You can get Wi-Fi in everything from your bathroom scale to your fridge these days, so why not put it in your thermostat, where it might actually come in handy?
Filtrete has done just that, coupling an advanced programmable thermostat with a Wi-Fi add-in that lets you control it from your computer or with an iPhone app.
This makes more sense than you might think. That’s because even on a touchscreen thermostat, configuring a weekly program is never easy. Like most programmable thermostats, Filtrete’s lets you set four temperature changes, four times a day, every day of the week. That’s 56 individual data points to configure on a small display with a minimum of input options.
Now connect that thermostat to your computer and the world opens up: Configuration becomes easier, and adding multiple programs (summer, winter, vacation, girlfriend at home and so on) is no longer a pain.
Unfortunately, setting up the thermostat is a bit of pain. I didn’t have power running from my furnace to my thermostat, which meant I had to connect an ugly, wired transformer to wall power in order to power the Wi-Fi module (otherwise the thermostat can be configured from the control screen only). Overcoming this hurdle — which isn’t documented in the manual — took considerable effort and was complicated by the device’s truly arcane setup routines.
With everything finally running, managing my environment was a breeze. Feeling chilly but your hands are full in the kitchen? Pull out your phone and kick it up a degree. Left on vacation and forgot to turn on the lower-temp program? You can do it later from any web browser … and then turn the heat back on when you’re on the cab ride home.
All this convenience is great, but it’s also the reason why I question Filtrete’s claims that I’ll save $180 a year on my utility bills.
The problem is this: While programmability is wonderful, the ease of changing the temperature from anywhere means you’re much more likely to do it, when otherwise you’d just sit there and suffer, too lazy to get up. Now, while I’m working in my office, I can kick the furnace up a couple of degrees without even walking upstairs, so why not do it?
In fact, my utility bills have gone up since I installed the device, not down. But hey, at least it’s warmer in here.
Ultimately I can only hope that my need for all this additional heat will eventually be counterbalanced by the additional body fat I am gaining from not walking up the stairs so much. I call that a win-win.
WIRED The most configurable thermostat available; lets you tweak from the console, PC or smartphone. Bright, easy-to-read display.
TIRED Web-management tool is poorly designed, with key features buried. Can’t configure multiple programs without a PC. Reported temperature gets very jumpy when messing with power, batteries or the (removable) Wi-Fi module. Requires “C” power from HVAC unit.
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