Smart Thermostats, Your Guide to Energy Savings, Comfort, and Home Automation

by Samuel Kalenga on Aug 08, 2024

As the world becomes more interconnected, smart home technology is changing the way we live. One of the most popular and transformative devices in these new technologies are smart thermostats. But they are not so much replacements as they are upgrade – they are the control centre of the heating and cooling system of your home. Offering control, automation and efficiency, they can turn your home into a smart system evolving in a smoothly and constantly regulated way to create something you never thought possible, an energy efficient and affordable climate to make everything better. These systems are more than that though, they can be controlled from anywhere in the world using your smart phone or tablet because they are connected to your Wi-Fi network.

Beyond Traditional Thermostats: The Power of Smart Technology

Picture your thermostat adjusting the indoor temperature based on your daily schedule, taking into account where you are and even the outdoor weather. It’s possible through the use of smart thermostats, which utilise algorithms, sensors and connectivity to create an interior environment that is more comfortable, energy-efficient and personalised.

The Advantages of Embracing Smart Thermostats

Far from a novelty, smart thermostats offer a variety of benefits worthy of the investment for homeowners who want to maximise style and sustainability.

1. Energy Savings: A Significant Impact on Your Wallet and the Planet

But the core innovation in smart thermostat technology is energy efficiency. Your thermostat can analyse your usage patterns – and learn your typical behaviours – to optimise when your heating and cooling should kick on and turn off. Essentially, your HVAC system runs only when you need it to. This means lower energy usage, which translates to lower electricity bills and less of an environmental impact.

Here's how they achieve these savings:

Geofencing: If your smartphone has a location, a temperature control system, such as the Nest Learning Thermostat, could automatically lower the temperature when you left home, and raise it again when you returned. At home, your house would be warm and cosy when you arrived and cool and calm when you were away.
Learning Algorithms: Thermostats that are ‘smart’ continually learn your heating or cooling preferences, and then adapt to those by scheduling delivery of comfort conditions when they are most effective and economical. Remote Control: Connect your thermostat or lighting and appliances to the web via your smartphone or tablet, so you can dim your lights or turn up the heat while lounging on the couch a thousand miles from home.

2. Enhanced Comfort: Personalized Climate Control

Think of your home as always feeling just the way you are comfortable: whether you’re lying on the couch, cooking at the stove, or sleeping in bed. Smart thermostats can set home temperatures just right. They are ‘learning thermostats’ that tailor settings to your habits and preferences, adjusting the climate of your home based on your body’s temperature. You would no longer have those cold mornings or stuffy evenings. The thermostat will take care of it for you, keeping it just right.

3. Advanced Features: Beyond Basic Functionality

As well as controlling the temperature, smart thermostats can give your home a whole host of intelligence-enhancing enhancements and upgrades. Here are some of them:

Air Quality Monitoring: Some new smart thermostats have included internal sensors that monitor air quality and will tell you your current humidity and temperature levels, as well as alert you should air quality levels (such as PM2.5) be reached that might be harmful to your health. You can take corrective action if you enable yourself to do so.
- Energy Reports: Many smart thermostats have reports on their energy-use, and can show you your heating and cooling habits and where you can reduce consumption. This information will identify where you can ‘trim the fat’ in your energy use.
Exploring the World of Smart Thermostat Brands
As many smart thermostat manufacturers strive to provide the best experience for the consumer, it can be quite tricky to choose the best available product that suits your needs. Take a look below at the most popular appliances offered by some of the most recognized manufacturers, bearing in mind the basic key points of each device.
1. Nest Thermostat (and Google Nest Thermostat)
Chances are, if you have heard the words ‘smart thermostat’ anytime in the past decade, you are picturing one of these: the now-iconic Nest Thermostat. This device is lauded for its intuitive, simple design; its navigation interface, accomplished by spherical dial; its aggressive energy-saving algorithms that learn your heating and cooling schedule over time to better adapt itself to your lifestyle; and, of course, its designer aesthetic, available in black, silver or copper to fit into any home. Shortly after it was bought out by Google as part of the Nest acquisition, the thermostat became the Google Nest Thermostat, and it’s now fully integrable with all other Google Home devices. All you need to do to control your thermostat, see how much energy you’re using, or set schedules is ask Google Assistant – itself an ever-present home hub – and away you go.
2. Hive Thermostat
One of the most popular in the UK is Hive Thermostat, with an easy-to-use interface and great energy-saving functions. You can also use Hive to connect with other Hive smart home products, perhaps to create a home ecosystem that allows you to control lighting, lock the door and more. It’s compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, so you can control your heating with your voice.
3. Honeywell Home Thermostat
One of the longest-running names in home automation, Honeywell has a smart thermostat for almost any budget. On the lower end, they offer Honeywell Wi-Fi Thermostats that feature wireless control and access from a mobile device but lack advanced features such as voice control, geofencing, and learning algorithms. On the high end, they offer Honeywell Smart Thermostats, which integrate air quality monitoring and other features, along with enhanced Wi-Fi thermostat features.
4. Tado Smart Thermostat
The Tado Smart Thermostat is both ahead of the curve in features and easier to integrate into your home thanks to smart radiator thermostats that integrate with a standard thermostat. In its starter kit, Tado has the sleek next-gen Tado V3+ smart thermostat and two smart radiator valves that you can control to perfectly heat individual rooms in the house. Tado is focused on comfort over dumb scheduling. Another advantage of Tado’s smart radiator thermostats is that they allow you to control the temperature of individual rooms in a house, so that different people in different rooms can have different temperatures to suit their needs. Bedrooms, living rooms, or in some cases even individual rooms in a house each containing a different person can all be controlled separately.
5. Netatmo Thermostat
With its sleek aluminium body and touch-sensitive interface, the Netatmo Thermostat is one of the easiest we’ve used. Created as part of a family of smart home devices that also includes smoke alarms, security alarms, air quality sensors and the latest weather station, the Netatmo Thermostat’s app is simple to use. Through it, you can check your home’s temperature, change your schedule, monitor your electricity use and more. Using features such as geofencing, automatic scheduling and open window detection, which senses and reacts to changes such as the sound of a door slamming, the Netatmo Thermostat adjusts the temperature in your home accordingly.
Choosing the Right Smart Thermostat for Your Needs
Today’s smart thermostats come in so many different models. It’s easy to get overwhelmed and confused about which one to buy. Here’s a breakdown of the factors to consider when choosing your next smart thermostat.
- Energy-efficient: ideally, you want to choose a thermostat that is energy-efficient (by now, this should be a fait accompli). You want one that has learning algorithms built in, has sensors for temperature and humidity, and integrates with your central heating timer to form a smart thermostatic schedule. Go for a piece of kit that actively works out how to use the least energy, and that will help you reduce your carbon footprint.
Smart Thermostats for Specific Needs: Finding the Perfect Match
When smart thermostats, one size does not fit all. Here are some use cases and recommendations.
Amazon UK
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon US
Smart Thermostats: Shaping the Future of Home Comfort
Smart thermostats go far beyond just an upgraded piece of technology: they signal an entirely new paradigm shift in thinking about comfort, energy usage, and efficiency in the home. They enable near-instantaneous convenience, the ultimate customised control, and greatest potential in energy savings of any thermostat on the market, making them an indispensable device to any homeowner attempting to create that comfortable, more sustainable, more ‘smart’ future in their households. There’s no question that thermostats – and every other aspect of our homes – will continue evolving along with technology, making our homes more livable, usable and connected over the coming years.