The Amazon Smart Thermostat was chosen as one of the best smart thermostats for a home here at MyHomeNeedThis. At under $100, it’s the least expensive option in the market today that covers all the basics.
Like all smart thermostats, it helps you save money on energy costs by learning your temperature preferences over time, lets you control your house’s temperature remotely via an app or voice commands and integrates into Alexa’s “routines”, where you can tell it to “warm up the living room” and as a result Alexa can turn up the heat, change the color of the lights and play a specific playlist.
You can buy it here: Amazon Smart Thermostat
Amazon Smart Thermostat Review:
Special features
- Echo mode: drops the house’s heating to a minimum when there’s no one around to save money and energy.
- Alexa: seamless integration with the Alexa app and its voice commands.
- Energy tracking: provides analytics on energy usage that are used to learn your preferences over time.
Installation
Installing the Amazon smart thermostat took about 10 minutes.
In order to do it, the first step is downloading the Alexa app, it’ll guide you through the process of removing the old thermostat and mounting the new one. After that is done, it goes straight to the pairing process which completes the installation.
You’ll need C wire to power the thermostat. In case your house doesn’t already have it, you can buy it along in the Amazon smart thermostat bundle with C wire adapter.
The package includes all the tools you need for the installation, so no need to worry about that part.
Usage
The Amazon smart thermostat can be controlled on the device, the app or using alexa voice commands:
On device: This works like a normal thermostat: the bottom area has a navigation bar with three touch buttons: two arrows to control higher or lower temperature, and a center button that toggles between heating, cooling and fan modes.
The Alexa app: this shows you a virtual thermostat where you can control and set the exact temperature, in a similar way to how Google’s nest learning thermostat device sets its temperature.
Voice: using Alexa’s voice commands is the most convenient and quickest way of using this thermostat. You can ask for the current temperature, adjust it or run a routine.
Benefits:
Least expensive Smart Thermostat in the market: its price with the C-wire adapter is around $95 USD, and without it around $60. Most smart thermostats in today’s market cost around $200, so this one is truly a bargain.
Clean, easy to use touchscreen design: Due to its beautiful, modern aesthetic, I consider this the second best looking smart thermostat out there (Spot #1 belongs to the Nest Learning Thermostat in my opinion).
Compatible with Alexa and all Amazon devices: Seamless integration with Amazon devices, it can be controlled remotely via the Alexa app or via voice commands.
Drawbacks:
Needs a compatible smart speaker or display to control it via voice commands: this is the real drawback for the price. The Amazon Smart Thermostat doesn’t include a mic, so in order to use voice commands you’ll need to integrate it with an echo dot or some other smart speaker that is compatible with Alexa.
Not compatible with Google Assistant or Apple HomeKit: being an Amazon product, it just integrates with Alexa.
Requires C-wiring or a C-wire adapter: If your house doesn’t already have C-wire, you’ll need an adapter to power it. Fortunately it can be bought along with the thermostat in the Amazon smart thermostat bundle with C wire adapter.
Conclusion
The Amazon Smart Thermostat covers all the basics a smart thermostat should cover, the installation is seamless and its usage is simple.
In order to use voice commands you’ll need to integrate it to an Alexa device and it’s not compatible with Google Assistant or Apple HomeKit, but for the price I think it’s a fair compromise, specially if you already have an echo dot and use Alexa regularly.
All in all, the Amazon Smart Thermostat is a solid budget option.