How to choose the best smart thermostat for your customer

For HVAC professionals, specializing in smart home or connected home installation is an excellent way to grow steady business throughout the year. Smart thermostats are a prime example of the significant overlap between smart home products and the heating and cooling industry. Discover how to choose the best one to satisfy your customers.

7 of the best smart thermostats

Compared to when they were first introduced to the consumer market, smart thermostats today have evolved to offer a number of unique features that are specific to various brands. Depending on what your customer is looking for, these features make some models better suited for specific applications than others.

Once you’ve determined the features that are important to your customer, choose the best smart thermostat for them from these seven excellent candidates. Ready to buy? Sign up for a free account to purchase online or in store.

ecobee

If your customer wants something eco-friendly and programmable, an ecobee is a great choice. The options listed below are green and ENERGY STAR® compliant.

In addition, each is covered by the ecobee smart thermostat warranty for five years when purchased and installed by a professional, an excellent selling point for your HVAC services. Explore three options from this brand.

ecobee Premium Smart Thermostat Pro with Voice Control

This one stands out for two big reasons: The ecobee Premium Smart Thermostat Pro with Voice Control integrates with voice assistants and connected home platforms, and it also has a built-in indoor air quality monitor.

The Pro with Voice measures volatile organic compounds (VOC) and equivalent carbon dioxide (eCO2) and alerts the homeowner if they’re too high, as well as provides steps to improve air quality.

This option can help save up to 26% on annual heating and cooling costs compared to a hold of 72°F. The ecobee Premium Smart Thermostat Pro with Voice Control also includes the SmartSensor, which allows your customer to manage cold or hot spots and prioritize comfort where they want it most.

With an LCD touchscreen display, this thermostat integrates with platforms that include Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant, IFTTT and Samsung Smart Things. It’s a 4H/2C stage and applications include humidifier and dehumidifier, electric, gas, oil and ventilator.

Finally, it supports 1-wire or 2-wire accessory control, and it includes a power extender kit (PEK), so you can install it without a C wire.

ecobee Enhanced Smart Thermostat Pro

If your customers aren’t interested in voice control or indoor air quality alerts, the ecobee Enhanced Smart Thermostat Pro is a solid option. This one doesn’t include the SmartSensor, but it can be purchased separately to add advanced home comfort control.

The enhanced model has the same large LCD touchscreen for easy navigation and setup, and it can also help your customers save up to 26% annually on heating and cooling costs compared to a hold of 72°F.

The ecobee Enhanced Smart Thermostat Pro supports 3H/2C and is compatible with Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant, IFTTT and Samsung Smart Things. Unlike the Pro with Voice, this thermostat supports only 1-wire accessory control, but it does include the PEK to install without a C wire.

ecobee 3 Lite Pro Thermostat

Our final green ecobee option is the ecobee 3 Lite Pro Thermostat. It monitors the system and sends alerts if it notices something is wrong. Your customers with an Apple Watch, Android or iOS device can also control temperature and settings from anywhere. This can also pair with the SmartSensor, although it’s not included in the purchase.

The 3 Lite Pro can deliver annual cost savings on heating and cooling of 23% compared to a hold of 72°F, slightly lower than the other two options.

Your customers can integrate the 3 Lite Pro seamlessly with alarm.com, Google Assistant, Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, Samsung Smart Things and IFTTT.

It supports 2H/2C and 4H/2C for electric, gas, oil and ventilator and is compatible with radiant heating systems, multistage and dual-fuel heat pumps, as well as 24V multispeed fan systems.

Google Nest

For customers who love the simplicity of the Google lineup, we recommend two options from Google Nest, one a bit more advanced and the other slightly basic.

Google Nest Learning Thermostat Pro

The Google Nest Learning Thermostat Pro comes in stainless steel and is ENERGY STAR compliant. This option is programmable but also learns the temperatures you like and programs itself in about a week. It also automatically turns itself down if it senses no one is home.

The Nest Learning Thermostat is compatible with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. When Nest spots your customers from across the room, the display lights up to show the time, temperature and weather. This option also provides emergency alerts and emergency shutoffs.

Customers can check their energy history in the Nest app to explore how to reduce their energy costs. With their phone, laptop or tablet, they can control up to 20 thermostats and up to two separate locations from a single account.

The Google Nest Learning Thermostat supports 3H/2C systems.

Google Nest thermostat

Instead of being manually programmable, the Google Nest thermostat uses Auto-Schedule. This model turns itself down to save energy when your customers aren’t home.

Your customers can control it and adjust temps from anywhere with the Google Home app. The thermostat will also send an alert if something doesn’t seem right with the heating and cooling system.

This basic option is 2H/1C or 1H/2C , and it is compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.

Honeywell Home

Choose from two green models from Honeywell Home to meet your customers’ needs, one of which comes with room sensors for advanced comfort options.

Honeywell Home T10 Pro Smart Thermostat with RedLINK®

The Honeywell Home T10 Pro Smart Thermostat with RedLINK is an ENERGY STAR compliant choice for homeowners who like to prioritize spaces in their house where they may spend more time.

The wireless RedLINK indoor room sensors detect temperature, humidity and motion within a 200-foot range and send that data back to the thermostat, allowing your customer to enjoy reliable comfort throughout their home.

The thermostat has a touchscreen, and your customers can use the Honeywell Home app or control it through Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit and Google Assistant. Flexible programming options include off, 7, 5-2, 5-1-1 and 1.

The T10 Pro Smart Thermostat can be used for humidification, dehumidification and ventilation and supports 3H/2C or 2H/2C. Geofencing is also available.

Honeywell Home T6 Pro Smart Thermostat

The Honeywell Home T6 Pro Smart Thermostat is similar to the T10, but it doesn’t come with RedLINK and has a larger touchscreen display, among other differences. Homeowners can use location-based control with geofence technology or program in their schedule either on the unit or through the Lyric app.

The T6 Pro Smart is also compatible with Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant and IFTTT.

Like the T10, the T6 supports 3H/2C heat pump or 2H/2C conventional. It uses the UWP mounting system, and you can install the T6 faster with the Resideo Pro App.

Find the best smart thermostat at Ferguson

As an industry leader, Ferguson HVAC offers the solutions you need for residential or commercial heating and air conditioning projects. Shop Ferguson for the best smart thermostats and the latest smart home products and services.