Energy technology has changed rapidly over the past few years, whether at your home or your local electric utility. Much of this innovation has been focused on adding technology that allows different parts of the network to communicate with others, and one of the most popular of these “smart” technologies is the smart thermostat.

What is a Smart Thermostat?

A regular thermostat allows you to adjust the temperature via a control panel on the wall somewhere in your home. A smart thermostat, on the other hand, allows you to control so much more.

As it is a completely new technology, they can learn from your behaviors, and allow you to change the temperature of your home remotely using your smartphone, tablet, or desktop computer.

These gadgets can also show you your energy consumption concurrently and they can automatically adjust themselves depending on the environmental conditions.

What are the key benefits of a Smart Thermostat?

Read on to learn why you should consider investing in this convenient, custom cooling technology. 

Keep an eye on your home

The good thing about smart thermostats is that you can virtually keep an eye on the temperature levels of your home from a distance. All you have to do is to check the companion app while you’re away from home to see if the heat’s running (and at what temperature).

Save Energy

The whole point of a smart thermostat is to save you money on your energy bills. It provides you the most energy-efficient settings while keeping your home cool. If you're away from home for a long period, you can program your smart thermostat to adjust the temperature in your home. These gadgets are designed to learn your habits and they will enable you to cut down on your heating and cooling expenses by a huge margin.

Temperature Control

It doesn't matter if you're at work or anywhere in the world, you can control your cooling and heating system from anywhere through your smartphone. Most smart thermostats come with a mobile app that's available for Android and iOS phones. That means you can monitor how much heating and cooling your home is wasting. 

Get Emailed Alerts

A smart thermostat gives you email alerts if it detects any falling or rising in the home temperature outside of your pre-determined range.   

What features should you look for?

Geofencing

This feature uses the thermostat’s app and your smartphone’s GPS chip to establish a perimeter around your home. When you leave the perimeter, you presumably no longer need to heat and cool your home, or you can at least have the thermostat adjust the temperature so that it’s not running unnecessarily. When you cross the perimeter again as you come home, your HVAC system can kick into action so your house is comfortable when you walk in the door.

Algorithmic-Based Learning

These smart thermostats can learn your schedule over time and adapt automatically to changing patterns.

Once you start setting the thermostat at a particular temperature in the morning, the thermostat soon starts to take action independently and developing a schedule that automatically adjusts to energy-saving temperatures whether you are asleep, away or at home.

Wi-Fi Enabled

A new smart thermostat requires installation on a smartphone, tablet, or laptop as well. Every smart thermostat pairs with a free-to-download mobile app from the same manufacturer that provides remote access. However, to access any of the benefits of the built-in Amazon Alexa Voice Service or temperature control settings, it requires a wi-fi connection to connect your smart thermostat with your mobile app.

Conclusion  

When digging up features to look for in a WiFi thermostat, we overlooked the obvious benefit of using your favorite digital assistant to control the temperature in your house using voice commands. Whether you like Alexa, Siri, or Google Assistant, voice control is enabled as pretty much standard in the best smart thermostats.