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Need a new hvac thermostat

adam9c1

adam9c1

macrumors 68000
Original poster
I'm debating between nest and another brand that interfaces with home kit.

I do not have any smart home appliances, switches, etc, but have iPads, iPhones, and AppleTV.

What do I do?
 
I do this for a living. Go to Home Depot, spend $25 on a programmable thermostat, and be done with it. Gimmicky thermostats aren't worth the money. If you need something to monkey with, just use your iPad.
 
I do have a programmable test at now by Honeywell.

The furnace was installed last fall, and ac in May.
 
It's interesting to me to setup something like a thermostat that I can watch via my devices but my standard programmable thermostat is fine so far. I have Honeywell that adjusts based on time of day and week day vs weekend. I would think after going through the learning process something like the Nest would end up about where I am now. I'm assuming.

Interested to see what the recommendations are from this question.
 
I have it programmed the way I want, but one day was warmer and so I did override mode, and it kept on cooling it well past set temp.
I have a .5 tolerance set, yet it cooled off 3* lower than set, that's when I discovered it and turned the unit off.
This happened on two different occasions.
 
That's how thermostats work. It's meant to keep your unit from short-cycling. Typically you want about a 2° deadband, .5 is unreasonably low.
 
When our house was renovated and addition installed, the hvac system was poorly designed.

We have weak airflow going upstairs and downstairs supplies feet away from returns, so thus need for a tight threshold.
 
Tomorrow said:
I do this for a living. Go to Home Depot, spend $25 on a programmable thermostat, and be done with it. Gimmicky thermostats aren't worth the money. If you need something to monkey with, just use your iPad.
Click to expand...
Well, having one that you can control over the air (be it through an app or web or something like that) can be quite useful to quite a few people, and certainly not a gimmick really.
 
adam9c1 said:
When our house was renovated and addition installed, the hvac system was poorly designed.

We have weak airflow going upstairs and downstairs supplies feet away from returns, so thus need for a tight threshold.
Click to expand...

That's not a thermostat problem, that's a duct problem. A thermostat won't fix that.

C DM said:
Well, having one that you can control over the air (be it through an app or web or something like that) can be quite useful to quite a few people, and certainly not a gimmick really.
Click to expand...

Of course it is. Once the thermostat is programmed, you don't need to control it over the air.

Here's an example: my downstairs thermostat is set for me to be away from home until 6 pm. When I leave at 7 in the morning, it goes into setback mode (85° F). It's programmed for my return at 6 pm. Based on the current temperature in the house (which is 85° F or less, depending on many things), it starts the A/C early enough to be back down to setpoint (76° F) at 6 pm. No need to control it over the air.
 
Tomorrow said:
That's not a thermostat problem, that's a duct problem. A thermostat won't fix that.



Of course it is. Once the thermostat is programmed, you don't need to control it over the air.

Here's an example: my downstairs thermostat is set for me to be away from home until 6 pm. When I leave at 7 in the morning, it goes into setback mode (85° F). It's programmed for my return at 6 pm. Based on the current temperature in the house (which is 85° F or less, depending on many things), it starts the A/C early enough to be back down to setpoint (76° F) at 6 pm. No need to control it over the air.
Click to expand...
I have mine programmed, but at times I am returning home earlier or later than usual (especially on the weekends) and might want to increase or decrease the temperature prior to the programming kicking in.

Other times I'm in bed in my bedroom upstairs with the thermostat downstairs and things are getting a little bit cooler or a little bit warmer that I want at that point (compared to doing something more active downstairs) and I want to temporarily adjust the currently programmed level by a degree or two--certainly a much faster and simpler thing to do it over an app or over the web using my phone or tablet or laptop that's usually right next to me than getting out of bed and running down and up the stairs just for that (especially if you factor in kids perhaps sleeping in the bedrooms nearby).

Just a few examples. I certainly understand that not everyone might care about that, but it definitely doesn't make something as basic as that (at least these days) a gimmick somehow.
 
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Tomorrow said:
Of course it is. Once the thermostat is programmed, you don't need to control it over the air.

Here's an example: my downstairs thermostat is set for me to be away from home until 6 pm. When I leave at 7 in the morning, it goes into setback mode (85° F). It's programmed for my return at 6 pm. Based on the current temperature in the house (which is 85° F or less, depending on many things), it starts the A/C early enough to be back down to setpoint (76° F) at 6 pm. No need to control it over the air.
Click to expand...

You might consider that some people aren't home at the exact same times everyday. I agree that the "learning" part of the Nest is over-rated (though important for those people that can't/don't/won't program their own thermostat). Features like auto-away and control through an app are absolutely energy savers.
 
I have the Nest and I love it. Had a dummy thermostat for a year and I would never go back. We are never home on schedule and away from home most weekends, dummy thermostat just wouldn't work.
 
BaldiMac said:
YFeatures like auto-away and control through an app are absolutely energy savers.
Click to expand...

Which programmable thermostats accomplish without frequent intervention.

You are aware that a different program can be provided for each day of the week, aren't you?

The "learning" function of a Nest serves only to discover when you are and aren't home. If you're not on some kind of schedule, then there's nothing for the Nest to really "learn" - it's going to give a best guess, something you can do by programming a tstat yourself and saving a couple hundred bucks.
 
Tomorrow said:
Which programmable thermostats accomplish without frequent intervention.

You are aware that a different program can be provided for each day of the week, aren't you?

The "learning" function of a Nest serves only to discover when you are and aren't home. If you're not on some kind of schedule, then there's nothing for the Nest to really "learn" - it's going to give a best guess, something you can do by programming a tstat yourself and saving a couple hundred bucks.
Click to expand...

Lets say I go out for dinner Tuesday night and coming back around midnight, but home around 7pm most Tuesday nights, how are you going to set that up?
 
Tomorrow said:
Which programmable thermostats accomplish without frequent intervention.

You are aware that a different program can be provided for each day of the week, aren't you?
Click to expand...
Maybe you missed the part about not everyone having a standard weekly schedule. For example, many firefighters work 24 hours on, 48 hours off. And the two days that are off don't always conform to any routine.

The "learning" function of a Nest serves only to discover when you are and aren't home. If you're not on some kind of schedule, then there's nothing for the Nest to really "learn" - it's going to give a best guess, something you can do by programming a tstat yourself and saving a couple hundred bucks
Click to expand...
Probably why I said the exact same thing.
 
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Tomorrow said:
You're missing the point - a Nest won't set that up, either.
Click to expand...
Well, if you are out and it senses that there's no one home it will know and adjust itself accordingly from what I understand.

But even that aside, the bigger point is that you can easily override the programming via an app on your phone as desired at times when you are out or coming home late or earlier than typical.
 
Tomorrow said:
You're missing the point - a Nest won't set that up, either.
Click to expand...

Nest will know I'm not home and system won't turn on. I don't even have to go into the app to tell it I'm not home.

C DM said:
Well, if you are out and it senses that there's no one home it will know and adjust itself accordingly from what I understand.

But even that aside, the bigger point is that you can easily override the programming via an app on your phone as desired at times when you are out or coming home late or earlier than typical.
Click to expand...

I had a dummy thermostat before and went on vacation for 3 weeks. Of course I didn't set the thermostat before I left. If I had the nest I would set it once to away and it'll turn on only when my house reaches "extreme" temperatures.
 
Have a Nest and I love it. It's nice opening the Google app and just saying "set thermostat to 68" and it does it before I get home.
 
Op - I'm sorry I don't have any input to help you. I'm guessing the furnace/air conditioner is much more important than a remote unit that might not fully integrate with the hardware.

I put in a Bryant Evolution and could not be happier. I have a Connex control and it manages the temperature & humidity in all the zones. It has a nice little app so I don't need to leave my chair if I want to adjust it or to check the outside temp and weather. But it's not necessary.
 
I recommend Nest. We were driving home from our vacation spot and about 2 hours out brought up the Nest app on iPhone and turned the air on. Perfectly comfortable when we arrived home.
 
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