Serious question, are those smart thermostats really worth the hype?

I dropped about $250 on a popular smart thermostat last fall. Everyone said it would pay for itself in a year. My heating bill went down maybe $15 total over the winter. The app is glitchy and the 'learning' feature just made weird schedules. For that money, I could have bought a good programmable one for half the cost and just set it myself. Feels like paying extra for problems I didn't have. Anyone have a basic model they actually like?

2 comments

2 Comments

olivia_harris191mo ago

Oh man, I feel this so hard. I bought one thinking I'd be all futuristic and save a ton, but really I just spent two months yelling at my phone because it kept cranking the heat when I wasn't home. Honestly, half the time I just end up walking over to the dumb wall unit and pressing the button myself anyway.

grantschmidt1mo ago

and I swear these things have a mind of their own too. Mine kept turning on the AC in the middle of winter because it picked up some "learning pattern" from when I had guests over that one weekend. I unplugged the thing after a week and just went back to my old thermostat that actually does what I tell it. The whole smart home hype is overrated when half the time you're just fighting with your own gadgets.