Our local utility company is offering a $50 rebate if one installs a "connected" Furnace thermostat.
I know there are all sorts of programmable thermostats out there but I would think that the whole point of connecting to a Hubitat would be to put the "smarts" in the Hubitat programming. That being said, all I think is really needed is a very simple thermostat with Zigbee or Z-wave compatibility.
I went through the Hubitat compatible list but a lot of the stuff is either no longer made or is way more complex and expensive than what is needed.
Any suggestions as to what might be out there that is on the very basic side that I should look at?
I also use the centralite pearl with a simple 2-wire connection to my gas boiler and like it. I have no c-wire and it can also run on batteries, so that was a big plus for me.
Another Pearl user here. It's a great, dumb thermostat with a radio. Using it with the Thermostat Controller App and 10 temperature sensors to get pretty well-balanced and efficient heating and cooling (Single stage cooling, 2-stage+Aux/Emergency heat pump).
I wound up getting the Pearl thermostat. Its currently sitting on my computer desk. It's not hooked up yet but it is running under Hubitat control. I want to let it run a few days to make sure I have things set up right, so that I dont cook myself or something.
The thought of putting a manual thermostat in series with it, set for something like 75 degrees has crossed my mind... just in case something goes wrong.
You can build rules that stop things if temp goes beyond a certain range. Also use external sensors to verify and alert if something is not quite right.
As I mentioned I have 2 pearls controlling some in-floor heating. I sync them with my Nest thermos. No issues to report other than occasional boneheadedness on my part. Having separate alert rules help. I also test for "skew" - what the setpoint is versus actual temp.
My utility only offered rebates on certain thermostats. Mostly the big names like ecobee and Nest. Best to verify they if they have a list of eligible models before purchasing.
my fear is that if something goes wrong, the rules might not function. Every once in a while, I have something go wrong like a dying sensor battery leaving a motion controlled light stay on. A light that stays on is annoying, but a furnace that does not shut off can be a really bad thing. I have a mechanical Honeywell thermostat on it's way right now in fact. I will set it for 74 degrees and put in in series with the Pearl... just in case.
I did check with my utility company about their rebate rules, and the Pearl qualifies. The rebate is $50 and the Pearl cost me $50, so in essence, it is free.
With the thermostat if the battery goes dead then then the furnace will shut off. Otherwise if a sensor reading a particular temp goes wonky - you would only be controlling the thermostats setpoint and only at the time of the event so it might get set inappropriately but never out of range of what you programmed if that makes sense. On the HE side you can use a watchdog to see how often a sensor responds and get alerted when issues arise.
It's important to know that Hubitat is not directly controlling your furnace. The thermostat is still doing all of the direct control. In fact, the Pearl will likely work just fine as a "dumb" thermostat even if you never pair it with your hub. HE just allows you to make mode or setpoint changes automatically based on criteria that you determine. The worst thing that could happen is that a rule would leave the thermostat in the OFF mode in the winter or something similar.
