Choosing the Best Smart Thermostat for Your Home

If you’ve never experienced the disappointment of coming home to a house that is way too warm or cold, consider yourself lucky. It’s a battle many of us have fought over the years, but luckily, it’s an avoidable problem these days. With a smart digital thermostat, you’ll have full control over the air in your home. But there’s a large variety of options, so how do you choose the best smart thermostat for your needs? Let’s explore some tips.

Understanding Your Needs

Before you even start shopping, identify what you’re looking for. What one person considers the best might be useless to someone else. Do you want full integration with your other smart devices? Do you want to prioritize energy efficiency?

It’s also important to consider your home’s heating and cooling system, options for installation, and most importantly, your budget. There’s nothing more disappointing than finding a product that’s perfect for you in every way only to find it’s outside of your price range.

Key Features to Look For

While certain thermostats come with some nice bells and whistles, there are certain features that should be included in even basic models. To start, make sure every device you’re considering offers the ability to schedule around your lifestyle and routines. This is the feature that will ease the problem of getting home to a less-than-ideal temperature. If you get home at 5:00, schedule your air to kick in shortly beforehand so it’ll be right where you want it when you walk through the door.

Of course, it would hardly be considered “smart” if it wasn’t compatible with voice assistants like Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant, or other popular platforms.

Energy usage reports are another feature that should be included in your digital thermostat options. Expanding upon that, many models offer suggestions on optimizing for energy efficiency. One really cool way these thermostats achieve this optimization is by occupancy detection. Basically, it detects which rooms have occupants, and prioritizes delivering ideal air into those areas of the home.

Budget Considerations

As we stated earlier, it’s no fun to be blindsided by the price of the best smart thermostat for your needs. But here’s another thing to consider: the high-end devices may have an intimidating up-front cost, but the savings that add up over time more than make up for it. Even so, we understand if that initial price is simply too steep. Fortunately, many companies (like yours truly) offer various rebates and incentives that can lighten the burden on your bank account. These are always rotating at Holtzople, so be sure to stay up-to-date!

One final recommendation we have is that you should only shop for features you’ll use. Some features might seem great, but if you’ll never end up using them, you shouldn’t be shelling out the money for them. Careful research will yield plenty of affordable results that work perfectly for you!

Smart Thermostat Installation and Setup

If you’re great with wiring and other tasks related to HVAC equipment and smart home devices, we can’t stop you from doing DIY installation. However, most people don’t have the expertise required to get the job done correctly. It would be a shame to find the best smart thermostat and miss out on some of its features because it wasn’t installed properly. If there’s any doubt you can get it done, call the professionals at Holtzople. We’ve been doing this for years, and we’ll make sure everything is up and running for you!

Once we’ve ensured your thermostat is compatible with your system, we’ll perform the smart thermostat installation and educate you with the proper information you need to maintain it. Before your appointment is over, you’ll have all the necessary apps and access required to get the best experience out of your new equipment. These apps not only offer control over the temperature and scheduling, but you’ll have options to pair it with your other devices as well.

User Experience and Interface

We get it. Some pieces of technology have an interface that’s hard to navigate if you haven’t been staring at a computer your whole life. That’s why it’s important to test out each device you consider. Tinker in the menus to make sure you can find your way around and everything makes sense.

Not only is the navigation on the device itself important, but you should also choose one that has an app that works well. Is it reliable and bug-free? Does it have plenty of customization options?

Customer Support and Warranty

Even the best smart thermostat has the potential to break. For those instances, you’ll thank yourself for choosing a device that has a great customer support team behind it. Everyone knows how frustrating it can be to call support only to find they’re as clueless as them. Ensure there are multiple channels for communication—phone, email, and live chat are a must.

Reviews and Recommendations

Finally, it’s not advisable to make any purchase without first looking up reviews from actual customers. Look at reliable review sites like Amazon to read about peoples’ experiences using the smart thermostats you’re considering. It’s important to note here that you shouldn’t base your decision on star ratings alone. Pay attention to the written words, because unfortunately, some 1-star reviews are given for reasons that many would consider unwarranted. This is the internet, after all. You’re bound to come across reviews that are a little dramatic.

If possible, talk to friends, family, and neighbors who have the product you’re considering. Getting in-person feedback is even more valuable than online reviews, and could be the make or break opinion in your research!

Once you’ve finished looking up reviews and other feedback, make a list of final contenders, compare their prices and features, and decide on a lucky winner.

Conclusion

There’s a huge selection of smart thermostats out there, and many of them are high quality. That’s why your choice should come down to your needs, customer reviews, features, and product support. When you’re ready to begin your search for the best smart thermostat, the pros at Holtzople are ready to help you make the best possible decision. Reach out today, and let’s make your home a little smarter!