifestyle and habits to automatically maintain the most efficient yet comfortable level of heating and cooling in your house. By making informed decisions about where to heat and cool your house, Ecobee can save you nearly 25% off your heating and cooling bill. That’s some serious cash.
Other things to note
Another great thing about Ecobee that we prefer over its competitors is that you can purchase extra sensors. If you have a bigger home, or different levels of your house require very different heating, this is great. You can purchase the sensors separately without having to purchase a whole new thermostat, unlike other brands.
Also, there is a mobile app that allows you to control your HVAC systems from anywhere.
And finally, Ecobee plays well with others. If you have other smart home technology like the Amazon Echo, Apple Homekit, or SmartThings, then you can link them all together.
Want to get smart?
Thinking of making the switch to smart home technology to see if it could save you money? Still have questions? Give us a call anytime, we’d love to help!