Choosing a Smart Thermostat

The temperatures in Canada swing from -20C to 40C, sometimes, in just a matter of weeks. This means your thermostat really gets put through the ringer, and if it can’t hold it’s own, you’re going to sweat through the night, or wake up shivering. We’ve tested the options, and are sharing some of our thoughts for you.

Nest Learning Thermostat

The Nest Thermostat 3rd Generation is a beautifully crafted and elegant addition to your home. The design evolved from it’s predecessors. Including a stainless-steel dial, and a screen that is 40% larger than it’s previous iterations.

The ability to learn from your patterns is a key ingredient in Nest’s success. Optimizing it’s schedule to adapt to your daily schedule.

A big advantage to Nest thermostats is their energy saving capabilities. The Nest does this in a number of ways. First of all, by sensing when you are at home and when you aren’t, it manages the temperature of your home to save energy when are aren’t home. As well, the Nest displays a little green leaf icon when you have set the temperature to a more energy-efficient level.

With the 3rd Generation, Nest has also introduced Nest Farsight which brings useful information to the display of your thermostat. From the time, to current room temperature to the weather, it’s displayed in an attractive use of that large display.

The Nest Temperature Sensor allows you to place sensors in any room of your home so that you can prioritize which rooms should be the most comfortable.

FEATURES	EFFICIENCY	CONNECTIVITY	VALUE
8.5/10	9/10	9/10	7/10

Nest Learning Thermostat

The Nest Thermostat E retains much of the functionality of it’s big brother, but packages it in a smaller, white, plastic design that stays blank until it detects your presence. The E blends into the wall and doesn’t draw quite as much attention as the Nest Thermostat 3rd Gen.

FEATURES	EFFICIENCY	CONNECTIVITY	VALUE
8.5/10	9/10	9/10	8.5/10

Ecobee 4 smart thermostat

The Ecobee4, in partnership with Amazon, works well with the Alexa voice assistant. The Ecobee also comes with additional sensors to get a better idea for the real temperature throughout your home.

While the ecobee4 doesn’t have Nest’s learning functionality, it does have intelligent scheduling that allow you to set up schedules for when are at home, asleep or out of the house.

FEATURES	EFFICIENCY	CONNECTIVITY	VALUE
7.5/10	9/10	10/10	8.5/10