What is the best thermostat to get for both Alexa echo and UDS 994i with Insteon?

[frank]

Looking to get a smart thermostat and looking for input from the community. I use UDS 994i with many Insteon devices as well as Alexa Echo.

 

 

 

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[paulbates]

I use 2 of the Venstar Colortouch T7900. I've had the Colortouches for 4 years and very happy with them. It does need either Venlink (ISY V4 Firmware) or Nodelink (ISY V5 Firmware) running on a computer for the ISY to support it. The alexa support is native, just load the Venstar alexa app. There is also a mobile app from venstar to control it from your phone.

I'm insteon like you. But, if you have z-wave, there are a number of z-wave thermostat choices that integrate directly with the ISY, no separate computer to support the interface. 

Finally, all thermostats have their plusses and minuses, best is a relative measure.

Paul

[frank]

Thanks Paul.


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[DaveStLou]

3 hours ago, frank said:

Looking to get a smart thermostat and looking for input from the community. I use UDS 994i with many Insteon devices as well as Alexa Echo.

I agree with @paulbates that best is subjective.

In my case, I switched to an Insteon thermostat years ago and have been very happy with it. If you're used to working Insteon devices, it's a breeze to set up and work with programming on the ISY. It's also relatively easy to integrate with Alexa through the UDI portal.

[larryllix]

I use ecobee3, ecobeee4, Venstar 7900, Insteon 2441ZTHs, and Tekmar stats. I like the ecobees the best for professional quality, and Venstar for the easiest to integrate with ISY. I was never impressed with the very low quality of the Insteon stats for a serious HVAC application.

Hovever, the ecobees and Venstars take a third party box to interface to ISY.

[apostolakisl]

I have 9 of the Insteon thermostats for heatpumps (which they discontinued) working AC units at my church.

Pros:

1) They were VERY cheap, I think I ended paying less than $50/ea

2) They integrate with ISY simply, quickly, and natively

3) It is easy to control them from ISY programs, mobile linc, and Agave

4) With version 5 of ISY firmware and the portal, they are easy to control with Alexa and Google

Cons: (note, some cons may also be present with other thermostats, I don't know)

1) They can get messed up with power fluctuations after which they need to be manually reset.  This would obviously be a very big problem if you were out of town in winter and it happened.

2) The "cool on/off" and "heat on/off" are Insteon control commands sent by thermostat.  Meaning that if the comm misses, you can't query it.  ISY (or any other scene responders) simply don't react to this call for heat/cool or shutdown of heat/cool message and never will until the next heat/cool cycle.

3) They don't activate heat strips when weather is too cold for heat pump to work well.  You can manually turn them on however (not from ISY, only from the thermostat).

4) The native programming on the thermostat is quite good, but it can only be done from the thermostat.  This is no issue for me since I use ISY to do all of that, but still it is a PITA using the little buttons on the thermostat.

5) The stage 2 cool is fixed at the temp being 5 degrees from setpoint.  This isn't the greatest.  It would be better if it had logic such as "if temp hasn't satisfied within x minutes, activate stage 2". 

6) The LCD screen isn't the best.  You have to look at it from the right angle to see it.

 

 

[frank]

Anyone have experience with the Nest and especially using the UDS 994i along with MobiLinc?


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[Bumbershoot]

7 hours ago, frank said:

Anyone have experience with the Nest and especially using the UDS 994i along with MobiLinc?


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I'll take a whack at this:

The best way I know of to use a Nest thermostat with the ISY, you have to run the Nest2 polyglot node server, which makes the Nest a fully functional member of the ISY universe.  MobiLinc is more problematic, as the current version of MobiLinc doesn't support node servers.  I believe Wes has indicated that he's embarking on a MobiLinc rewrite that will at least include some support for Polyglot node servers, but beyond that I have no information.  In the attached screenshot, you can see what the Nest thermostat looks like in MobiLinc, but none of the states or values are actionable.  No worries for me, as most of the things I wish to change are changed automatically using ISY programs.  For the rare time I want to use an app to change something on my Nest, I simply use the very acceptable Nest app (iOS, in my case) to make the change.

The second screen shot displays how the thermostat appears in the AC.

EDIT: Additionally, it's very simple to install the Nest skill into Alexa and control the thermostat by voice.

 

[smokegrub]

11 hours ago, apostolakisl said:

I have 9 of the Insteon thermostats for heatpumps (which they discontinued) working AC units at my church.

Pros:

1) They were VERY cheap, I think I ended paying less than $50/ea

2) They integrate with ISY simply, quickly, and natively

3) It is easy to control them from ISY programs, mobile linc, and Agave

4) With version 5 of ISY firmware and the portal, they are easy to control with Alexa and Google

Cons: (note, some cons may also be present with other thermostats, I don't know)

1) They can get messed up with power fluctuations after which they need to be manually reset.  This would obviously be a very big problem if you were out of town in winter and it happened.

2) The "cool on/off" and "heat on/off" are Insteon control commands sent by thermostat.  Meaning that if the comm misses, you can't query it.  ISY (or any other scene responders) simply don't react to this call for heat/cool or shutdown of heat/cool message and never will until the next heat/cool cycle.

3) They don't activate heat strips when weather is too cold for heat pump to work well.  You can manually turn them on however (not from ISY, only from the thermostat).

4) The native programming on the thermostat is quite good, but it can only be done from the thermostat.  This is no issue for me since I use ISY to do all of that, but still it is a PITA using the little buttons on the thermostat.

5) The stage 2 cool is fixed at the temp being 5 degrees from setpoint.  This isn't the greatest.  It would be better if it had logic such as "if temp hasn't satisfied within x minutes, activate stage 2". 

6) The LCD screen isn't the best.  You have to look at it from the right angle to see it.

 

 

I manage the remote reset of a Insteon wireless stat by powering it through a dual band device. I cut the power, wait a couple of minutes and repower. I use that stat solely for the purpose of monitoring temperature. If other Insteon stats are as unreliable as mine I would have to recommend against it.

[frank]

Thanks everyone. Appreciate the great knowledge you all put forth. Looks like O’ll go with the Nest as I primarily want to use with Alexa and secondarily with a program under Insteon. All your info was very helpful, thanks to all.


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[larryllix]

Does Nest support remote sensors also?

[Bumbershoot]

1 hour ago, larryllix said:

Does Nest support remote sensors also?

Yes they do, but only with the 3rd generation or E series thermostats.

[gviliunas]

If you need line-level heat-only (No fan control) thermostat to control 110-220 baseboard heaters, I've been using five Stelpro STZW402+ thermostats that seem to work well with ISY's Z-Wave.

These thermostats have no local schedules so this must be done through ISY. There are two modes of operation, Comfort and Eco (Setback). You can switch between modes and change the Comfort set-point from ISY but you can only set the Eco set-point locally at the thermostat. 

[MikeB]

Interested in this topic as well.  I only have 1 INSTEON thermostat currently (2-piece version), but I think it's time I finished this project and replaced my others.

Although I want to integrate thermostat control and notifications with the ISY, integration with the Amazon Echo is priority #1.

 

[frank]

If you have a heat pump type A/C do not get the Insteon Thermostat. It does not support a heat pump.


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[TomL]

I have 7 Insteon 2441Th and 2 2441ZTH, the ZTH are on AC adaptors.  1 2441TH has been mounted outside on an unenclosed, covered deck for over a year and is used to monitor outdoor temp and humidity.  THere have been no problems with getting any of them to work with ISY or Alexa and to date have been very happy with there performance.  Admittedly they are used on an older bare bones gas heat/AC forced air system so other then some dampers and fans in ducting there is not a big need for a lot of bells and whistles.  My wife has a couple of rooms that she houses exotic pets and they have done well in being used to control temp and humidity for them.  All in all for the price and my needs they worked out well.