Tips and advice

Comparison: These are the best smart thermostats

Thermostats are simple devices in every household. They can indicate the current temperature and set the target temperature.
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There are many smart thermostats for your smart home on the market and we clearly list the best in this comparison.

Smart thermostats are becoming increasingly popular because on the one hand they can provide a lot of ease of use, and on the other hand because they can also partly pay for themselves by saving energy. We list the many choices and draw up a balance.

Smart thermostats?

Thermostats have long been simple, relatively stupid devices in every household. They could not do much more than indicate the current temperature and set the target temperature for the time being. In addition, they often had a very unclear interface with all kinds of buttons for which you always had to read the manual.

This soon changed with the advent of smart home products and the “Internet of Things”. Thermostats can now become part of an intelligent system based on the lifestyle of your household. That way you can, for example, remotely control the temperature of your house and save a lot of energy.

The pros & cons

Smart thermostats have many advantages. Most smart thermostats have a corresponding app for smartphones and tablets and these are often the biggest advantage of such a device. This way you can indicate when you will arrive home so that it is already nice and warm when you arrive. The thermostats are often a lot nicer than the boring “dumb thermostats” that we have known for some time. They also help with energy savings, but don’t make too many illusions about that. Often this will only be a saving of 20%, and that in the best case.

The installation of such a thermostat is usually not that difficult, but many manufacturers also offer an installation service, as do many energy suppliers. Also keep in mind that your boiler must support OpenTherm. It is recommended to inquire about this with the manufacturer of your central heating system. You can read more information about smart thermostats and their possibilities here .

Energy suppliers & thermostats

Many energy suppliers sell smart thermostats themselves. That can certainly be interesting because they often rent out the devices, so that you don’t have to take a big bite out of your budget in one go. On the other hand, many energy suppliers also offer free installation or price advantages in combination with a subscription. It can therefore be very interesting to see what your energy supplier offers.

Show

Eneco offers the smart thermostat Toon . This can also be purchased separately. The device displays the weather forecast and a clear overview of the temperatures in your home. You also get an overview of your energy consumption. The temperature of both modular and on / off boilers can be controlled by the device. However, the device does not have a strong system to keep track of who is at home when and to learn more.

Other thermostats, such as Anna, can learn to heat intelligently based on, for example, the location of users, in order to save energy. A nice advantage of Toon is that it can also control lighting through the use of intelligent switches or Philips Hue lamps.

Anna

Anna can be purchased separately but is also offered by the Dutch Energy Company. A nice asset of this thermostat is that it can intelligently set the temperature by means of “geo-fencing”. This means that she uses the location of residents’ smartphones to learn who is at home and when and thus create a schedule. Nice to know is that Anna is a completely Dutch creation and is fully developed in Eindhoven.

E-Thermostat

The E-Thermostat is offered, among others, by supplier Essent. The device has a motion sensor that maintains the temperature as long as movement is detected in the main residence (where the sensor is hanging or standing) for a certain period of time. If no movement is detected for more than 48 hours, the thermostat switches to an energy-saving mode. The sensor has been developed in such a way that pets are not detected.

Nest

Nest is probably the most popular smart thermostat. The company behind it is part of Google and innovates a lot. They also produce smart smoke detectors that you can integrate into one system together with the Nest thermostat. Thanks to an intelligent light & motion sensor, Nest can control the temperature in up to 10 different zones. The device can also use the location of residents’ smartphones to determine who is home and when. It can also be linked to Philips Hue intelligent lights. The Nest thermostat is available separately but is also offered in combination with a contract by Essent.

Honeywell evoHome

With its suggested retail price of € 299, the Honeywell evoHome is just about the most expensive but also the most advanced thermostat in the list. The manufacturer does promise that you can save about 30% on the energy bill with this device. One of the strengths of the device is that it can divide your house into about 12 ‘rooms’ or zones and regulate the temperature per zone. The activities and attendances can also be measured separately in those zones.

This so-called “arranging per departure” can save a lot of energy. Consider, for example, rooms that receive more sunlight and therefore require less energy, as well as situations in which the heating is switched on when the fireplace is on.