Thermostats
 

Our house is about 11 years old and has a very simple thermostat set it and forget it.

Some day when we can travel again will set it to a temperature in accordance with the season adjust humidity and off we go.

We like to be comfortable and getting up in the middle of the night would rather not be to hot or to cold.

Based on that is there a reason to purchase and install a smart thermostat?

I installed a honeywell wifi thermostat so that if we are not at our home in TV, I can be alerted if the interior temperature exceeds 82 degrees for more than an hour. I would hate to return after being away for weeks and find mold everywhere.

If you are never away for long, it probably doesn't make a ton of difference. I have heard that the NEST smart thermostats modify the temp based on your activity. That would help people who leave during the day for jobs and such, but not such a big deal for retired persons.

A side bonus is that I get an alert if the thermostat has lost connection. This happens when the power is off.

I have these thermostats in both houses. I find it more important for the NJ house because if the house gets to ambient in February(sub 32 often for weeks), burst pipes would be very expensive.

? In case you do not know you can get one that lets you put sensors in various rooms and depending on the time of day it will adjust that room to the temp set on its sensors. This might help with your bedroom temp at night. A WiFi thermostat will also let you control the system by time of day could do the same for the bedroom.

In my opinion, there is no reason to buy a smart thermostat. Set the thermostat to 78 or 80 degrees. No humidity control is needed. You will not have a mold problem. Electricity is cheap in The Villages. But, it is a good idea to have someone check occasionally to make sure the system is still operating. If you can't do that, then buy an internet camera to view the house interior with a thermometer in the camera's view to see the temperature.

I can't think of a good reason why you'd need need a smart thermostat. Save your money.

We have a Nest thermostat, it’s a worthwhile investment and it gives us peace of mind when we are not in our home. We used Munn’s for the install, they have a tech that specializes in Nest installations and he’s right on top of the technology. It’s more about peace of mind and not trying to save on our electric bill.

Oh yea another thing, there’s nothing like if you’re too warm in the middle of the night I just reach over grab my smartphone and adjust the temperature accordingly.

Have my phone set for some other things and my wife does not like those things at night she would rather my phone be elsewhere.

I have a MAR CELL detecting monitor that I use while away for the summer. I set my humidistat and Mar Cell records the temperature and humidity in my home continually. If the temp or humidity exceeds the perimeters I have set online then I would be notified via text, email, and phone call. At that time I could take action to get a AC co to check the air conditioning. The temp in the home is not as important as the humidity which causes mold. I use the same device in my home up north to monitor the heat so pipes don't freeze. This is very helpful. No wifi is needed as it's all done thru Verizon (you do not need Verizon as your carrier either) Cost is approx $12 month and you only pay for the months you want monitored.

If you are the sort who wants your house, say, 75 in the daytime and 65 at night, or vice versa, a smart thermostat may be worthwhile. Likewise if you are gone every weekend. In general, I wouldn’t bother, especially in The Villages. Really, for November through March, you can get by probably with your heater turned off completely if you aren’t there. It’s not too hot or too humid most of the time. Or you could turn the heat down to 55° or 60°, so any excess humidity is occasionally dried now and then. Even if there was a freeze or a week in the upper thirties, which is very unusual, your pipes aren’t going to freeze.

If you are gone in the summer, just leave the air conditioners set at 78°. There’s no reason to change that between day and night. You can set that in five seconds.

Changing the temp day and night is okay if it’s a matter of comfort, but it doesn’t save very much. Even if you like it, say, cool at night and warm in the morning, the energy to heat the house to warm again from cool is not much less than leaving it at a warmer temp. So change it if you like that difference. I keep my temp at 74° all summer, day and night, and use a ceiling fan on occasion as necessary. I keep it at 70° all winter, day and night. I could save money by turning it down to 65° all winter and up to 76° all summer, but I’d be less comfortable all year round. I can afford the extra $20 a month it costs me.

When I lived in a bigger house in Pennsylvania with a family and heated with propane, we’d go away for Christmas vacation for a couple weeks to visit relatives. I’d turn the heat down to 50° and expect to save a lot of money. I was always disappointed. It didn’t make all that much difference. In The Villages, you won’t save much in the winter. You can save a lot more in the summer, but you do need to dehumidify your house if it’s closed up, and that is best done with air conditioning. So there’s a limit to what you can save. Still, if your house is empty and the air conditioning is set at 78°, your electricity bill may be close to $60 in March and $125 in July. That’s almost entirely air conditioning.

Mum's what they charge to install the nest thermostat?

Best thermostat
What does minna charge to install that thermostat
And best place to buy it ?

Yes, it saves energy many ways. I love my ecobee. It even gives you the weather outside. I great little unit that is attractive as well.

I use a Nest thermostat which can change temperature with my phone when home or away.

I've installed Honeywell Wifi and Nest thermostats. As far as consumer ready, they are both easy, the Nest is easier. The Honeywell thermostats look exactly like the ubiquitous thermostats that have been around for years and are everywhere you look.

Anyone who's even the slightest bit handy can install one of these. The help is really straight forward and if you get stuck, there is help right through the app on your phone.

I will caution you that if you are using the NEST, there are two main variants, the cheaper one(Nest E) really isn't for the types of system most TV homes use. It will be missing one of the AC stages connections. You need the Nest Learning Thermostat that can be found for around $220.00. This doesn't mean the E defintely won't work for you, but if you have a multi-stage heat pump with an automatic fan, it probably won't.

Buy it at Best Buy, Amazon, wherever you want. They are all the same.

You should absolutely replace your theromstat with a smart thermostat that can be controlled and monitored with your cellphone.

Thats even more important to do if you also have a home in the snowbelt, where your pipes could break and flood your home if the furance fails, undetected, while you're gone for months.

If a flood happens due to pipes breaking, there will be layers of ice that destroy your foundation and destroy your snowbelt home. When water freezes into ice, it expands in size, and has the power to break the basement walls. It's extremely important to be able to monitor and control your snowbelt home's furnace remotely!