If you want to keep your home at just the right temperature and save money on your energy bills, a smart thermostat is the perfect investment. In fact, this device can help homeowners lower their bills by £192 per year, British Gas reveals. The best part is that you can control a smart thermostat from your phone, anywhere, anytime. So, on your commute home from work or school, you can switch on the heating and walk into a warm house. Or, if you accidentally leave the heating on, you can turn it off remotely, which saves energy and money. Your thermostat can even sync up with your other smart home tech to create automatic routines that make family life easier. Just take care to choose a thermostat that’s compatible with your smart devices and boiler, and you’ll be good to go.  

To get the most out of your smart thermometer, look for one that’s compatible with your other smart home tech. This will let you seamlessly control your whole house right from your phone. Most smart thermostats (like Hive, Honeywell, and Nest) work with most popular virtual assistants, including Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. But, there’s one exception — Nest doesn’t integrate with Apple HomeKit, unlike Hive and Honeywell. Once you’ve got everything connected, your family will be able to ask your voice assistant to adjust the temperature in your home, check the temperature, and create heating and cooling schedules.

The right smart thermostat also needs to be compatible with your existing boiler. Most major smart thermostat manufacturers have online compatibility checks — all you need to do is input your boiler model to see if it’s a fit. Older boilers, those around ten years old+, don’t always work with smart thermostats, so you may need to upgrade to a newer model in this case. In England, it’s now the law that new boiler installations come with smart controls, which can include smart thermostats. But, a smart thermostat can also be retrofitted with your existing system by a professional boiler and heating engineer. Although some thermostats are designed for DIY installation, it’s best to hire a professional, so you don’t have to worry about doing it wrong.

Smart thermostats usually have a multi-user geofencing feature that tracks where family members are based on their smartphone’s location. When someone’s on their way home, the thermostat automatically switches to their preferred temperature. If needed, your smart lights in the hallway can flick on too, and the smart speaker can start playing their favorite playlist. On top of this, smart motion sensors in individual rooms can help your thermostat heat and cool them properly. When rooms are occupied, the thermostat warms them, but, if they’ve been empty for a bit, they’ll be cooled down instead.

A smart thermostat gives you greater control over your home’s heating and cooling, which improves comfort and saves money. As long as you choose a device that works with your smart devices and boiler, everything will work together without a hitch.