What do you recommend for an internet-connected thermostat?

7 years ago

I have two houses for which I would like internet-connected thermostats. I would like them to be simple to use, without unnecessary buttons, etc. but with programmability and remote-controllability. Neither house has air conditioning nor air-handling systems.

The main house has 1890s-era gravity-fed hydronic radiators with no pumps (single zone). Lowes was having a sale on their Iris system, so I bought it, but am not too wild about it.

The vacation house is brand new and has in-floor hydronic radiant heat, using two Honeywell Aquatrol units to provide control for eight zones, with eight zone valves. The builder installed Honeywell manual thermostats and I want to replace the one in the most critical part of the house with one like what I described above. The HVAC supplier recommends AGAINST Nest and Lyric units, as being excessively complicated for my system.

I would like both houses to have similar thermostats, so that I can use one smart phone application for both. Any comments/suggestions?

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Comments (4)

tigerdunes
7 years ago
If you have a brand new vacation home and I assume it's in a cold climate location, what does your dealer recommend? I agree with your dealer about these lifestyle thermostats unless system is a basic type not like yours. You certainly don't want to sacrifice functionality of a zoned system like yours. Since you have a HW zoning controls, it would seem that HW would be the starting place. How do you plan to control your system remotely? Your home has WiFi?

IMO
hokie21
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
With your zoned system a big box DIY type thermostat will probably not work for you. I have a pair of the Honeywell Prestige IAQ 2.0 thermostats and am very happy with them. I purchased the $80 Redlink Internet gateway option and it all works great with the free Honeywell Web portal and free iphone/android apps. You dont even need WIFI for this system. The Redlink gateway plugs into your router. Have your HVAC guy show you this system.
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mtvhike
Original Author
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Although the system seems complicated, I'm only trying to remotely control one zone, the basement. The upstairs has four zones, each with a manual thermostat. When I'm away I set them all for 55 degrees. The basement has the remotely controlled thermostat, and this is the one I'm having difficulty getting full functionality. The HVAC guy originally put in a Honeywell 9000 series, but couldn't get it to work. Because I had the Iris one at my main home and was satisfied with it, I thought I would use that. However, Lowes has "upgraded" their system to Generation 2, which doesn't work with desktop computers, only smart phones. Every time I ask about a certain feature, they say "that's not ready yet". These are features such as remote notification of heating failure, and programmability. Their market strategy seems to be centered on home security, not heating control. When we were having difficulty with the Honeywell, their tech support said that they only work with professionals.
mtvhike
Original Author
6 years ago
Update: Because neither I nor the HVAC guy could get the Honeywell 9000 thermostat to work, I put in the Lowes Iris one. However, as discussed above, Iris's computer interface doesn't work. Meanwhile, (in July), the HVAC guy came back, with the plumbing supply company owner AND the local Honeywell rep, and they determined that the tstat was defective. Because it was a "Pro" model, it had a 5-year warrenty. They put in a new one. So, I took mine back to the store where I bought it, and they exchanged it without difficulty (even though I didn't have the receipt). So now I have two (for two zones) and the one they installed seems to work fine. I can't tell for sure until it gets cold, but checking it out as well as I could, it does work. And the computer interface is very good. I can access it from my smart phone(s) and my computers, both MAC and Windows (which the Iris couldn't do).

When I originally installed the Honeywell thermostat, I called tech support and they said that since this was a pro model, the would only talk to pros. So, when the pros were here, they were able to use tech support. Even the Honeywell rep needed to talk to them!

What do you recommend for an internet-connected thermostat?

Comments (4)

tigerdunes

hokie21

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What do you recommend for an internet-connected thermostat?

Comments (4)

tigerdunes

hokie21

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