Best thermostat for Indigo/Alexa control

Posted on
Wed Mar 07, 2018 5:49 am
johnf offline
Posts: 10
Joined: Oct 18, 2017

Best thermostat for Indigo/Alexa control

I have seen the threads asking about the best thermostat to use, but I am specifically looking for a thermostat that can be controlled by both Indigo and Alexa. I am aware of 3 at this point: Nest, ecobee, and Honeywell. I have seen people dealing with issues with the ecobee plugin and don't know of the ecobee 4 is even supported.

If anyone is using both Indigo and Alexa to control any of these thermostats, I would love to hear your thoughts on it, and if you are using both to control another thermostat, I would like to hear that as well. I'm not too concerned about how smart the thermostat is, as long as it can be reliably controlled by both Indigo and Alexa. Thanks!

Posted on
Wed Mar 07, 2018 8:38 am
Colorado4Wheeler offline
User avatar
Posts: 2794
Joined: Jul 20, 2009
Location: Colorado

Re: Best thermostat for Indigo/Alexa control

Trane is also a popular one. As is Venstar.

I was on Venstar and ended up replacing the Insteon module every year or 15 months and it was really getting under my skin. That and I don't like white plastic things on my walls because in time they yellow. I made the leap to Nest for the aesthetics (because I knew Indigo would still be controlling it so I didn't need the smart features). I don't know if I would go this route again or not.

Pros: The Nest is really pretty. I mean if you are after aesthetics then I think the Nest is a hands-down winner. It works and is quite intuitive and responsive. By itself I would go with the Nest over any thermostat on the market because it does everything they do plus is pretty.

Cons: Internet controlled - I don't like that my Indigo requests have to go to the Internet to change a setting and then come back down to the device. More than once the Internet has gone out and my automatic schedule to warm the house didn't kick in and I got up to a very cold house and had to wait fo it to warm. I feel the same about anything Internet connected these days and the Nest has gone a long way of making me jaded about it. Now the Nest is smart enough to keep a copy of your schedule locally so if you want to get around this then you could have a back up schedule that would kick in even without the Internet. The other thing I don't like: It's a Google product and, as such, I know they are collecting every ounce of data from that Nest for my "dossier" :roll:.

There's my take. Lots of folks love the Trane and it's a really cool looking "techie" device that seems to work well. I wish my Nest were all local, then there just wouldn't be any discussion in my mind.

My Modest Contributions to Indigo:

HomeKit Bridge | Device Extensions | Security Manager | LCD Creator | Room-O-Matic | Smart Dimmer | Scene Toggle | Powermiser | Homebridge Buddy

Check Them Out Here

Posted on
Wed Mar 07, 2018 9:06 am
Different Computers offline
User avatar
Posts: 2533
Joined: Jan 02, 2016
Location: East Coast

Re: Best thermostat for Indigo/Alexa control

Learn from my sad experience: Make absolutely sure whatever thermostat you settle on will work with your system. If you have a Carrier Infinity system for example, to most online compatibility guides based on the wires to the existing thermostat it will be compatible.

But I found out to the tune of a $800 HVAC control board that this is not the case.

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
Wed Mar 07, 2018 10:37 am
FlyingDiver offline
User avatar
Posts: 7189
Joined: Jun 07, 2014
Location: Southwest Florida, USA

Re: Best thermostat for Indigo/Alexa control

I'm a big fan of the Ecobee stats because of their remote temp sensors. The thermostats are never (IMO) in a good location to determine the actual temperature of the area they control. For instance, my main zone stat is in the entry hall next to the door into the garage. They put it there because the main air return vent is directly above. But it's not where the people are, and it gets blasted by hot air every time the door to the garage gets opened (in the summer). So I have a remote sensor on a table in the middle of the Great Room, and the Ecobee uses ONLY that sensor to control the zone. In another zone, I have remote sensors inside two bedrooms, and the stat averages those two to control the temp.

Personally I think they look just as nice as the Nest (if not as retro), and the touch UI is easier to deal with.

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

Posted on
Wed Mar 07, 2018 12:30 pm
johnf offline
Posts: 10
Joined: Oct 18, 2017

Re: Best thermostat for Indigo/Alexa control

Does the ecobee 4 work using the ecobee plugin for Indigo? I thought I saw a lot of people having problems with it. To Colorado4Wheeler's points, I'm not a fan of cloud-dependent services (which is why I moved to Indigo to start with), and I don't trust Google any farther than I could throw them. That being said, if they were best solution to my problem, I would still use a Nest. I was all set on the ecobee 4 until I thought I saw people having issues getting it to work with Indigo.

Posted on
Wed Mar 07, 2018 4:01 pm
FlyingDiver offline
User avatar
Posts: 7189
Joined: Jun 07, 2014
Location: Southwest Florida, USA

Re: Best thermostat for Indigo/Alexa control

Sorry, all four of mine are Ecobee 3s.

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

Posted on
Wed Mar 07, 2018 10:56 pm
johnf offline
Posts: 10
Joined: Oct 18, 2017

Re: Best thermostat for Indigo/Alexa control

That's ok. If the ecobee 3 is working well, and nobody speaks up saying that ecobee 4 does, then that is still an option. I think the biggest difference between the 3 and 4 is built-in Alexa, and given how many devices I have around the house already, I don't need her in the hallway as well. As far as I know, an ecobee 3 should do what I need it to do, as long as it works well with Indigo and Alexa.

Posted on
Sat Mar 10, 2018 9:02 pm
mundmc offline
User avatar
Posts: 1060
Joined: Sep 14, 2012

Re: Best thermostat for Indigo/Alexa control

I may have responded to you in the Ecobee thread- yes, the plugin works with both my Ecobee 3 Lite and Ecobee 4.

For reasons unclear, I have to re-start the plugin periodically. I believe this is related to re-authenticating, as once i re-authenticate I am typically good for well over a week, whereas restarting the plugin buys me a day.

Sidebar- detecting the problem and restarting the plugin is easy, albeit initially a pain


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Posted on
Tue Mar 13, 2018 8:54 pm
Swancoat offline
Posts: 503
Joined: Nov 20, 2009
Location: Houston

Re: Best thermostat for Indigo/Alexa control

I just removed two Ecobee3s from service if anyone is interested in some.

http://nerdhome.jimdo.com

Page 1 of 1

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest

cron