Have my two Ecobee units (up and down stairs) connected to Alexa and phone app. Love their installation and set up - quick, easy and lots of Customer Support options. Setting up individual room monitors helped us balance too hot rooms with cooler ones. I can change things on the fly or let them control everything based on room occupancy and local weather conditions.

@Sharon Fullen thank you so much for your feedback! Can I ask you which version you have of the Ecobee?

If you have a simple heating and/or cooling system (as in, not a heat pump) the Nest Thermostat E is the more affordable model. I think it's actually better looking than their more than their more expensive models. and it worked great. you'll need to look at the wires in your current thermostat to figure out if this model is compatible with your system. (customer service can help you, and they're really friendly and helpful.)

One of the things I love is that you can get temperature sensors and put them in different rooms. you can tell it which room you want to use as the target thermostat.

I set up schedules in the winter so it turns way down while we're sleeping, and gently ramps up around 6am. I can make the schedule different for every day of the week if I want. you can also set "emergency temperatures"-- so if you forgot that you turned off your HVAC, it will kick in if it gets too cold, to keep your pipes from freezing.

one downside: it's supposed to sense when everybody has left the house and turn it down, but that feature barely works. but we got in the habit of remembering to turn it down manually before leaving, and of course you can control it with the app if you forget.

important: if you have a heat pump or are thinking of getting one, I would not recommend any of the Nest thermostats.

Andrea, have the Ecobee3 Lite as I already had Echo’s and Dots for Alexa voice control. I did have to buy a couple of extra room monitors because we have a big house. Better coverage inside does matter. These also work with Apple HomeKit.

@User I *think* we may be installing a heat pump? It's our HVAC system that initially was going to be AC only but we decided to upgrade it to heat as well as we didn't have the space for baseboard and our area wasn't a good candidate for only radiant flooring. So, I'm assuming that means we wouldn't be able to use the Nest E?

@Sharon Fullen is the only reason for hooking it up to the echo/dots for Alexa to be able to voice control it? We disabled Alexa bc we found we never used it despite trying over and over to get into it... so just concerned that it could be too techy?

The latest generation Nest Thermostat can be purchased on Amazon for less than $130. It does have WiFi so you can control it remotely and it comes in several colors. I suggest you program it to set back when you are out of house and not rely on it to figure out when your are not home. As stated above you can always control it remotely in case you forget to turn down the temperature.

Please note this thermostat must have a C wire connection. The third generation Nest claims a C wire is not required, however there have been cases where posters have reported problems. If you really want the WiFi feature then I suggest you plan on having this connection. Check to see if your current thermostat has a C wire connection. If it does not then we can talk about options you have to get around this problem.

We are very happy with all our Nest products. Cameras, doorbell and thermostat.

My understanding is that everything works properly as long as it is connected to the internet. The 3 lite version should work perfectly done with only app access. All of these types of thermostats are technically advanced but I've never had any issues where any homeowner should panic. That’s what I was so impressed about with their support. I saw the conversation about best pumps above and I cannot speak to compatibility.

I’d recommend speaking with Ecobee Customer service if you are thinking of switching to best pump.

Sorry. Heat pump. Dang autocorrect.

@Sharon Fullen thanks, don't worry i knew what you meant ;) our hvac guy has already approved both of the devices and some honeywell as well, but i'll definitely run it past him before purchasing for compatibility. thanks for the info on the ecobee3 lite, the reviews made it sound like it was being outdated but it seems to have what i need!

I thought that too as ads pushed the more expensive model but I could only pinpoint voice control as difference. In fact, I just got a software up date with some new features this morning. I think you cannot go wrong with Ecobee or Nest. I think Honeywell is a bit behind the curve.

Andrea, correct, you cannot use a Nest E with a heat pump. We had to upgrade to the more expensive model. Also -- it completely depends on what kind of heat pump you get -- but we had to also buy a special add-on device to make everything compatible. It took three hours on the phone with customer service to figure it all out.

AND, it basically cripples some of the features of the heat pump. our particular unit is supposed to be able to run at many different stages. once you get your house warmed up, you can run it on a super low setting all day, maintaining a constant temp while using very little energy.

but not with the Nest. no matter what I do, it only runs two stages. it turns on and off all day the way a regular gas furnace would. Nest claims to have a "heat pump" mode, but it is only for units that have emergency backup heat (ours does not).

so no, I might not recommend any Nest if you are considering a heat pump, with a caveat: maybe the model you're looking at is different and more compatible, so ask the installer. our unit happens to be crazy complicated. (FWIW, or heat pump is the Mitsubishi Hyper Heat. honestly, I love it. our home energy auditor called it the "Tesla" of heat pumps. even though the nest does not run it exactly the way it's supposed to, it's still way better than a gas furnace.)

@Sharon Fullen thank you, that brings me back to the ecobee3 lite. i honestly prefer the look of it as well and it is on warehouse so i can save a little :)

@User thank you so much for all the info, it really is helpful and i think i'm going to take your recommendation and not go with the nest. i'm a google person but i guess for this i'll just have to break from my love of their products.

Glad I could help! Hope you enjoy using the Ecobee. Oh, ecobee also offers reconditioned units on their site.

@Sharon Fullen thank you i didn't know that, i'll look!

Nest and Ecobee are the trendy ones but not everyone likes them. Don't overlook Honeywell, the long time industry standard. It's WIFI thermostats are excellent, reliable, easy to set up and adjust when desired and of course remotely accessible.

@User: "o[u]r heat pump is the Mitsubishi Hyper Heat"

That system is a "mini-split heat pump". It is a ductless system with an outside compressor and inside inside air handlers. It bears no resemblance to a standard ducted heat pump of the type you probably have and its "hyper heat" compressor is completely different than the one- or two-stage compressor found in nearly all ducted heat pumps.

• Heat pump compatibility of the Nest Thermostat E (see page 2)
• Heat pump compatibility of the Nest Learning Thermostat (see bottom of page 2)
• Nest thermostat compatibility checker

I have the Honeywell TH6320WF2003/U T6 Pro Smart Thermostat which meets all your requirements except that it's only "smart" in that it can figure out how long it takes for the heat pump to reach a selected temperature and adjust the startup time appropriately ("Adaptive Recovery"). I like its programmability and the ability to control it from a cellphone app. It has geofencing but I don't use it. At Amazon for $113. Instructions.

@Elmer J Fudd first, love the handle ;) Second, which honeywell do you recommend? I'd absolutely take a look if you have one you recommend?

@wdccruise thank you, i'll take a look at the pro smart thermometer. i know honewell is well known, has a good history and that makes me happy.

wdccruise, I do have a ducted Mitsubishi Hyper Heat with an handler -- this model. I was just warning the op just in case they happen to get the same exact thing.

The E will not work with it -- my unit has too many wires for it. To get the Learning Thermostat to work, I needed to add one of these. I forgot to mention that I also had to have the techs run wire since the thermostat that comes with the unit is wireless. All of it was a huge pain in the ass and ultimately not worth it.

It runs just fine, but just not in heat pump mode. We determined it's because it doesn't have auxiliary or emergency heat sources. Without that wire, nest doesn't comprehend that this thing is even a heat pump at all. I want to run it "low and slow", but Nest wants to make it run high to reach temp as fast as possible. Our installer informed that it's fine and will not harm the machine. My friend has the same exact unit we do, and said the thermostat and app included with it are horrible, so I decided to commit to my Nest.

Two different homes, two different models. You should be sure what your own system's needs are, as to available wires and compatible stats, before moving forward. They're not all the same. Ask your HVAC guys - the two I dealt with were more than happy to install Honeywell units because, as I said, they're the gold standard. Honeywell makes several of the private label branded stats too, the ones that the equipment companies sell with their own names on them.

In one, we have two Honeywell Vision Pro 8000 series REDLINK units, because of the need to have a wireless connection from the thermostat to the furnace and AC equipment when we did a complete equipment replacement and added AC. Honeywell's REDLINK system may be the only one that offers the wireless thermostat to equipment communication but maybe not. It also offers WIFI and so internet user communications with all the normal kind of apps and even from a PC over the internet. We've had them over 5 years and the performance has been flawless and reliable. .

At the other house, also with a complete furnace and AC equipment replacement three years ago, we put in one Honeywell 9000 series WIFI thermostat. The same with it too, consistent competent service.

Because we split our time between these two places, it's a regular thing for us to access the stats remotely to put one in the equivalent of "away" mode, and to switch on in advance the one we're coming to. No issues ever (except for the few rare times an ISP system is down and so the the stats aren't accessible) .

I know that Honeywells generally are compatible with heat pumps and aux power systems but do check in advance about what you have to be sure.

@User: "I do have a ducted Mitsubishi Hyper Heat with an handler -- this model."

I am 99.999% certain she is not installing that.

@User: "nest doesn't comprehend that this thing is even a heat pump at all. I want to run it "low and slow", but Nest wants to make it run high..."

Right, the nest isn't compatible with the Mitsubishi product. By using this incompatible thermostat, didn't you defeat the very feature that made the Mitsubish product desirable and energy-efficient?

@User: "I forgot to mention that I also had to have the techs run wire since the thermostat that comes with the unit is wireless."

Isn't the wired, MitsubishiPAR-40MAA local wall controller compatible per the Catalog page 125?

@Elmer J Fudd @wdccruise @User thank you all. I did run the ecobee past the installer and I will also run any other potentials past him as well to be sure that it's compatible.