I searched, and didn't find anything recent, but I'll take a link.
What thermostat do you use with HE? What would you install today? I'm not an HVAC guru but I think my needs are simple (dual fuel, 2 stage ac, 1 heat, have c wire). Zwave or Zigbee.
I'm a HUGE Ecobee fan. Although I no longer control them via Hubitat (they are smart enough on their own), I still do have them integrated just in case.
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I also recommend Ecobee. I have two of the Ecobee 3s, and a dozen of their remote room sensors. (I have two separate forced hot/cool air HVAC systems).
I don't control them via Hubitat, but I have them integrated (and use their remote sensors as additional motion inputs for HSM for "away").
I personally think HVAC should be a separately controlled system. It's too important.
I use a Zen Thermostat Zigbee edition. It is simple, straightforward, easy to use and setup. It doesn't have an internal scheduler, so you have to set any schedules in HE, exactly where they should be IMHO. For me, it has a very high SAF.
Here is a link to it on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Within-Zen-01-W-Thermostat-Edition/dp/B00XCVV8CS/ref=asc_df_B00XCVV8CS?tag=bingshoppinga-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=79852112800947&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=t&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583451666850589&psc=1
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Honeywell T6 Pro z-wave, unlike ecobee, 100% local.
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I have a centralite pearl thermostat, which connects to the hub with Zigbee.
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+1 for the Honeywell T6 Pro. I have two of them and they just work. Humidity report is a nice feature and pretty accurate.
I second the Zen Zigbee Edition. I have been very happy with it. I did have an issue where the changes were not being picked up and the settings would almost immediately revert to the prior settings. However, this was not with just the Zen, but also with the Radio Thermostat I had been using prior to the Zen (brought over from the Iris system). I set up some simple rules to check the setting and make sure it matches the mode it should be in. Since I did that, the Zen has been rock-solid reliable. If it says anything, I would definitely purchase one again.
I tried the Centralite Pearl also, but found it lacked the auto-changeover functionality that I can get with the Zen. Also, the Zen is easy to set up as you go on a web site, put in your parameters, and it will guide you though the connections for your system. It has been a while, so I am going of an old memory here.
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Just to clarify, ecobee is 100% local in regards to controlling the HVAC.
If I took mine off the WiFi, the only thing I would lose is remote access via the ecobee app, as well as the connection to Hubitat (since that is via the ecobee cloud API).
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Most are like that but that's not really 100% local. My rules still run and adjust the thermostat even with out internet.... I mean even a dumb thermostat is local in that case...
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Hmm, how does that work for a Zigbee device?
Edit: never mind, re-read and realized you're referring to their website that tells you how to make the wired connections to your thermostat. Almost lunch time here and yet I still need more coffee, apparently 
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In most cases, snapping a picture of the current thermostat's wiring and referring to that when connecting a new one is also a good idea.
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If you have a 2-stage A/C, do not get a Honeywell T6. It does not let you control staging or set reverse staging.
Here's the longer explanation (and I'm tagging @neonturbo so he can chip in if he wants to). Thermostats like the ecobee permit you to do multiple thing to control multi-stage HVAC equipment:
- Use run-time dependent staging. Eg. Run for X number of minutes in stage 1 and if the desired temperature isn't met, then switch to stage 2.
- Use a temperature-delta dependent staging. Eg. If your Away temperature is 5 degrees above your Home temperature, and you return Home, to run the system in Stage 2, so it cools faster. On the other hand, if the delta is just 2 degrees, to run the system in Stage 1.
- Use reverse staging. In this scenario, the system is run in Stage 2 for a while (to cool faster), and then switched down to Stage 1, so that more efficient dehumidification occurs.
The Honeywell T6 doesn't do any of this (reverse staging is supposedly supported, but I never got it to work as intended). Instead, staging is chosen based on "cycles per hour (CPH)". So if you set Stage 1 to be something like 4 CPH, and Stage 2 to be 3 CPH, then the thermostat is more likely to start up in Stage 1 than Stage 2. But because stage 2 is set at 3 CPH, it will randomly shift to Stage 2, for a 2-3 minute blast of cold air before shutting off. I also experienced multiple instances of this thermostat running solely in Stage 2 - so it cooled very rapidly, with very poor dehumidification.
After having evaluated multiple smart thermostats, I would strongly deter someone from using the Honeywell T6 to control staging for multi-stage equipment.
There are smart thermostats that do permit terrific control of multi-stage equipment. On the zigbee side the Zen thermostat recommended by @wayne.pirtle and @StephenH works well. The Centralite Pearl, recommended by @marktheknife, is also a very good thermostat. On the z-wave side, the only two I found that work well are the GoControl and the 2GIG Z-wave 700 thermostat.
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One thing that kinda pissed me off recently with my ecobee was we had an extended power outage over the summer due to a downed pole and 4 days later the electricity was back on but comcast needed to wait for power company to get the pole up before they'd do anything (understandable) and it ended up being like another 3-4 days? before they finally got us back online. Anyway...When the ecobee came back up I didn't realize it but the time was all wrong and so my schedule was all messed up. Oh ok, no biggie, I'll just set the clock.
Look at this bullshit:
Hey...guess what you can't do without internet???
I figured out 2 ways to get around that. #1 was factory resetting it which I didn't want to do and #2 was reconfiguring the wifi to my phone's hotspot which I ended up doing to get the time set. But come on!?!?!?!? Allllll those settings for the equipment and you can't let me set the damn TIME at least when you KNOW you're offline?
Yeah, it's something most people are never going to experience, but it's yet another ding for a cloud device.
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LOL...where were you last night. I just ordered a used T6 Pro off ebay to try out to replace my Ecobee. I have a Bosch IDS 2.0 heat pump system that while isn't "2 stage" (because it has a 2 speed air handler but the outside unit is fully variable speed), as far as the stat is concerned, it's a 2 stage. For a while I used the temp differential staging, then moved to the time based but I think that maxes out at 120mins IIRC. So then I reconfigured my equipment to be a "multi-speed fan" and now I can go into the quick settings and choose low or high manually. 95% of the time I want air handler speed to be low and only low no matter how long the runtime is. I'm currently using the Ecobee Suite Integration and one thing I'd love to be able to control is the "fan speed" because according to the charts for the heating performance low stage is more efficient (BTUs/kWh) than high until you get down to 32F so I wanted to have an automation that just changed the fan speed to high > 32 and low < 32 and the ecobee suite doesn't support those API calls and I'm not sure it ever will. (I haven't dug through/figured out if there's a similar crossover point for the A/C side but I just ran it in low almost all summer and it kept up just fine.)
I was a huge ecoBee fan as well, then lost 40 lbs (rimshot).
Being serious. I have installed several ecoBee thermostats, two in my own home, some for friends. They are VERY easy to work with, and although you may be on hold for a while, you DO get high-quality support over the phone should you need it.
Your needs are anything but simple with dual-fuel. You want a very good thermostat that understands how to stage a heat pump without needlessly running backup/auxiliary heat.
In my opinion there are very few thermostats that can do dual-fuel properly, and most are not Z-wave or Zigbee thermostats. I like the Honeywell Prestige IAQ with Redlink for remote connectivity (and Hubitat integration), but it is not Zigbee or Z-wave.
It sounds like the Ecobee is about the best option if you want Zigbee or Z-wave, but I have no personal experience with it.
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Where I previously lived I had a heat pump with a Venstar thermostat (and Insteon). It handled the aux heat very well. Currently I have natural gas for heat, and living in the Phoenix metro heat is an afterthought.
Thanks everyone for the good info. I'm sticking with what I have. For everyday it's automateable just enough via IFTTT. I just went on my first vacation with Hubitat and something didn't work as planned.
I am using the Honeywell T6 right now an am happy with how it controls the temperature.
I had a Pearl which I liked the look and how it was controlled, however its control algorithm is very poor. It allowed the temperature (boiler, baseboard heat) to vary almost 2 °F.
From what I can tell, the control acts like a switch at the set temperature with a little hysteresis. As opposed to a duty cycle control (usually with 4 or 5 cycles an hour).
Not to hijack this post but have you been able to update the firmware on your devices? Do you know if there is even an update?
I talked to Resideo once, they didn't understand the "old" Z-wave devices, telling me I had to connect to their hub.
John
I have been using a "2gig CT100 Z-Wave Programmable Thermostat" for more than 6 years without any issues. Runs heat, cool and fans. (I only use it for heat.)
Sadly no longer available through Amazon.
I use it on a millivolt gas stove. (Now running on a 48V power supply and relay to power the thermostat.)
