Good news, ecobee owners! Ecobee is rolling out a major update to its popular ecobee3 smart thermostat this April! The 3.6 update is their biggest since the thermostat’s September 2014 launch and includes many popular-request features: outside temp now displays on ecobee3 unit’s idle screen improvements to heat pump algorithm HomeIQ overview in the web […]
Over the last few weeks we’ve been updating our reviews and comparison charts with the best selling* thermostats among Smart Thermostat Guide visitors. Unsurprisingly, the very popular ecobee3 (our review) dominates this list in both its 1-sensor and 3-sensor pack versions, but the much older Honeywell WiFi Smart Thermostat (our review) puts up a good fight, along […]
Just in time for the holiday shopping season, Ecobee announced today that their popular ecobee3 smart thermostat will be available in select North American Apple and Best Buy brick and mortar stores. The ecobee3 smarter wi-fi thermostat with remote sensors resolves a fundamental design flaw that has persisted since thermostats were invented – the flaw of only reading temperature […]
Good news for Nest owners: the 4.3 software update (rolling out this week) is adding more information to the display, improving the auto-scheduling feature, and adding a system test mode. Quick View The Nest’s interface got a big revamp in response to customer requests (and probably market competition – the Ecobee3 and the Honeywell Lyric both featured more on-screen […]
Back in the olden days, thermostats were simple on/off devices that didn’t need their own continuous power supply. Modern thermostats with Wi-Fi and backlit display, by contrast, need a steady supply of juice. The C wire, or “common wire” enables the continuous flow of 24 VAC power to the thermostat. Technically speaking, power flows from […]
On June 2nd, 2014 Apple announced (among other things) a new home automation platform dubbed HomeKit! HomeKit is brand new. As such, some things aren’t yet known, like how popular it will be with accessory makers or whether it will take off with homeowners. The next major event concerning HomeKit is Apple’s annual MFi summit in China this November, […]
Our ecobee3 SMART WiFi thermostat rating: The ecobee3 at a Glance Heads up! This article is about a retired ecobee thermostat model. The current models are: ecobee SmartThermostat with Voice Control [Our Review | Amazon link] ecobee Lite SmartThermostat [Our Review | Amazon link] The remainder of this article pertains to the older ecobee3 thermostat. Room sensors, […]
Our ecobee Smart Si thermostat rating: Smart Si at a Glance PROS Easy to create a schedule through drag-and-drop web interface, much faster than the “learning” process on a Nest Costs $100+ less than Nest, Lyric, and ecobee3 with few (if any) sacrifices Detailed usage reports with Home IQ (free!) Outdoor & indoor temps displayed on unit’s screen Slim and unobtrusive design looks like […]
Last update: 2/6/2015 Our Honeywell Lyric Quick Rating: Honeywell Lyric at a Glance The Lyric had a rocky start and half a year later things aren’t looking much better. What few Amazon reviews exist for the Honeywell Lyric are not kind. Various early users on tech forums and Amazon.com complain that the Honeywell Lyric was “beta at best” […]
PALO ALTO, CA – June 20, 2014 Last month, Nest announced its agreement to acquire Dropcam for $555 million in cash. This acquisition comes just a few months after Nest themselves were acquired by Google, meaning that the Google vs. Apple home automation showdown continues to heat up. Google adding Dropcam to its arsenal is another exciting volley in the battle over your […]