From cost to features and quality, we’ll help you decide whether it’s ecobee or Nest that’s best to keep your home or office space at the right temperature.
The best smart thermostats ensure you can control the heating and cooling of your home from your smartphone, putting an end to wasting energy (and money) heating or cooling an empty house because you’re going to be late home. So, it’s hardly surprising a quarter of Americans have a smart thermostat installed in their property, according to research by comparison site ValuePeguin. Ecobee and Nest are two of the biggest names dominating the smart thermostat market right now, and if you’re considering kitting your home out with internet-connected heating and cooling, it makes sense to opt for one of these brands. However, it can be hard to decide which is best suited to you — not only do the thermostats look different, some of the features they offer differ too. It really depends on the type of smart temperature control you want in your home — do you need simplicity or are you looking at a system that doubles as a smart alarm, as to which one of these smart thermostats you choose. Both Ecobee and Nest offer a number of different smart thermostats, so there’s sure to be a model to suit the heating and cooling systems in your home. Ecobee currently has two models in its range; the entry-level ecobee3 lite and the more premium SmartThermostat with voice control. Both allow you to control your heating and air conditioning from your smartphone, learn your routines and adjust your schedule accordingly, and even pause the heating or cooling if an open window is detected. However, the top-of-the-range Smart Thermostat comes with Alexa built-in, and features a speaker so you can listen to Spotify playlists from the device. It also comes with a SmartSenor that can be placed in another room and control the temperature based on whether it detects motion in that room. Nest’s high-end offering, the Nest Learning Thermostat (third generation), can learn your routines and how quickly or slowly your home heats up and cools down, and adjust itself accordingly, so it’s at the temperature you want when you want it. There’s also the more affordable and more simplistic Nest Thermostat, which isn’t self-learning and lacks some of the stylish design touches found on the Nest Learning Thermostat, such as the metal dual that lets you adjust the temperature. That said, at almost half the price, these are compromises that those on a budget will welcome. The Nest Thermostat also replaces the Nest Thermostat E, which was launched in 2017, and has since been discontinued in the US, but is still available in the UK. So just how much will you have to spend if you want to automate the temperature in your home? At first glance, it might look like both ecobee and Nest have thermostats at very similar price points. The ecobee SmartThermostat with voice control is priced at $249 (around £180 / AU$340), while Ecobbee’s most affordable option; the ecobee3 Lite will set you back $169 (around £125 / AU$230). All three units are unavailable in the UK and Australia at the time of writing. The Nest Learning Thermostat (third generation) will set you back $249 / £219 (around AU$340), while the Nest Thermostat is priced at $129 (around £95 / AU$175) and if you require a Nest trim kit (a plate designed to cover any imperfections on the wall from removing your old thermostat) that costs an additional $15 (around £10 / AU$20). Neither thermostat is available in Australia, and as we’ve already mentioned while the Nest Learning Thermostat is available in the UK, the Nest Thermostat E is the only affordable option in the UK right now, and is priced at £199 (around $275).
