Wifi Thermostats

[Eos]

I have one of the Honeywell WiFi units. It's great for adjusting the set point on the way home from holiday. Better yet, I was in the pit at a Candlebox show and got a high temp warning. I texted a friend who went over and confirmed the AC was not working. Right after the show I called an HVAC service who sent out a truck the next morning, replaced the blown cap, and my house was cooled off again before I got home.

 

[Carson Dyle]

I have one of the Honeywell WiFi units. It's great for adjusting the set point on the way home from holiday. Better yet, I was in the pit at a Candlebox show and got a high temp warning. I texted a friend who went over and confirmed the AC was not working. Right after the show I called an HVAC service who sent out a truck the next morning, replaced the blown cap, and my house was cooled off again before I got home.

Wow.

So you were able to enter a warm house instead of waiting an hour or so? And you had to deal with a broken AC while you were in the middle of a concert??

If someone wanted to _give_ me something like this, I'd tell them where to shove it.

 

[KK]

any thermostats out the that can do 2 stage AC functions. Got a bryant system that will also pull humidity out of the air but haven't yet seen a thermostat that is wifi/zwave without losing that capability.

 

[boomerang]

any thermostats out the that can do 2 stage AC functions. Got a bryant system that will also pull humidity out of the air but haven't yet seen a thermostat that is wifi/zwave without losing that capability.

I have a Carrier Infinity system that is probably similar to yours. Carrier offers several wifi thermostats for their system and I'll bet Bryant does too. If they're priced like the Carrier thermostats, best to be sitting down while you research them.

 

[KK]

I have a Carrier Infinity system that is probably similar to yours. Carrier offers several wifi thermostats for their system and I'll bet Bryant does too. If they're priced like the Carrier thermostats, best to be sitting down while you research them.

Yeah, carrier and bryant are sister companies i believe. carrier has the infinity like you said, and bryant has the evolution but they are very similar. Yeah, I did research them before and that is why that's not an option. unfortunately, I haven't found another option yet that would keep the same functionality. I think another thing the bryant thermostat does is diagnostics, codes and such.

 

[boomerang]

Yeah, carrier and bryant are sister companies i believe. carrier has the infinity like you said, and bryant has the evolution but they are very similar. Yeah, I did research them before and that is why that's not an option. unfortunately, I haven't found another option yet that would keep the same functionality. I think another thing the bryant thermostat does is diagnostics, codes and such.

Yeah, the best price I could find online for an Infinity wifi thermostat to replace mine and retain the functionality I have was $475. When I had the system installed I could have gotten an internet enabled version of the same thermostat I have but it would have had to have a CAT cable connected to it and I would have had to pay a monthly fee to Carrier. So, at least they have progressed but most certainly at a price and not one that I am willing to pay.

 

[Blanky]

<snip>

I seriously don't understand the point of these things, either. If the house is truly connected sure, but I strongly think most nest owners probably buy it, install the app, play around with it for a few weeks, then forget it. I have several video cameras I love, some wifi bulbs on the way (only because they were cheap), but still this is way at the bottom of the list because I just don't think I'd use it much.

boomerang's use case of remote monitoring makes a lot of sense.

As scarpozzi mentions, this stuff is so nascent that who knows where it's going. A lot of small names currently wrestling for control (nest is not small, though).

I would like to be able to check the status of my garage doors to make sure they're shut, but it's almost easier to visually check using cameras.

I still don't know why more people don't have cams. The tech is super cheap and quite mature now.

The non-HD Foscams are under $60 these days...

I think there are better brands than foscam for the price, but for garage door monitoring years ago I spent $20-30 on one of those garage door monitors and it works fantastically. If the door is up it blinks red, if down, it's green. They're on amazon. You could even install a camera for something other than garage door monitoring and just have this thing in frame. I keep mine in my bedroom and often I go to bed and it's blinking red, so down I go and shut the door. It's an awesome gadget and the transmitter runs for several years on a battery.

 

[boomerang]

I think there are better brands than foscam for the price

Which one's do you like? I'm now thinking about getting a camera for the primary residence for when we're gone for months at a time from here. I got a little overwhelmed when researching the one for the second residence and finally just decided to go with the Foscam.

 

[shabby]

I've had the nest for over a year and while it does the job the software capabilities of it are severely lacking compared to the new ecobee3 thermostat.
I've been reading the user manual of the ecobee3, yes it has a user manual https://www.ecobee.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ecobee3_UserGuide.pdf, and its like the nest is a dumbphone and the ecobee3 is a smartphone.
Maintenance band control, data logging, heat/cool dissipation time, proper 2 stage furnace control, reverse staging, additional sensors, the list goes on.
Nest could easily implement these things but they haven't, none of the things in the product suggestion forum they've implemented except for a smoke detector and possibly a smart door knob in the future https://community.nest.com/message/11597

 

[Blanky]

Which one's do you like? I'm now thinking about getting a camera for the primary residence for when we're gone for months at a time from here. I got a little overwhelmed when researching the one for the second residence and finally just decided to go with the Foscam.

Right now I think hikvision cameras are the best buy in the normal consumer price range. The main problem is there is a hefty learning curve compared to something as simple as Dropcam. All mine are hikvision, but it was a bit of effort getting everything setup initially. If you want something that works inside of a few minutes and you forget about it, Dropcam is hard to beat. It has a monthly cost, though, and its image quality isn't as good as a wired IP camera.

 

[iamwiz82]

I've had the nest for over a year and while it does the job the software capabilities of it are severely lacking compared to the new ecobee3 thermostat.
I've been reading the user manual of the ecobee3, yes it has a user manual https://www.ecobee.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ecobee3_UserGuide.pdf, and its like the nest is a dumbphone and the ecobee3 is a smartphone.
Maintenance band control, data logging, heat/cool dissipation time, proper 2 stage furnace control, reverse staging, additional sensors, the list goes on.
Nest could easily implement these things but they haven't, none of the things in the product suggestion forum they've implemented except for a smoke detector and possibly a smart door knob in the future https://community.nest.com/message/11597

That is a neat product. I have a Nest and think there are a thousand different updates that they could have done but they push out a smoke detector, really?

I love my Nest though. It's been a good thermostat and I use the auto-away functionality constantly.

 

[edro]

The thermostat in my new house is in an unused room.
I guess that rules out Nest since it's occupancy sensor will not be able to see us and learn our routine.
I really wanted the data logging feature and wifi ability to change setpoint and schedule.

I guess I need to look at the EcoBee3.

 

[shabby]

The thermostat in my new house is in an unused room.
I guess that rules out Nest since it's occupancy sensor will not be able to see us and learn our routine.
I really wanted the data logging feature and wifi ability to change setpoint and schedule.

I guess I need to look at the EcoBee3.

The data logging pretty thorough, it updates every 5 minutes and shows you the current temp, the set temp, outdoor temps and heat/cool/fan/humidifier.

I installed the ecobee3 but took it out a few hours later since the temp reading was fluctuating a lot and turning the furnace on for no reason, i'll try again on the weekend.
The mobile/web app could use some work, making a schedule is overly complicated for no reason unlike the nest app. And none of the thresholds can be set on the app, only on the thermostat. Hopefully this will be fixed in the future.

 

[edro]

Ohhh man. That data is beautiful. I gotta get one...
I will probably hold off a while as we have a lot of expenses for the new house and a $250 thermostat isn't really necessary right now. A 60" plasma is.

 

[TheSlamma]

This is the reason I love my old school furnace. My wife and I come home yep it's cold but we turn the round Honeywell to the right and the air that comes out of our furnace is so hot you cannot touch the registers with your bare hands. Not even 10 minutes and it's already tolerable. 20 minutes it's warm. I bet my gas bill destroys all you nest and other wifi t-stats

 

[BYSH]

Ohhh man. That data is beautiful. I gotta get one...

100% agreed. That web interface alone is a reason for me to buy it But I could imagine that Nest has an even better one. Does anyone has experience with the graphical data from Nest?

 

[Red Squirrel]

This is the reason I love my old school furnace. My wife and I come home yep it's cold but we turn the round Honeywell to the right and the air that comes out of our furnace is so hot you cannot touch the registers with your bare hands. Not even 10 minutes and it's already tolerable. 20 minutes it's warm. I bet my gas bill destroys all you nest and other wifi t-stats

Depends, if it's a REALLY old school furnace like 30% of that heat is just going back outside. But yeah it seems the newer furnaces are made to burn at a lower temp, maybe this is an efficiency thing as well. If you look in the flame chamber and it's all blue you know it's burning very clean.

 

[shabby]

100% agreed. That web interface alone is a reason for me to buy it But I could imagine that Nest has an even better one. Does anyone has experience with the graphical data from Nest?

Its childs play compared to the ecobee3, 10 days of cute graphs and that's it.

 

[Zorba]

This is the reason I love my old school furnace. My wife and I come home yep it's cold but we turn the round Honeywell to the right and the air that comes out of our furnace is so hot you cannot touch the registers with your bare hands. Not even 10 minutes and it's already tolerable. 20 minutes it's warm. I bet my gas bill destroys all you nest and other wifi t-stats

Your furnace is probably way oversized for your house. Not as big of a deal for furances as air conditioners, but can still create some issues. Although it is nice when coming out of set back.