Can anyone explain smart thermostats?

getmore4less

Emoji wrote: »

There are a few little things that although not massive help smart systems save you on heating.
1. They learn . so if you want the house at 22 degrees at 7:00 am and it takes 12 minutes to reach that temp. Then eventually your smart thermostat will learn that so won't keep turning on at 6:30 ,but it will also learn about how the outside temp affects the boilers ability to reach the desired temp.
2. That time you ~ Stay over an extra night with mates ~ stay out for dinner or work late. You can either set it as away from your phone or it will more than likely know from your phone that you are away .
3. And this might be just me ~ it seems to be more accurate . It fixes the temperature within about half a degree.I feel about right more often.
I use a nest thermostat with a combi boiler.

That is now built into most standalone programmable thermostats now.

A decent standalone programmable 7 day with at least 4 time periods and a holiday setting will work for most people with relatively fixed schedules.

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coffeehound wrote: »

Can I ask, do they get the outside temperature from the internet or is it a separate sensor?

some have both options,

those that use the internet may not be able to use your local temp but one of the standard ones which may be quite a way from your area.

Grenage

They are very much technology for technology's sake, and have less benefit as a home becomes better insulated.

My previous home was a well-insulated 70's brick build, and leaving the heating on at 18C 24/7, or getting it to turn on as required made no difference to the fuel bill.

This is probably less the case if you favour tropical temperatures.

Either way, I am heavily sceptical of any any savings when the additional costs are considered.

getmore4less

I got one that also controls the temp in the hot water tank we can now profile the temp of the water to our use cases and have it at a lower temp most of the time pot washing showers etc.

Extra hot for baths.

SplanK

After much deliberation last year, I ended up for the Honeywell evohome setup. Yes, I sank nearly £1000 into my setup, however it has reduced my bills (not enough to pay back though...) BUT as its controlling the radiators in each room, its much more granular control and brings the house to a good, overall temperature.... We find it much more comfortable.


A single stat in the hall cant tell the temperature in any other room other than the one its in, thus have a tendency to over, or undershoot, even with TRV's.


Single stats are great for an open plan flat, but other than that, they are a bit of a compromise.


In addition to their own app's which help control the unit, most are compatible with other 'bolt on' services such as IFTTT (If this then that), Amazon Echo, Google Home, and other home automation platforms so you can become lazy and ask Alexa (Amazon Echo) to turn up the heating rather than reaching for the phone, or set specific modes for doing things....

Ectophile

They are "smart" in that they provide a backdoor for hackers to break into your home WiFi network, disable your heating and steal your personal information.

And they may stop working once the manufacturer isn't interested in them any more https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/apr/06/nest-compensation-disabled-revolv-smart-home-hubs-alphabet-google