The 4 Best Smart Thermostats of 2023 | Reviews by Wirecutter – The New York Times

Whats so smart about smart thermostats? They not only ensure your homes temperature is comfortable, but they also do that while saving money andnot coincidentallyfighting climate change by better conserving energy resources. And the smartest ones do all that automatically.

Our pick, the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium, kept the temperature more consistently pleasant year-round than any other model we tested, likely because of its ability to calculate the effects of humidity on comfort. It comes with a remote SmartSensor, which balances temps in your home, and it has a built-in smart speaker for use with Alexa or Siri. Ecobees privacy policy is best in class, and the company still provides support for even its earliest years-old models.

Ecobees top-tier model comes with the best remote sensor weve tested, a built-in microphone and speaker, Alexa for voice control, and an air-quality monitor.

Compatible with: Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, Google Home, Samsung SmartThings

Our top pick, the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium, isnt the absolute easiest model to set up, but its the best overall for eking out every last BTU of efficiency. It provides lots of settings to fine-tune your indoor climate, includes the smartest remote sensor around, can be tweaked by voice commands, and can play audio via a built-in Alexa smart speaker. In our tests, it was the hands-down best performer at keeping the whole house consistently comfortable. (The Ecobee Smart Thermostat Enhanced, which has fewer features, works just as well and has a far lower price.)

The smartest thermostat is also the easiest to set up using AI, but those extra brains come at a higher price.

Compatible with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Samsung SmartThings

For a simpler setup, the Google Nest Learning Thermostat is the best choice because built-in AI does most of the work for you. It doesnt come with a remote sensor (and Nests arent as useful as Ecobees) or have built-in smart-speaker capabilities, which some owners may not need anyway. And some users have found that they sometimes have to override Nests AI to optimize their comfort and energy savings.

Though not as sophisticated as our other picks, this thermostat works with a wide variety of HVAC systems, is dead simple to use, and is inexpensive.

Compatible with: Amazon Alexa, Ring

The Amazon Smart Thermostat may be basic, with simple controls and rudimentary AI, but it does what it does well, and for some people that makes it ideal. It can be configured to run on a timed schedule, or, using Alexa Hunches (Amazons term for Alexas AI-based learning feature), it can eventually learn your patterns and suggest customized settings. The one conspicuous missing feature wed like to see is compatibility with remote sensors, which our top picks have.

One of the few smart thermostats able to control inefficient electric baseboard heaters, the Mysa uses scheduling, geofencing, and an Eco mode to help you save money and energy.

Compatible with: Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, Google Home

If you have electric baseboard heating (or another type of high-voltage resistance heating), the Mysa Smart Thermostat (v2) adds smart control to those inefficient units. (It isnt able to control cooling systems.) To help save money and energyas much as 26% of your annual heating bill, Mysa claimsit makes use of scheduling, geofencing, and an Eco mode that subtly drops the temperature without affecting comfort. As many electric baseboard systems require a thermostat for every room, which can add up to a hefty price tag, for multiroom setups you may want to consider the more affordable Mysa Lite, which performs the same but has more basic controls and fewer features.

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The 4 Best Smart Thermostats of 2023 | Reviews by Wirecutter - The New York Times