In light of Nest closing their developer program and thusly having no HE integration, I'm considering trying a different thermostat. I've had my eye on the Centralite Pearl. Anyone else thinking about switching to something different?
I'm actively replacing my ecobee with Remotec ZTS-500.
In my case, I picked that one because you can bias the temp sensor programmatically. So I made an app to make it match a remote temp sensor, thus effectively running the thermostat of the remote sensor.
The thermostat works great, and is zwave plus. The plastic on it is cheap, though, and I had to do some work to get the buttons to not stick.
That one looks sharp. Kinda reminds me of the Zen Thermostat.
My thermostat needs are very simple. I only have two automations to set it when we leave or go to bed, so that opens up a lot of options. I've never used the "learning" part of the Nest anyway.
I posted a device handler for the zts-500 a few weeks ago. Let me know if there is anything you want to see on it.
It isn't the fanciest thermostat, but it is zwave plus, and updates in HE correctly so I'm happy enough.
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I want one that will control my humidifier as well. I'm thinking about trying out the Venstar thermostats. Gotta give them props for creating a wifi thermostat with a local api.
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Was planning on purchasing a second Hubitat for my condo in June. Nest compatibility is critical in my setup....hopefully Nest support by then.
Bear in mind this issue is all nests doing, they've been screwing around with this reorg, or what ever they want to call it since early summer of last year...
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I believe you can still register as a developer by navigating away from the page telling you that they're not accepting new developers? That was the case a few months back anyway.
I use 2 of these: 2Gig CT100 Thermostat's. I don't need a smart/learning thermostat like Nest when Hubitat is the brains and controls the thermostat with rules, modes, etc. I have 2 Nest thermostat's that I replaced with the 2 much cheaper CT100's. Someday I'll probably put my Nests on Ebay. Hubitat and my multitude of modes, sensors, etc add more value and brains to my home hvac than my Nest ever did.
States available in Hubitat:
Commands available in Hubitat:
The ZTS-500, turns off the screen completely or it stays on all the time? I have a nest in my bedroom, same case as you, never used the learn feature, and a ct101 in the hallway, I would like to replace both but if the screen stays on it will be a problem for me in the bedroom.
Edit, I found the answer on a youtube video, yes, it turns off the screen.
Edit 2: By the way, I don't see the driver released here. I found it in your github. Thank you.
Would it be possible to keep Nest available to those of us who have developer tokens?
It will be available in you doesn't uninstall it, and if you do by accident or hub failure, restoring a backup will solve the problem. Now for an additional hub then you have a point.
And again I say..... the Techhive article author lambasting Hubitat and praising internet connected gadgets should read this.
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I wanted nest because of open-therm capability, I don't know of many other products that do it, so it actually "talks" to my boiler.
Shame they are closing it though, I was lucky and got one of the original tokens. @mike.maxwell do you have any idea what they are planing are they ripping it out all together or just making a load of changes?
As far as the screen turning on and off on the zts500, it depends if you're on battery mode or powered mode. In powered mode it's configurable, for instance I keep mine on all the time. In battery mode it turns off always.
None of us have any clue what nests plans are.
Is there a chance our original tokens will suddenly not work in the future?
Hopefully getting close to buying our first house, which means we'll basically be in smart home "sandbox mode." Thermostat will be a priority -- I was leaning towards Nest, but am no longer.
Learning thermostats reduce energy consumption on average, and most people report an improvement in comfort. However, there's evidence that energy consumption can increase when a properly programmed setback thermostat is replaced with a learning thermostat (probably everyone reading this). So, are there any inherent advantages of learning thermostats over some of the Z-Wave tstats discussed above? Yes they learn routines, but it's easy enough to do something like "Okay google, I'm heading home" to have the heat or AC set for your return...
I tried the learning functionality for a while, but I found that I was literally never happy with whatever temperature it thought I liked. I like to always know what temperature it's at, and I didn't like that it automatically changed things without my explicit approval. In a nutshell, I don't want my devices making decisions for me.
*Plus, my body temperature is always changing. If I've been out for a bike ride or doing some physical exertion, then arrive home and it starts heating up, the house is going to feel way too hot and I'll adjust it lower. But then Nest would assume that I do this every day, which is not the case.
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I had the same experience with Nest. On Ecobee, I do use the smart home/away a lot, but in terms of temperature setpoints I have schedules set - and wouldn't have it any other way.
