Before You Buy
If you are ready to buy a smart thermostat, here are two critical points you should consider before buying:
- Alternative options – Smart thermostat technology has been around since 2007 and the industry has exploded since then. Be sure to read reviews and comparison shop competing products. You’ll definitely find differences in functionality, price and customer satisfaction. You may not want to pay for features you will not use – which brings us to our second point.
- Compatibility – It's standard practice for smart devices to integrate and pair with one another. Make sure that your home is equipped to offer you the full functionality of the thermostat you’re considering. For instance, whether or not your current setup contains a C (common) wire which almost all smart thermostats require. The C wire is used to supply constant power to the thermostat, but some older homes may not have one since older, traditional thermostats did not require one.
Also, be prepared to buy any applicable accessories needed for the thermostat. For instance, you may not want to pay extra for a smart thermostat with the integrated voice control feature if you don’t have Google Home® or Amazon® Alexa. Similarly, you may have your eye on a thermostat that can be controlled through an app…but only if you have the hub, which might be sold separately. In short, make sure that you’ve sufficiently researched before purchasing so that you don’t end up with a feature-rich product whose features go unused.