Discussions

I’m in the market for a home thermostat, any suggestion? Would like to know the pros and cons of them as well. Thanks!

Had you given some thought to whether you’d want a wifi/cell phone capable thermostat or a standard one? Cost can be a few bucks more and installing is sometimes a touch more involved but we love the extra bit of convenience.

We have a Honeywell WiFi Programmable thermostat. Price is a bit steep but we enjoy the schedule programmability and it allows us to access the thermostat via an app on your phone so you can turn heat or cool on before you get home.

Yes we are looking at the newest models, the ones with wifi/cell phone capability, I know there are a few on the market right now, we would like to know how efficient they are, and what the pros and cons are  
Thanks

I'm not sure what you mean by efficiency. A thermostat won't change how efficient your furnace will run. As I mentioned above the Honeywell one we have also allows for automatic fan circulation so that may help with your heating costs as it will move more of the warm air throughout the house without engaging the heat .

have an ecobee and love it. Bit pricey but the MB hydro rebate helped (don't know if thats still running though, or if it will return?).  
 
My favorite feature is the remote sensors, so it can auto detect if you're home or what area of the home you are in etc.. and adjust heat accordingly.

I have a fancy programable thermostat. Found that it actually cost me $40/month MORE on the EPP. Set it to be 21° all the time and cut the $40/month back off the hydro.  
Personally, I wouldn't bother with a programable thermostat ever again. Wifi or not.  
 
Edited by AndreaD., 2017-11-06 17:37:26

White Rodgers 1E78-144 70 Series Thermostat, Single Stage, Non-Programmable, Vertical  
Google this one to see what it looks like.  
Home hardware Home Depot Canadian Tire

There's a rebate program through MB Hydro for installing a Nest thermostat. I have one of their security cameras and am thoroughly impressed. I'll be getting one of these next and love that it learns from use patterns and you can control it from your phone if you want! Pretty cool!  
 
https://nest.com/ca/rebates-and-rewards/

A lot of fancier thermostats have specific settings for all the different heating types, it would make a difference if it is set to a gas boiler system and you are running a fan forced furnace etc.. Possibility in your case.?

MitchellElectric said "A lot of fancier thermostats have specific settings for all the different heating types, it would make a difference if it is set to a gas boiler system and you are running a fan forced furnace etc.. Possibility in your case.? "

That was meant for Andreas issue.

We have a nest thermostat and it has been great. They are very user friendly to install and operate. Being able to connect to your heating/cooling system from your phone from anywhere has came in handy a few times.

We looked at the Nest and it is too complex and does way more stuff than you really need. We found the Honeywell wifi stat more to our liking.

I just installed an Ecobee Lite, which is made in Canada, and like it so far. It is also eligible for the MB Hydro $75 rebate which makes it somewhat more reasonable. The fact that it was made in Canada was one reason I bought and good reviews too.

If you still haven’t bought, Canadian Tire in their clearance area has the Honeywell rth9580wf. Normally a $229 thing for $150. Usually stuff in that area has defects but this one is just marked “customer satisfaction “ which my interpretation is just that the person who bought it didn’t like it (I’d confirm that with Canadian Tire and make sure everything’s in the box). You can do review digging online yourself and see that on average most people like it. With a wifi thermostat it’s always important to do your research first to know what you’re getting into as far as install (in particular having the “C” wire)!

As Adam eluded to in his post above, most require a "C" wire, which is the live wire from the furnace to supply power to the thermostat. The Ecobee comes with a converter so if your wire does not have a "C" wire you do not have to run a new thermostat wire. Something to think about when buying a wifi thermostat.

MitchellElectric, I am not convinced if programable helps. Yes, I have forced air electric. But I only pay $80 on the EPP. Not really bad considering this is Manitoba and I do have a house.  
Seriously, I am not paying more to fluxuate temperature when it ends up costing more.  
If it helps some people, great. But it certainly didn't help reduce my hydro bill.  
 
Edited by AndreaD., 2017-11-14 05:19:12