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Amazon's smart thermostat falls to a new all-time low of $42 ahead of Prime Day
You can also get smart home bundles at a discount, as long as you have a Prime subscription.
Amazon's smart thermostat drops back to its all-time low of $48
Amazon's smart thermostat drops back to its all-time low of $48
Amazon's smart thermostat falls back to a low of $48
If you don't need all the fancy features of Google's Nest thermostat, Amazon's smart thermostat is a solid, budget-friendly option.
Amazon's smart thermostat is back on sale for $48
Amazon knocks 20 percent off its smart thermostat, bringing it down to $48.
Ecobee's eco+ update adds five cost-saving features (updated)
Smart thermostat maker Ecobee has just announced a new free update called eco+ that it claims will save you even more money when you use one of its devices. Ecobee is first rolling out eco+ to its latest product, the SmartThermostat. It'll push the update to its other thermostats -- including the Ecobee 4, Ecobee 3 and Ecobee 3 Lite -- starting in early 2020. To get the update, you'll need to download the latest version of the Ecobee mobile app.
Ecobee unveils its latest Alexa-powered smart thermostat
This morning, Ecobee released details on its latest voice-controlled smart thermostat. Rumors circulated last week when the device appeared briefly on the Lowe's website. Today, Ecobee made it official. Breaking away from its numbered naming scheme -- Ecobee 3, Ecobee 3 Lite and Ecobee 4 -- the company is calling this one, simply, the SmartThermostat. Ecobee says it's "packed with the power you would expect from a smartphone."
British Gas buys AlertMe, the company behind its Hive thermostat
Although there's an abundance of companies now offering smart thermostats, it's British Gas' Hive product that holds the top spot in the UK. The controller, which has now been installed in over 150,000 homes, relies on automation algorithms and mobile apps to keep people warm, all with a little help from a company called AlertMe. Not content with a 21 percent share in its partner, British Gas is spending big: it's just confirmed that it's paid £44 million to buy AlertMe, with the grand plan of launching its heating and automation products worldwide.
Smart everything: Behind Hive's plans to automate your entire home
When British Gas' Hive entered the connected home space a year ago, smart thermostats were still an emergent technology. The energy provider joined a small number of manufacturers, promising to change the way you heated your home with a mix of complex automation algorithms and slick mobile apps. Fast forward to today: While Brits have embraced smart thermostats from Nest, Tado, Climote, Netatmo and Honeywell, it's Hive that has enjoyed more of a significant uptake than most. Today, the subsidiary is claiming that its controller is now the most popular smart heating solution in the UK, having been installed in over 100,000 homes.
Honeywell's £229 voice-activated smart thermostat comes to the UK
For a while, Honeywell's range of smart thermostats was pretty limited in the UK. While the evoHome Controller certainly held its own against rival devices like Google's Nest and Tado, the company decided to bring its Single Zone Connected Thermostat to UK shores last week, and is now ready to let Brits control their heating using only their voice. The aptly-named Voice Controlled Thermostat basically acts like Google Now for your boiler; you get its attention by saying "Hello, thermostat," and then issue commands to make it warmer/cooler or change the temperature by a set number of degrees. Like Honeywell's other controllers, the Voice Controller Thermostat also comes with a companion app, allowing you to program the heating remotely and save energy while you're out the house. If you fancy some hands-free heating, Honeywell's new thermostat is now available for £229 from its wide network of official UK suppliers.
EverSense: More than a smart thermostat
First, there was the Nest Learning Thermostat, which brought home environment control to iOS users around the world. More recently, legacy thermostat and controls manufacturer Honeywell jumped into the fray with the Lyric smart thermostat. Now Austin-based Allure Energy is introducing a smart thermostat that also acts as a home hub. The company's EverSense system (US$299) is the first of its type to add features like music streaming, video playback and a weather app to the trusty home thermostat. The EverSense thermostat comes with an iOS app that provides proximity control of heating and cooling as well as remote control. Like the Nest, it can determine when you're at home or away and adjust the controls to make your life more comfortable. But it also adds features that the competitors don't have, such as wireless speakers that you can stream music to, an app that grabs your Flickr uploads and turns the EverSense display into a digital picture frame, the ability to play back videos, and a built-in weather app showing forecasts and radar images. The company plans to expand EverSense in the future, adding two more apps to the device -- one for Wi-Fi enabled security cameras and another to control smart plugs. The device itself is larger than a traditional thermostat, and makes use of GPS technology and a trademarked Proximity Control Technology to gradually adjust the temperature at a residence based on where the homeowner is to optimize energy usage.
Honeywell's Lyric thermostat is a worthy Nest competitor (hands-on)
Last week Honeywell announced the Lyric, its answer to the Nest learning thermostat. Today, we got a chance to see the WiFi-connected smart device in person. Retailing for $279 starting in August, the Lyric stands out for its geofencing feature, which uses smartphone location info to know whether you're home -- and to tweak the settings accordingly. When you're away, energy-saving mode is activated, and when you get within seven miles of your house, your preferred temperature will kick in. Honeywell thinks (well, hopes) you'll choose its product over the Nest for this reason, citing both the convenience factor and the energy savings.
Honeywell's Lyric thermostat has the looks and smarts to take on Nest
Honeywell has been in the connected thermostat game for a long time now. So when Nest came along and stole its thunder, you had to know the company would go back to the drawing board and return with its A-game. So here it is, the Lyric -- a decidedly Nest-like thermostat with a simple round body and a sizable display. The ability to show the current temperature or weather forecast is nice, but the proximity sensor shouldn't be overlooked. The screen automatically turns on as you approach, and stays off the rest of the time, so it doesn't constantly bathe your living room in orange light. You can physically turn the body to change temperatures obviously, but the selling point here is clearly the connectivity. The Lyric app (for iOS or Android) lets you adjust your furnace on the go and can be programmed to automatically boost or drop the temperature based on your GPS location. But, more than that, it can alert you to when you need to change the filter or have your furnace serviced. It will even direct you to a trusted Honeywell professional. The Lyric is available now through licensed professional contractors. But if you're you're the do-it-yourself type, you can pick one up for $279 at the beginning of August.
Honeywell and Opower team up for cloud-connected smart thermostat
Normally we wouldn't get too excited about a thermostat, even a so-called smart one. But, unlike what normally passes for a "smart" home heating solution, Honeywell's upcoming touchscreen devices are going to be paired with some real brains courtesy of Opower. Details of the partnership are still a little thin, but we do know that customers will be able to program and monitor energy usage, not just from the thermostat itself but, via internet connected devices like smartphones. Opower will even provide suggestions for trimming energy bills. The first trials are expected to begin in the next few months through utility companies, but Honeywell eventually expects to offer the devices through broader retail channels. Check out the full PR after the break.
Enphase Enlighten system controls home heating, cooling, solar production in the same web app
Enphase Energy has some pretty interesting tech for you to consider if you're thinking about going the Larry Hagman-esque solar power route (as opposed to the Barbara Eden veil-and-pantaloons route). The Microinverter System, for instance, converts DC power to AC household current at the solar panel, instead of sending the power accumulated at all the panels to one central inverter. And the microinverters aren't merely, well, "inverting." Nope, they also send stats to a gateway that, working with the Environ Smart Thermostat, allows you to keep tabs on your heating and cooling system as well as track solar panel performance all in the same web app. Pretty sweet, right? Or did we lose you at "Barbara Eden"? Hit the source link for more info.
Oncor's 'Take a Load Off, Texas' campaign offers Dallas residents smarter thermostats
Heating and cooling costs make up half of your average home's utility bills. A smarter thermostat, then, could save you big bucks, and so we're glad to see Texas utility company Oncor rolling out EcoFactor software and compatible thermostats to subscribers. These units look straightforward enough, but connect to the interwebs to download weather reports, meaning they can anticipate heatwaves and cool spells and plan accordingly. They can also figure out just how long it takes to get your home to a certain temperature, so if you want it 74 degrees at your pad by the time you arrive from work at 5:30 this thing can figure out the last possible minute it needs to spin up the AC. That's great, and a $19.95 installation fee is similarly encouraging, but we're not so keen on the $8.99 "monitoring" fee Oncor will be charging monthly. For that kind of cash this thing should track us on Latitude figure out our schedule by itself. Update: We got a note from EcoFactor who wanted to clarify a few things, primarily that they don't actually do the thermostats, just software. Its their software that tells the otherwise absent-minded thermostats what to do, which is where the subscription fee comes from (erroneously called a "monitoring" fee by our initial source). The first six months are free, but after that you're on the hook for nine bucks every lunar cycle or so. We still think that's a bit steep, but we've certainly spent more on less worthwhile things.
Ecobee's eco-saving, WiFi-enabled Smart Thermostat now available for order
When we first heard about Ecobee's Smart Thermostat last October, it claimed the device could recoup its $385 price tag within the first 12 to 18 months of use. Whether or not that's the case, you can now find out for yourself. The WiFi-enabled home automation tool, complete with ZigBee expansion slots, is now available to order online from the company's website. The upfront cost includes the $35 access fee for first year of use. Now how long must we wait until someone throws an emulator on this thing?
Ecobee debuts energy-saving, WiFi-connected Smart Thermostat
Sure, you can outfit your whole home with ZigBee-connected home automation devices, but if you're not quite ready to take that plunge in the future, you may want to consider something like Ecobee's new Smart Thermostat, which will give you a taste of home automation and help you save a few bucks in the process. Like some other similar thermostats, this one relies on WiFi to connect to your home network, which should ease installation considerably, and it even includes some optional ZigBee expansion slots in case you do want to integrate it into a more complete home automation setup. At $385 though, the device isn't exactly cheap, but the company says it'll pay for itself in energy cost savings within the first 12 to 18 months. You'll be able to put that claim to the test yourself when the device starts shipping early next year.
