Best Indigo-compatible thermostat?

Posted on
Sun Feb 12, 2017 11:43 pm
dbm offline
Posts: 16
Joined: Nov 29, 2016
Location: SF bay area

Best Indigo-compatible thermostat?

I've used three Insteon thermostats before for our HVAC system, though one thermostat always had problems with signal loss (even after taking the usual steps). Insteon thermostats are not entirely unattractive and seem about half the cost of their Z-Wave counterparts, so I'm wondering which direction to go in a house addition.

Does anyone have any suggestion on what Indigo-compatible thermostat is the best? Thanks!

Posted on
Mon Feb 13, 2017 9:55 am
matt (support) offline
Site Admin
User avatar
Posts: 21411
Joined: Jan 27, 2003
Location: Texas

Re: Best Indigo-compatible thermostat?

We've had good luck with Z-Wave thermostats.

Image

Posted on
Mon Feb 13, 2017 10:02 am
Different Computers offline
User avatar
Posts: 2533
Joined: Jan 02, 2016
Location: East Coast

Re: Best Indigo-compatible thermostat?

All I can add here is to be absolutely certain that your system is compatible with a Nest before you buy one, if you decide to go that route. Nest tech support had me swap wires around more or less randomly until the thermostat shorted out the HVAC control board with a loud pop. THAT mistake cost me $700!

SmartThings refugee, so happy to be on Indigo. Monterey on a base M1 Mini w/Harmony Hub, Hue, DomoPad, Dynamic URL, Device Extensions, HomeKitLink, Grafana, Plex, uniFAP, Fantastic Weather, Nanoleaf, LED Simple Effects, Bond Home, Camect.

Posted on
Mon Feb 13, 2017 10:48 pm
dbm offline
Posts: 16
Joined: Nov 29, 2016
Location: SF bay area

Re: Best Indigo-compatible thermostat?

Thanks, folks. I'm also looking for a thermostat that is wife-compatible (that is, not entirely ugly). And I prefer physical pushbuttons to touchscreens for simple tasks like turning the heat setpoint up or down; it's easier to do in dim light, for instance.

That narrows it down to a surprisingly small list of contenders. Has anyone tried GoControl's "GC-TBZ48: Battery Powered Z-Wave Thermostat" to see how it works with Indigo?
http://www.gocontrol.com/detail.php?productId=3

There's also:
- Remotec Technology's ZTS-500 (though lacking pushbuttons and looks like an odd UI) http://products.z-wavealliance.org/products/1767
- Vivint Element Smart Thermostat (though looks like it really wants to be installed with a related control panel and system sold by the same manufacturer--may not even be sold separately) http://products.z-wavealliance.org/products/1678

Matt, should pretty much any Z-Wave thermostat work with Indigo or am I limited to ones that you list as compatible? (I apologize for the naive questions; I have years of experience with Indigo+Insteon but no experience with Z-Wave.)

Posted on
Tue Feb 14, 2017 5:43 am
Japple55 offline
Posts: 224
Joined: Sep 26, 2015
Location: NE Tennessee

Re: Best Indigo-compatible thermostat?

And I prefer physical pushbuttons to touchscreens for simple tasks like turning the heat setpoint up or down; it's easier to do in dim light, for instance.


The dim light may not be an issue with the newer touchscreen models. The Trane XL-624 Zwave thermostat that I just installed has backlighting with adjustable brightness, as I suspect many do. No issues using it in a completely dark hallway.

Jim

Posted on
Tue Feb 14, 2017 10:49 am
dbm offline
Posts: 16
Joined: Nov 29, 2016
Location: SF bay area

Re: Best Indigo-compatible thermostat?

Thanks, folks.

I just contacted the manufacturer (Hong Kong-based) of the Z-Wave Smart Thermostat ZTS-500, which is more attractive than most. They replied:

Hi Declan,
It will be available on Amazon and http://www.zwaveproducts.com by mid March.

Best regards,

Cindy Li
Business Unit Director


That's good news! Of course that doesn't mean it will necessarily be Indigo-compatible. :(

Posted on
Tue Feb 14, 2017 5:21 pm
mclass offline
Posts: 312
Joined: May 13, 2015
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Best Indigo-compatible thermostat?

I too have been seeking a replacement thermostat with a similar brief to dbm's.
Responses to date have focused on ZWave thermostats. Could wifi stats like the Ecobee be considered (there's already a plugin for this)?

I have also become aware of the Energate "HolHom" products that includes a model that can interface to smart energy meters (see www.holhom.com). It seems to meet the initial brief of push buttons, etc, and offers a means of connecting using two wires for older installations. I have sought details of their API (if available).

Would be interested in comments/experiences with these or similar 'stats.

Mclass


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Posted on
Tue Feb 14, 2017 10:27 pm
matt (support) offline
Site Admin
User avatar
Posts: 21411
Joined: Jan 27, 2003
Location: Texas

Re: Best Indigo-compatible thermostat?

dbm wrote:
Matt, should pretty much any Z-Wave thermostat work with Indigo or am I limited to ones that you list as compatible?

Thus far we've had very good luck with Z-Wave thermostats which are AC powered working out-of-the-box with Indigo, without any tweaks needed by a custom device definition. Battery powered thermostats are a different story since we have to define exactly how/when Indigo should send commands to them (because they sleep) but most of those we have working now via custom device definitions.

Image

Posted on
Wed Feb 15, 2017 9:14 am
citysnaps offline
Posts: 44
Joined: Jul 13, 2016

Re: Best Indigo-compatible thermostat?

I'd also be very interested in native EcoBee support.

...........................
Brad
Urban photoblog: www.citysnaps.net

Posted on
Wed Feb 15, 2017 10:12 am
FlyingDiver offline
User avatar
Posts: 7189
Joined: Jun 07, 2014
Location: Southwest Florida, USA

Re: Best Indigo-compatible thermostat?

citysnaps wrote:
I'd also be very interested in native EcoBee support.


What would you expect native support to do better/differently than the plugin does?

joe (aka FlyingDiver)
my plugins: http://forums.indigodomo.com/viewforum.php?f=177

Posted on
Wed Feb 15, 2017 10:25 am
nathanw offline
Posts: 152
Joined: Sep 05, 2011
Location: Boston, MA

Re: Best Indigo-compatible thermostat?

Do Z-Wave thermostats tend to announce when they turn the heating/cooling on and off? One of my favorite home-automation features I've built is a "Daily Home Report" that tells me, among other things, how long the heating or cooling ran for, and I rely on the on/off messages from the Venstar Insteon thermostat to compute those.

Posted on
Wed Feb 15, 2017 12:07 pm
jay (support) offline
Site Admin
User avatar
Posts: 18200
Joined: Mar 19, 2008
Location: Austin, Texas

Re: Best Indigo-compatible thermostat?

Pretty sure they all do. It was somewhat an oversight (then a bit of a kludge when they "fixed" it) in the Insteon world IMO.

Jay (Indigo Support)
Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

Posted on
Mon Sep 25, 2017 5:43 pm
dduff617 offline
Posts: 659
Joined: Jul 05, 2006
Location: Massachusetts, USA

Re: Best Indigo-compatible thermostat?

Last time I checked, I found most Z-wave thermostats don't measure or report humidity. Has this changed?

Nest thermostats do. The old Venstar/Insteon thermostats do, at least some models.

Posted on
Mon Sep 25, 2017 6:08 pm
roussell offline
User avatar
Posts: 1108
Joined: Aug 18, 2008
Location: Alabama

Re: Best Indigo-compatible thermostat?

I’ve had 2 of the Insteon (not Venstar) thermostats for about 6 years and have never had a problem. They’re rock solid in Indigo. They do report humidity.

Terry


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Posted on
Mon Sep 25, 2017 7:26 pm
jay (support) offline
Site Admin
User avatar
Posts: 18200
Joined: Mar 19, 2008
Location: Austin, Texas

Re: Best Indigo-compatible thermostat?

dduff617 wrote:
Last time I checked, I found most Z-wave thermostats don't measure or report humidity. Has this changed?

Nest thermostats do. The old Venstar/Insteon thermostats do, at least some models.


The Honeywell WiFi thermostat does. It's been more reliable than the Insteon (Venstar) ones were for me, but Honeywell does seem to have relatively frequent website outages (though they are usually short). I have a Trane upstairs but it doesn't do humidity. I just use the RFXrec433 and some OS temp/humidity sensors wherever I want accurate temperature and humidity measurements.

Jay (Indigo Support)
Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests