Most air conditioners/heaters have the ability to keep your dwelling at a certain temperature, so what does adding smarts really buy you? Three things: energy savings, consistency, and control.
Most providers in the US offer rebates and bill credits for adding a smart thermostat to your home, so they are usually much more economical than people initially think. With tiered power structures, if you hook up your thermostat to your power company, they will turn off your A/C or heater when the grid is having load trouble, and pay you for the inconvenience. If you aren’t home for stretches of time, you are getting paid to help the power company without any discomfort!
The problem with the old thermostats is that while they do keep the temperature consistent, they only do so based on the temperature where the panel is located, and they can’t tell if people aren’t home. With the addition of temperature sensors in other rooms, smart thermostats can kick on when other rooms get too hot or cold. With the ability to connect to the internet, you can also instruct the house to switch from energy-saving mode to nice and cool as the family comes back from the beach vacation.
While most products are designed around the idea of central heat or air, many people around the world depend on window air conditioners or other “non-standard” options. Some companies have capitalized on this by trying to make smart window units, but in our experience, a temperature sensor and a smart outlet has a much better result for significantly less money. One fickle thing is fans - the dumber the better, because then the easier they are to smartify with switches or outlets.
