Baby, its cold outside: Heres our favorite smart thermostats to heat up your home

As anyone who experienced the recent Polar Vortex on the East Coast can attest to, being cold in your home is rarely ideal. Thankfully, the market for smart thermostats has been growing ever since Apple alumni Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers first unveiled the Nest Learning Thermostat four years ago, ushering in a new wave of connected devices that had more or less been overlooked in the effort to revolutionize the home of the 21st century. The self-aware devicespack far more capabilities than their older counterparts such as the ability to learn your daily schedule, adjust the temperature of individual rooms, and anticipate your heating and cooling needs in conjunction with the local forecasts while simultaneously boasting connectivity with your smartphone or tablet.

Below are a few of our favorites, from Nest to Netatmo, so you can run a more efficient system and cut back onexuberant costs. Well, at least until the next vortex hits.

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Surprisingly, Nests Learning Thermostat really does learn. After you initially install the devicea process thats simple regardless of your heating and cooling systemyou can set a desired temperature for your home. The thermostat will then take note of how you move around your house throughout the week, adjusting the various temperature settings according to the time of day and your habits. It will also automatically log and apply said settings when suitable, and showcase the amount of time it will take to get your house to your desired temperature. Nests bevy of sensors will detect when youre not home and adjust accordingly, and like any good friend, the device will offer suggestions designed to save you money. Its ability to adjust the temperature of your home a half hour before you arrive from work is onlyfurthers its intuitiveness.

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In a nutshell, the Honeywell Lyric taps into your location and local weather forecasts via Wi-Fi. The circular device will then anticipate potential temperature changes and compensate for the weather, while offering a host of shortcut settings for straightforward programming and operation. The thermostat features three standard modes one for when youre sleeping, one for when youre leaving your home, and another for when youre arriving all of which you can adjust using the mobile app for iOS and Android devices. The device will adjust accordingly to save you the maximum amount of money, but if you prefer to work outside the box, you can set custom settings to fit your household.

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The EcoBee3 monitors youre position in the apartment much like the Nest Learning Thermostat and the Honeywell Lyric, sure, but it does so utilizing physical sensors you place around your home. The remote sensors allow for more accurate changes in heating and cooling throughout your home, which in turn saves you money because it restricts heating and cooling to the spaces in your home you utilize the most (i.e. the kitchen, living room, bedroom). The slick EcoBee3 also takes notice of humidity, and if you have a humidifier, the thermostat will automatically adjust it to best accommodate your situation. And if you dont, it will simply tweak the temperature to keep you satisfied, whether at home or away.

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Baby, its cold outside: Heres our favorite smart thermostats to heat up your home