WiFi Thermostats?

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Kaolinchemist

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 6, 2008
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I have been looking at new thermostats for the untimely new 5ton HVAC I just wrote a check for right at Christmas time.

I have been researching the Honeywells which seem to be a good basic entry for ~ $85, much cheaper than Nests, etc.

Anyone have any experience with the Honeywell RTH6580WF which gets good Amazon reviews? Any bad experiences with WiFi Thermostats in general? Thanks in advance for input.
 
i'm also looking for that can do data logging and have real-time display/graphs, alerts when temp changes.
 
I just got a Nest Thermostat and Smoke Detector on Black Friday both do logging plus api's are available if you have any questions just ask them in the thread
 
Got the Nest for 35% off through work. LOVE IT!

Easy to program and great for quick changes from the bedroom upstairs.
 
I've got the EcoBee3, and it's been nice. Can change the scheduled via thermostat/phone/web. And, it'll keep track of run time, and a few other things.
 
If you are replacing your entire system, seriously consider the manufactures WiFi thermostats. Much better integration with the system.

I installed a new 2 stage carrier system (both air/heat) and went with their WiFi thermostat.
I can control it from my phone, and their web site tracks what stage (hi/low it running at, along with the current temp and when the fan is running)

Really like the 2 stage Air out here in California during the summer. It runs 90% of the time at the lower stage that's much quieter and draws less power.

I did install a couple Nest Smoke alarms, used the battery version since my house wasn't wired for plug-in detectors. Probably the best battery home alarms available. All the cheap ones they sell out here in California have sealed batteries that are supposed last 10 years (they never do), and have a horrible record of false alarms that can only be silenced by permently disabling it or taking a hammer to it

Just one question. If the fire alarm go off while I'm traveling out of state, and I'm notified on my cell phone, how do I call home town 911 to report a fire :confused:
 
Last edited:
nutzo said:
Just one question. If the fire alarm go off while I'm traveling out of state, and I'm notified on my cell phone, how do I call home town 911 to report a fire :confused:
Click to expand...

Call the local fire dept but it shouldnt matter if the house is on fire you're not home :p
 
Another Nest disciple here. It was thrown in as part of a new Carrier AC system I had to buy back in June. Installed a couple of Nest smoke detectors, myself. Full WiFi control from my phone and tablet. Nest emails a monthly report on my AC/heating system, too.
 
Snagged a gen 3 nest at goodwill for $60 a few months back and I love it. Honestly don't use the wifi aspect much, it's one of those "set it and forget it" devices for me. That's the main reason I'm glad I found the nest and didn't just buy the honeywell wifi thermostat I had been looking at - I'm way too lazy to mess with schedules and now that it's setup my nest does all the work for me - it knows when I'm away and when I'm home and sets the temp accordingly. Even reminds me to replace filters. Any other "programmable" thermostat I've ever had has sat in "HOLD" mode 90% of the time. Don't have enough data yet to say if / how much money the nest is saving over my old thermostat, but even if it's exactly the same usage I'm happy with it from the the ease of use standpoint alone.
 
I ended up getting the Honeywell I listed which was $85 on Amazon. It doesn't send reports but is a cheaper entry into this market. Now that I have one I concur with everyone that if you do not have a WiFi thermostat, I would strongly suggest getting one. With prices ranging from $85 on up there are many different sizes, brands, options, and screen sizes available. I would have thought most people on this forum would have one already :)
 
I just bought an EcoBee 3 a couple weeks ago and like it. Pretty simple to set up and included the power extender kit (only had 4 wires running to old thermostat). Went with EcoBee 3 because the reviews for the nest weren't the best, with lots of people saying it lost settings and things
 
Don't forget to check if your utility company offers a rebate. I know parts of SoCal can get $125 for a thermostat right now. Makes it tempting to get another ecobee3 for the upstairs AC unit.
 
I went a different route about 3 years ago. Seeing how Nests were pretty expensive, I just didn't think that spending $200+ on a thermostat made much sense. Our full electric house has reasonable bills, so I am not looking to make a major cost savings on the backend. We also are on irregular schedules, which includes often working from home, so that could throw some limited benefits in as well.

Anyway, my main wish was to be able to monitor the previous days utilization and control the temp + fan from my phone. I went with SmartThings as I could get the base unit, the thermostat, and a couple electric plugs for about the same cost. I went with a Trane/Honeywell ZWave thermostat. Has worked perfect! I like having all/near all my home automation in one platfrom (SmartThings) so I have centralized control. Currently I have about 10 lights using Zigbee or ZWave, a couple sensors, and the thermostat.

In the last 6 months, I have added in Alexa and Google Home. So I can say "set thermostat to XX". What I can't do with Alexa or GHome is change fan from auto/on or change from AC to heat. Just temp.
 
I just picked up an Ecobee3. I highly recommend it. Its very similar to a Nest.
 
Are they compatible with all units? How do I know which one I would need so it's compatible with my system?
 
Stay away from Pro1 thermostats. Our HVAC vendor moved us to these at the office and they are complete shit. Random drops off Wi-fi and requires a manual reconnection, web portal and app is slow and clunky.
 
I've been using the Ecobee3 + Room Sensors for about 8 months now; absolutely love it!
 
I have a Nest Gen 1 that's still working fine. Can't imagine life without one at this point.
 
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