There are many high-quality thermostats available on the market.
However, if you’ll ask me about the best smart thermostat for an apartment, then the answer is quite simple.
Can you guess?
According to me, the Ecobee line of thermostats is the best on the market.
Needless to say, they are sophisticated, elegant, and offer comfort to your apartment at an affordable price.
Here, I want to make it crystal clear that the Ecobee Thermostats aren’t the cheapest one on the market.
There is no doubt that there are tons of thermostats out there for sale.
Some are very inexpensive, but at the same time, you need to cross-check the features and ratings.
One of my clients was tight on the budget, so he bought a thermostat which was very cheap.
Initially, the thermostat delivered as per the promise but slowly and gradually, the performance deteriorated to such an extent that my client has to dump it and buy an Ecobee Thermostat.
What I talked about is just an example.
I don’t mean from anywhere that the cheapest thermostats are of no use.
The only thing is that the performance of the product to some extent depends upon your luck.
If you’re a smart home enthusiast, and you are planning to bring a smart thermostat home, then it’s always good to buy the branded smart products.
There are many intangible services attached to you.
For example, you can easily gather information about any branded thermostat on the internet.
Ratings, reviews, and feedbacks are easily accessible as well as available.
I’ve tried quite a few smart thermostats before the Ecobee line of product.
You’ll be astonished to know that most of them were equally good in features.
Nevertheless, when it comes to client satisfaction or affordability, Ecobee outranks almost all the branded smart thermostats.
Why A Smart Thermostat For Your Apartment?
There can be numerous reasons for buying a smart thermostat.
Moving further, it is highly possible that the reason for which a homeowner may buy a smart thermostat may differ from the reason why an apartment owner/tenant will buy.
For example, if you live in an apartment, then you’ve got very limited space and it is highly probable that there aren’t multiple zones of heating.
So, in the aforementioned situation, you don’t have to get worried about energy saving or electric bills.
You’ll mostly be concerned about convenience and comfort.
From convenience, I mean you should be aware of the sudden decrease in the temperature or the status of your baby’s room heating.
If you’ve got a baby, then you must be aware of the fact that the baby room should be heated properly else it can lead to many complications.
A smart thermostat gives you the feasibility to manage the change in the temperature.
You can easily control the temperature using a voice assistant such as Google Home or Alexa.
If you don’t have a voice assistant, then you can control your smart thermostat with your smartphone.
If you’re a Blogger, then you know the importance of the content.In a similar way, if you’re a smart home enthusiast, then you’ll be aware of the fact that COMFORT IS KING.
Correct me, if I’m wrong.
As a smart home consultant, I always take care of my clients and family member comfort.
A large variation in temperature can be irritating and troublesome.
So, it’s highly advisable that you should also take care of your family comfort.
Confirm with the Landlord
Just a word of caution! There are many legal ramifications that can break your dream to have a smart home or a smart device installed in your apartment.
So, it’s highly advisable to talk to your landlord before modifying the room. Ignoring your landlord can cost you a lot.
Though the installation is easy still most of the people get it wrong.
For example, selecting the wrong wire for installation can put all your efforts into vain.
If you’re not well versed with the heating system of your apartment, then you can check whether you’ve got a heat pump or not.
Checking for the C-Wire is a must.
[Related]: How to install an Ecobee Thermostat without C-Wire?My Favorite Smart Thermostat for an Apartment
It wasn’t easy for me to narrow down to a single thermostat when it comes to favorite smart thermostat for an apartment.
I need to consider quite a few parameters such as product lifecycle, affordability, user experience, maintenance cost, etc to derive to the result.
Feel free to ask me your doubts and queries in the comment section, if any.
An Affordable Yet Effective Thermostat: Ecobee3 Lite
The Ecobee3 Lite is a value for money thermostat.
Without any doubt, I can assure you that this thermostat is capable of doing all the things that any apartment owner expects from a smart thermostat.
If I talk about the installation, it’s so easy that anyone can easily complete the installation process in a couple of minutes.
For a small/mid-size apartment, a single unit of Ecobee3 Thermostat is sufficient.
However, if you’re the one who owns a big house, then I’ll recommend you to have four Ecobee3 Lite, one for each zone.
What makes the Ecobee great for an apartment?
Before March 2017, Ecobee3 Lite wasn’t supporting extra remote sensors.
Afterward, Ecobee3 Lite announced that it will support the room sensors.
This is an important feature because it helps you to control the temperature of a particular room such as the baby room, home office, etc.
As compared to other Ecobee Thermostat, the Lite version is cheap.
The good news is that anyone who is tight on the budget can also afford the smart thermostat.
Most of my clients face the issue of smart device compatibility and integration with the home hub.
Are you the one also facing the compatibility issue?
Well, I’ve got a piece of good news for you.
The Ecobee3 Lite can be easily integrated with almost all the Home hubs.
Ecobee4 is more than just smart thermostat
In the layman language, Ecobee4 can be considered the big brother of Ecobee3 Lite.
It has some additional features which make it a value for money product without any doubt.
It consists of sensors that you can place throughout the apartment to monitor different areas.
Well, keep reading I’ll discuss a big adjustment that Ecobee4 is capable of handling.
It comes with built-in Alexa which makes it a superlative smart product in the category.
You can control the Ecobee4 with your voice.
The best thing is that you can control other smart devices with the help of Ecobee4.
Wait! we aren’t done yet.
The Ecobee series definitely adds elegance to the smart home.
Nevertheless, to make it more appealing LED lights are the new addition to this thermostat.
What I particularly like about the Ecobee4 is that when you call Alexa, it lights up and takes all the commands.
I have tried other smart thermostats and they are also good in many ways.
Nonetheless, the far-field voice recognition of this smart product is superlative.
I hope partnering with Amazon has definitely paved off.
You don’t have to be next to the Ecobee4 to say your commands.
It may sound a small thing to you but in practicality, it can be a game-changer.
Obviously, no one will like to come near to the thermostat for every command.
If your apartment is REALLY big, then trust me, you’ll literally love this feature.
The reason I’m emphasizing it is the feedback that I’ve received from my clients.
This feature is definitely an ice breaker, isn’t it?
Bottom Line
Before I conclude, allow me to take you to the landlord discussion.
I’m very serious about it because quite a few of my clients have lost a lot of money because of ignoring the landlords.
A positive and healthy discussion with your landlord can completely negate the chance of any legal action against you.
At the end of the day, it’s up to you how you convince your landlord.
For example, explaining the landlord about the benefit of the smart thermostat can help you to get permission for the installation.
Just for your knowledge, a similar case happened with one of my clients.
Nevertheless, he was successful in convincing the landlord, and the result was that the landlord sent his men for the installation and you know what, it was FREE of cost.
CONCLUSION
I live in a rented apartment for almost a decade, and I totally agree that it’s difficult to replicate someones else lifestyle, be it your landlord or the previous tenant.
But by no means, it says that you can’t live in a smart and comfortable way.
In my case, the landlord was a smart guy and he was well-versed with the smart home concept.
Initially, like any other landlord, he was also reluctant about the change.
Nonetheless, slowly and gradually I was able to convince for the installation of various smart devices.
Last but not least, you’ll be shocked to know that today he is my client.
I hope this article has added some value. If you like this piece of information, please share it with your friends and family.
Feel free to contact me for any doubt or queries. Remember, sharing is caring.
