Wifi thermostats

[MoneyGuy]

We’ve had a Nest unit for 3-4 years and don’t like it. I like being able to control heat and cooling remotely especially when we’re travelling but the Nest changes settings on its own. If we’re downstairs watching TV and no one walks past the unit for a couple of hours it turns the temperature down, for example.

My questions....

Does anyone here have a Nest who can reassure me that this sensitivity is changeable? My furnace guy recommends the Honeywell units. I’m interested in personal experiences with Honeywell or if people have other recommendations?

[Weitz]

The nest units aren’t very good. I’d switch to EcoBee.

[CaptainCrunch]

Look at you people with your fancy dancy 1% computerized, voice command thermostats. I bet you buy the macaroni and cheese with an actual brand logo on it too.

[OldDutch]

The base model nest doesn't have the "learning" built into it.

https://store.google.com/ca/product/...ostat?hl=en-CA

I have a nest learning as well, and I am also skeptical it has saved me any money. I have the smoke detectors so I am well invested at this point.

I have had Honeywell before nest and it was rock solid, but lacked any connectivity. That was 5 years ago. Their new products look like they have caught up and are cheapest option.

[Torture]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

We’ve had a Nest unit for 3-4 years and don’t like it. I like being able to control heat and cooling remotely especially when we’re travelling but the Nest changes settings on its own. If we’re downstairs watching TV and no one walks past the unit for a couple of hours it turns the temperature down, for example.

My questions....

Does anyone here have a Nest who can reassure me that this sensitivity is changeable? My furnace guy recommends the Honeywell units. I’m interested in personal experiences with Honeywell or if people have other recommendations?

You can turn off the "learning" from the Nest and basically make it a programmable thermostat w/ home/away which seems to do the trick for me.

Most of the recommendations for smart thermostats that I've seen are for the EcoBee.

[krynski]

I installed a nest a little over a year ago, and I'm kind of "meh" with it. I think the only thing about a wi-fi thermostat that I like is that you can change the temperature if you are not home, and it's programmable (but that isn't a premium price feature).

The "learning" is kind of a pain in the @$$ because if you are the primary person who controls the thermostat, it senses if you are away (through your phone), and puts the thermostat in away mode. I have woken up to multiple messages from my partner when I am out of town to some not so nice comments. I essentially disabled learning because it was more of a headache than a benefit.

Looking back, I probably would have just purchased a programmable thermostat over a Nest and that would have been fine for my needs. It's my own fault that I was hoping to do more...

Not a fan that it is linked to your google account also. So if I sell my house, I have to re-install the POS thermostat that was there before and uninstall the nest to take it to a new place...

[Hemi-Cuda]

I've got the new cheaper Nest version without learning and I quite like it. Being able to look at and change the temperature from my phone without having to go downstairs is quite nice. It does have presence sense that will turn the thermostat to Eco mode if no one is home (you can connect multiple phones up to it so it knows who's home), but I turned that off as my wife has a home business so the house is never empty long enough for that to be useful

[Barnes]

Just turn learning off. Without the ability to add room occupancy sensors it’s pretty useless if the thermostat doesn’t get motion often. I had a Nest for years and turned off the learning. When we moved, we went with two ecobees and three room sensors.

Nest has sensors but they are just temperature and don’t have occupancy which makes the completely useless.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Been very happy with the Ecobee. This was a recommendation from Everlast's preferred furnace installer as he's found it caused fewer problems from a furnace perspective. This was alongside a new furnace install. Being professionally installed it's also setup to utilize 1st and 2nd stage heating, as well as the humidifier. All of this system activity can be viewed in logs which is interesting to see. Maybe it's the new furnace, maybe it's the Ecobee - but in 16 years this house has never felt more comfortable temperature wise.

The remote temp / occupancy sensors have been great. Alexa integration is handy as the latest version functions as an Alexa device. I think the "EcoPlus" feature is some sort of leaning mode like Nests, but you can dial back the aggressiveness of it if needed.

And it's a Canadian company, so there's that.

[bizaro86]

I'm pretty happy with our non-learning nests. Control from the app, voice control through our Google hubs/Android phones. We also bought some temperature sensors and put them in our kids rooms, so it shows those temperatures and we can control our furnace of those sensors instead. This is helpful if all the upstairs doors are closed, we can set the setpoint to our kids room and the furnace control is based on that. I found before we had that our upstairs hallway temperature (where the upstairs furnace thermostat is) wasn't always representative of the temperature in the rooms.

[Jacks]

+1 for Ecobee

[Wastedyouth]

Ecobee Lite 3 is the way to go.

[stang]

I’m using a Honeywell T5 Lyric in the house and garage and really like it. Program from the phone and just tell Siri to turn the temp up when I’m going out to the garage

[bagofpucks]

Hi

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by bagofpucks

Hi

Uh, hello?

[Sliver]

Anybody have a smart thermostat they use with radiant floor heating? Buying a condo in Canmore and there is no furnace...just radiant floor (the place is just on ground level with no upstairs). I'd like to be able to turn up the heat from Calgary before I arrive.

Also, anyone with experience with radiant floor heating? Do you need to set the temp like a day in advance?

[bagofpucks]

I can’t speak to the smart thermostat piece, but we have radiant in floor heat in our basement and there are pros and cons for sure. It is a finicky system and it definitely does lag a bit if the weather changes drastically. However, it being cold outside and having cozy warm floors is a wonderful thing. Apparently it is more efficient, but I have never done any hard math on it. I will be curious with your experiences too, especially in regards to thermostat as I’m sure ours will be due for replacement at some point.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Anybody have a smart thermostat they use with radiant floor heating? Buying a condo in Canmore and there is no furnace...just radiant floor (the place is just on ground level with no upstairs). I'd like to be able to turn up the heat from Calgary before I arrive.

Also, anyone with experience with radiant floor heating? Do you need to set the temp like a day in advance?

Assuming it's an apartment style condo with multiple floors above and around you - I wouldn't bother for as radiant heat takes eons to respond - like 4-5 hours. Also, most condo boards would rather you not drop your unit temps in case you drop too low that something on an exterior wall freezes.

Honestly, I'd just set it at 21 and let it ride..... I've always believed that thermostats in radiant heat condos are like the close door button of an elevator... total placebo button.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by Weitz

The nest units aren’t very good. I’d switch to EcoBee.

Ecobee is a solid product and they are a Canadian company to boot. Win win.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Wastedyouth

Ecobee Lite 3 is the way to go.

This. For the money this is the best smart thermostat. Also they are a Canadian company.