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The Best Smart Thermostats: Which Is Right For Your Home?

Here’s what you need to know before buying your first smart thermostat.

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By Tucker Bowe

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Smart thermostats can make your home more energy efficient and save you $100 or more per year in heating and cooling costs. They let you control the temperature of your home remotely and can be integrated with your other smart home devices. Some can even automatically learn your habits or work with voice control.

Products in the Guide

But unlike many smart devices, smart thermostats require a bit of prep to make sure they’ll work with your existing appliances. Before investing in a thermostat, you’ll have to get up to snuff on what HVAC system your home uses. If your home uses separate heating and cooling systems, you may need a separate device for each.

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What to Consider

Smart ecosystem

It’s very important for you to buy a smart thermostat that’s compatible with your existing smart home ecosystem — whether that be Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant or Apple’s HomeKit — because it’ll just make your life easier. You’ll be able to control it via an app you already use on your smartphone and you might even be able to adjust your temperature using your voice.

Does your HVAC have a C-wire?

Most smart thermostats require a common wire — or C-wire — installation, which it needs to stay constantly connected to a home’s Wi-Fi. The good news is that most new HVAC systems have C-wires, which are fairly easy to install yourself. If you have an older HVAC system you may have to jump through some more hoops to make a smart thermostat work for your home (as Consumer Reports explains).

Smart features

In addition to having a nice touchscreen interface and being compatible with multiple smart home ecosystems, another thing that drives up the price of a smart thermostat is if it can automatically adjust the temperature based on your location. The more advanced smart thermostats use geofencing (for your smartphone’s location) or various motion sensors to detect whether you are home or not.

How big is your home?

Larger homes with multiple floors may have multiple heating and cooling systems to control the different areas of the house all at the same time. In those cases, you’ll likely need to buy multiple smart thermostats, as one is required to control each of the different areas and its individual heating and cooling system.

Who’s installing it?

If you don’t want to install the smart thermostat yourself, or you don’t know the answers to the above questions, you can hire a professional to do it for you. A number of retailers, such as Best Buy, Home Depot and Amazon, let you purchase this installation when you buy a smart thermostat.

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Why You Should Trust Us

We’ve been writing about and reviewing smart home products — including smart cameras, smart locks, smart doorbells and smart DIY systems — for a decade. We also work with major brands and talk to experts within the smart home industry. We’ve had hands-on experience with most of the below smart thermostats. These are our favorites.

To learn more about our testing methodology and how we evaluate products, head here.

The Best Smart Home Thermostats

Nest Learning Thermostat (3rd Gen)

Pros

  • Gorgeous design
  • Numerous smart features to better regulate temperature
  • Works with all major smart home ecosystems

Cons

  • A touch pricey
  • Design won't be for everybody
  • Works with: Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, IFTTT
  • C-wire: Yes

The Nest Learning Thermostat has been around for a few years and yet it’s still the best-looking smart thermostat you can buy; it has a beautiful LCD touchscreen and a huge and intuitive rotating dial that you can use to adjust your home’s temperature. It’s the no-brainer option for anybody committed to smart home around Google Assistant (Google owns Nest), but it’s also compatible with most other smart home ecosystems. The Nest Learning Thermostat is an excellent smart thermostat for numerous other reasons. It’s fairly easy to install and works with most HVAC systems. It is able to learn your (and your family’s) habits and then automatically adjust the temperature accordingly. And you can buy and set up separate room sensors to more accurately control the temperatures in all areas of your home.

(Note: The Nest Thermostat is a more affordable alternative with very similar features and capabilities.)

Honeywell T9

Pros

  • Easy to use and install
  • Works with all major ecosystems including Apple's HomeKit
  • Can automatically detect when you arrive or leave home

Cons

  • On the expensive side
  • Works with: Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, IFTTT
  • C-wire: Yes

Honeywell makes a wide variety of smart thermostats, but its T9 is the best all-around option for those looking for one that’s easy to install and use. It’s compatible with both Alexa and Google Assistant voice assistants (if you have a separate smart speaker), and it works with Apple’s HomeKit as well. One of the key features of the T9 is that it’s smart enough to tell if you’re home or away; it uses your smartphone’s location (via geofencing) and then adjusts the temperature accordingly. It works with Honeywell’s Smart Room Sensors, which you place in the various rooms in your house to help the T9 gauge and adjust the temperature.

Amazon Smart Thermostat

Pros

  • Minimalist design blends into your home
  • Simple to install and use

Cons

  • Lacking in some smart features
  • No HomeKit compatibility
  • Works with: Amazon Alexa
  • C-wire: Yes

The Amazon Smart Thermostat is a simple and really affordable option for anybody with a smart home built around Alexa. You can control it and adjust the temperature via the app or by using an Alexa voice command if you have a smart device (like an Echo, Echo Dot or Echo Show). You can also adjust the temperature just by going over and using its built-in touchscreen. It’s fairly easy to install (requires a C-wire) and works with most HVAC systems. However, it isn’t compatible with any smart home ecosystem besides Alexa.

Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium

Pros

  • Integrated with Alexa and can work as a smart speaker
  • Large touchscreen is easy to use
  • Can work with all major smart home ecosystems

Cons

  • Built-in speaker can't be integrated with Google Assistant or Siri
  • On the expensive side
  • Works with: Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, IFTTT
  • C-wire: Yes

Released in 2022, the Smart Thermostat Premium is Ecobee’s top smart thermostat. It’s an excellent option for anybody with an Alexa smart home becomes it comes integrated with Alexa so you can talk directly to it and change the temperature — no separate smart speaker required. You can also stream audio directly to the thermostat via Bluetooth or Spotify Connect or ask Alexa to play something or answer questions about the weather. The Ecobee SmartThermostat has a large intuitive touchscreen display and comes with a smart sensor that makes it easier to control the temperature of rooms farther away from the thermostat. If you have a larger home, you can buy extra SmartSensors ($79/2-pack) for relatively cheap.

(Note: The Ecobee SmartThermostat Premium is also compatible with Google’s and Apple’s smart ecosystems, but it can’t be integrated with Google Assistant or Siri. If you’re looking for more affordable options, Ecobee also offers the Smart Thermostat Enhanced.)

Wyze Thermostat

Pros

  • Easy to use and install
  • Very affordable
  • Works with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa

Cons

  • No HomeKit support
  • Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, IFTTT
  • C-wire: Yes

The Wyze Thermostat is an affordable option for anybody who uses Wyze’s various other smart home devices (such as cameras, doorbells, sensors, lights, etc.) — you can control them all from the same app. It is compatible with Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant, so if you have a smart speaker or smart display, you can adjust the temperature with your voice. Additionally, Wyze sells room sensors to help better regulate the temperatures in specific rooms of your home.

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