Thermostat recommendations

[rschneid]

I have a split zone house. 2nd floor (bed rooms) is on a heat pump and ac unit.

The Basement and 1st floor are on Gas Heat and AC.

I have a separate thermostat for each.

I have a large robust network running on an ISY994i.

 

I think that the 2441TH will work with the gas/AC. ($140~)

I think that I have to get a 2441V + T1800 combination for the heat pump/AC. ( $185~ )

 

Have I got this right? Any better suggestions out there?

 

Rich S.

[elvisimprsntr]

I recommend staying away from the Insteon thermostats. Not one of Smarthome's better products. Poor adapters, RF signal, poor features, etc. Has nothing to do with the ISY controllers, which are excellent.

 

Drop some coin on some Nest thermostats and don't look back, assuming they are compatible with your HVAC. No integration with the ISY since it's not a public API, but it's not really necessary given the features of the Nest. If you really want to control the Nest, the Cloud API has been reverse engineered.

[io_guy]

ecobee.

Many more features and capabilities than Nest.

[ISYhbsh01]

I got two Venstars running fine. Smarthome's own thermostat is a different story.

 

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

[oberkc]

There are Lots of internet-enabled thermostats out there, but I suspect that the fact that rschneid posted his question on a UDI/insteon/ISY-994 forum suggests interest in integration with the ISY-994. Recommendations for thermostats without such capability are, in my estimation, non-responsive.

[io_guy]

There are Lots of internet-enabled thermostats out there, but I suspect that the fact that rschneid posted his question on a UDI/insteon/ISY-994 forum suggests interest in integration with the ISY-994. Recommendations for thermostats without such capability are, in my estimation, non-responsive.

I'll have a program to link the ecobee to an ISY available shortly.

So you can consider my response "responsive" again.

[Xathros]

I've been quite happy with my Venstar+Insteon Adapter for the last 2.5 years. Smarthome voluntarily recalled and replaced replaced my Insteon adapter last year even though I hadn't had any problems with it.

 

-Xathros

[johnnyt]

I'll have a program to link the ecobee to an ISY available shortly.

So you can consider my response "responsive" again.

that's great news as I've heard good things about the ecobee stat but If I'm not mistaken you need the zigbee radio in the ISY for it. Is that right? One would then lose the ability to do zwave with ISY in the future.

I've been waiting to get a stat and a must have is ISY integration; on it's own intelligence and Internet enabled are not enough or even that interesting.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[io_guy]

that's great news as I've heard good things about the ecobee stat but If I'm not mistaken you need the zigbee radio in the ISY for it. Is that right? One would then lose the ability to do zwave with ISY in the future.

I've been waiting to get a stat and a must have is ISY integration; on it's own intelligence and Internet enabled are not enough or even that interesting.

zigbee would only be required if UDI add true internal support for the ecobee.

I'm using ecobee's ugly web api. It will involve a program running on a computer that will be the middle man between the api and the ISY.

[wrj0]

I have to agree with Xanthos' observations; my T1800 Venstar adapter has been working great for the past year. The initial version installed did have some communication problems, but after providing some diagnostic information to Smarthome, they provided a replacement adapter (rev 2.4 "FWD5") that has been working flawlessly. It manages temperatures and modes several times a day without any problems at all.

[andyf0]

I have to agree with Xanthos' observations; my T1800 Venstar adapter has been working great for the past year. The initial version installed did have some communication problems, but after providing some diagnostic information to Smarthome, they provided a replacement adapter (rev 2.4 "FWD5") that has been working flawlessly. It manages temperatures and modes several times a day without any problems at all.

 

I have two Venstar thermostats which change modes daily. They perform perfectly. I had tried the SH Insteon thermostats and had nothing but problems. Sent them back.

[TanerH]

ecobee.

Many more features and capabilities than Nest.

+1 on the ecobees. I have 6 of them

 

The UI on their smartphone app is a little sub-par in my opinion, but it functions.

 

I'll have a program to link the ecobee to an ISY available shortly

This makes me very happy! Would be great to have these tied into my ISY.

 

-Taner

[johnnyt]

for those with ecobee stats, what model did you go with, why, and would you pick a different one today?

[io_guy]

For those of us with ecobees - please see here.

viewtopic.php?f=96&t=11956

 

Feature requests?

[io_guy]

for those with ecobee stats, what model did you go with, why, and would you pick a different one today?

I use the smart (not Si) and chose it because of the module interface and large feature set, similar to my Honeywell IAQ.

Happy with the decision.

[madcodger]

There are Lots of internet-enabled thermostats out there, but I suspect that the fact that rschneid posted his question on a UDI/insteon/ISY-994 forum suggests interest in integration with the ISY-994. Recommendations for thermostats without such capability are, in my estimation, non-responsive.

 

I respectfully beg to differ. I am a very loyal ISY enthusiast, and was considering an Insteon Tstat or another serial Tstat connected to my Elk (had used one in previous home) when I read about the Nest (in an HA forum as I recall, although possibly not this one). Upon much further exploration and investigation I ultimately went with a Nest, and could not be happier. Paid for itself in the first winter due to FAR superior control of the backup heat on our heat pump, and remember that this is compared to a programmed tstat, not "set and forget". I do hope they open up their API one day, but even with a lack of integration with my ISY, it has been an excellent purchase. The other poster was being helpful to the OP and others with his comment.

[oberkc]

Upon much further exploration and investigation I ultimately went with a Nest, and could not be happier.

 

I am sure that the nest is a wonderful thermostat. No doubt. I assume the same can be said of the ecobeee. I also find the honeywell prestige to be pretty nice.

 

For my purposes, I am VERY hesitant to invest in a thermostat that requires routing through a cloud service to be fully functional. I think this eliminates the honeywell and nest units.

[arw01]

The Ecobee also requires routing through the cloud service for their API. Thusfar, they have not opened direct access to it in their API. Predominately I think that is to simplify their life for their mobile device apps. Otherwise technical support has to deal with opening router port forwarding on hundreds if not thousands of different modem/router/router combinations out there.

 

don't know if a man in the middle is possible for a lot of these devices, never learned enough about encryption and such to know.

 

Alan

[johnnyt]

The Ecobee also requires routing through the cloud service for their API.

Is that right? One can't directly talk to it from one's own local network? Hmmm, big knock if that's the case.

[io_guy]

The Ecobee also requires routing through the cloud service for their API.

Is that right? One can't directly talk to it from one's own local network? Hmmm, big knock if that's the case.

It unfortunately is the case.

No idea what ecobee were thinking, there's a few people on their developer forum yelling about it but I highly doubt they'll change anything.

Judging from their response they think what they've done is the correct implementation.

 

I've worked in automation for 15 years - it's the absolute wrong way.

In any case, I own one, I'll make it work.

[madcodger]

I agree that having an open API and not requiring a customer to use a company's cloud service is better for us, as hobbyists. But to create a business, I think they're making the right choice. The level of required support is just much lower, and support takes resources. In balance, I'll take a fully functioning, easy to use and reliable tstat that requires a company's cloud server (especially when its free, but even with a nominal charge) over one that requires constant / frequent attention to keep it functioning properly or that lacks features I need.

[io_guy]

Cloud services are definitely the way to go for their mass user interface and apps, no question.

 

But their API is a custom developer API. This is not for the masses, it's for custom HA applications. HA should absolutely never have to leave its own subnet in order for 2 devices to talk.

"My internet is down so my house doesn't work anymore" - fundamental flaw.

[johnnyt]

And If the company goes bankrupt you lose the automation capability you paid a premium to get. I'm also concerned about being held hostage to a service fee increase later simply to change my heat/cool set point. Not saying I wouldn't pay for value add, e.g. data storage and analytics that i might not want to do myself, but I want the basic capabilities I invest in today (including the time investment) to last for as long as the h/w does.

 

 

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[mountainman3520]

I started with an ecobee and its an okay product but not great. The wall unit is too glitzy, I dislike the touchscreen that is always needing cleaned of dust and smears, the interface just doesn't seem very elegant, and I strongly dislike the need to use their cloud service just to access my own local equipment. Plus, for a person trying to automate their home, as most anyone with an isy is probably doing, linking the thermostat into programs is a big deal. Pretty fundamental actually.

So I removed my ecobee and installed three 2441TH units in two houses. They are working great. I've had zero issues. I've got programs on the isys controlling all the temp set points based on if I'm home or away, the season, and my time based variable power rates, which also change based on day and season. It's great. Way better than a separate web accessible non-smart thermostat. And I have full remote access to view and control both houses via my isy, without "help" from a third party server.

This is really important to have everything linked. Otherwise I'd have to log into two different systems, one to turn the heat up and another to turn the driveway lights on. That would really bug me! Now I just send a single command to say I'm arriving and programs do the rest. The extra work of having a separate system ripples. I also have notification alarm emails and texts setup for a growing list of events (temp, freeze, water leaks, lights left on, security, etc). I want inside house temps and thermostat status tied into that decision tree and alert system.

All of this stuff is kinda the point of home automation systems. Right?

To me it seems like anyone with an isy should be using an insteon thermostat. It's one of my favorite automatons and you are missing out.

One question I do have is that the clocks on the 2441s drift a lot. Note that I don't use these clocks for anything since the isy controls the thermostat set points, and I'd turn the clocks off if I could, but I can't so it bugs me when they don't display the accurate time. I'd like to write an isy program to periodically set them to isy time, which is in sync with a time server. Anyone know how to view and change these other features of the 2441 from the isy?

 

Ps - slightly used mint condition ecobee for sale, including the box and all docs, good as new!

[Michel Kohanim]

Hello mountainman3520,

 

Thanks so very much for the details. Quite enlightening!

 

On Venstar thermostats (depending on the firmware) ISY can set the time and there's a command for it in the programs. On 2441TH, unfortunately, such facility does not exist. I am so very sorry.

 

With kind regards,

Michel