What are Smart Thermostats?
Normal thermostats allow you to change the temperature in your house - it’s simply a control panel for the heating and air conditioning system. A computer thermostat gives a way to set the temperature and having it change temperatures based on the time of the day.
The aspect that makes a smart thermostat so “smart” is how they observe and learn from common behaviors, remotely allow you regulate the atmosphere to make it more of a “smart home”, give you energy consumption data as it’s happening, and even adjusting themselves based on variables like humidity for instance.
What Types of Smart Thermostats Are Available?
Generally, a computer thermostat is made from one of two types. First, the kind that learns from your behavior automatically and adjusts themselves (so they don’t need to be programmed by you), and the kind that can connect to the internet for remote programming and management. The best types have a combination of both.
You might have heard about the Nexia Home Intelligence Thermostat, which was one the first of its kind to hit shelves. The Nexia incorporates a nice-looking design with efficient remote management tools and apps for added money savings. In addition, it’s a learning thermostat, so it senses if someone’s home, if the air suddenly gets humid, or if someone’s warmed up the stove, and adjusts itself. Contact Ashley Heating for quick and easy installations with this design.
It’s definitely a pioneer. Other devices grant similar innovations like mobile remote management, internet connectivity and “learning” characteristics which allow it to auto-program itself around your habits.
For instance, you make these devices shut off once you exit the house for work and maybe later you want it to start back up with just enough time to warm up the house (or cool it down) for when you get back.
A smart thermostat will tell you how much time it takes to adjust the temperature you requested. It shows the details of how effective your heating and cooling arrangement actually is. Even more, you can handle a lot of smart thermostats with a webapp or your phone.
With the remote interface, you’ll always have the ability to review how much your bills are with heating or cooling, change the programming in order to save more money, and watch the changes happen immediately.
The Bottom Line
Ultimately, smart thermostats eliminate the struggles of changing the temperature in such a way that skirts the line of energy efficiency and comfort, turning it into a smart home. It takes the guesswork out of heating or cooling a house, especially if there’s no one home.
So if the task of adjusting the thermostat manually each time you leave or get home when you’re off to work or just running errands makes your head spin, they can be worth the investment to earn the savings back over time.