Ecobee Energy Efficient WiFi Programable Thermostat

A blend of energy efficient smarts and technological geek, this is a really cool product- if you know how to use it. The great thing is that no matter what, it will save you energy and bucks on your heating and cooling bills. A beautiful interface and clean design would compliment most any interior in some fashion as it has the appearance of a small flat screen TV.  What really makes it unique is the WiFi feature, and this is where it starts to get interesting.

Once hooked up to your home network via WiFi, it can do a lot, and I mean A LOT. It has a personalized web portal which you can program your heating and cooling routine into, just as with most programmable thermostats, but this goes a bit further. You are able to control much more through this interface, enabling all kinds of home automation. With additional ZigBee expansion slots in the unit, you can automate all kinds of things.

What really gets the techie in me excited is the ability to do all of this remotely, from anywhere with a internet connection. Say you are at the office and you are going to be home early and are dreading a cold house. No problem! Send an email or login to your web portal and adjust the temp just right. Now with web based phones, you can even do this upon landing at the airport on the way to baggage claim. Never have you had so much control over your thermostat. Makes saving energy that much more fun! Priced at $385, it’s not your everyday run of the mill gadget- however, the manufacturer states that the unit will pay for itself in energy savings within the first 12 to 18 months. I would guess that would be based on replacement of a manual unit, but you can decide for yourself.  Check out all of the tutorial and demo videos at www.ecobee.com.