Gadgetory

hey there folks I'm Megan willerton for student appliances and this is an HVAC buying guide so you probably have a basic manual control or programmable thermostat in your home right now but there are several smart home options that are becoming available that could just change your heating and cooling forever so if you have a programmable thermostat now and you're using it to set schedules you're already automating your heating and cooling environment to some extent but it isn't smart and adaptable like these models of the five smart thermostats we've reviewed so far there are three different key types of texts that define them the Nest Learning Thermostat the Honeywell Wi-Fi smart thermostat and the Honeywell Wi-Fi smart thermostat with voice control all rely on learning algorithms this is an adaptive way of heating and cooling your home it relies on motion sensors built into the thermostat and it will sense whether your home our way and even if you've already set a schedule which you can do with these models if it starts to notice that your home when your schedule is normally set to away it will actually automatically update your schedule to account for those changes so the Honeywell lyric thermostat takes a slightly different approach it relies on geofencing to determine how close or far away you are from home it actually has two different fences one that's 500 feet and one that's seven miles away and you can set it to whichever distance you prefer so if you set it to 500 feet when you cross out of that range it'll set to a way mode and when you cross back within that range it should revert to home mode the third main type of tech is sensor based so basically instead of having an adaptive algorithm or geo fencing it will rely on sensors built into the thermostat and also a remote sensor that you can position anywhere in your house so if you don't walk by your thermostat often even if your home it might set itself to away mode as far as installation goes these thermostats our DIY models you can find them alongside regular manual and programmable thermostats in local retail stores and like those more basic models the installation process is essentially identical you just need to keep in mind your level of expertise and be sure to enlist a professional or an experienced friend if you have any doubts about the installation most thermostats today will run on either a four or a five wire system that is the one key differentiating feature just keep in mind that you'll need the sea or common wire if you're installing the Honeywell Wi-Fi smart thermostat the Honeywell Wi-Fi smart thermostat with voice control or the Eco v3 thermostat the Honeywell lyric and the Nest Learning Thermostat can be installed with just four wires but definitely consult a professional if you are in doubt once you've installed your thermostat the next step is configuration and it's basically the same for all of these models they all have mobile apps that will ask you questions like what type of system you have is it forced air what type of fuel source you're using if it's a one or two stage heating and cooling system once you've done that your thermostat is configured and ready to use in addition to the unique adaptive features of these smart thermostats they also boast innovative design and work with a variety of third-party products so if you're interested in the smart home in general these would be very very good choices to look at just keep in mind that most models range between 250 to 350 dollars so it might take a while for you to actually enjoy the cost savings thanks for watching this HVAC buying guide be sure to check out the rest of our coverage on sina com i'm meghan Willerton forcing an appliance you