Thermostats are the instruments that detect the temperature changes from the physical environment and perform an action to regulate the system temperature to the operating point. These can be used in any cooling or heating device like the HVAC system, water heaters, air conditioners, ovens and refrigerators, among others.
What are the key differences between smart thermostats and programmable thermostats?
Thermostats come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and styles. They use different types of sensor to measure the temperature. There are many types of thermostat available in the market such as programmable, non-programmable, Wi-Fi and newer smart thermostats.
Differences between programmable and smart thermostats
Programmable Thermostats
The programmable thermostat enables the user to access routine and program settings. A large number of programmable thermostats have daily and weekly setting modes through which the user can adjust the temperature according to their personal comfort. This ensures that it can be just as efficient as a smart thermostat and increasing energy efficiency.
The programmable thermostats are suitable for people residing in environments with extreme temperature fluctuations. These types of thermostats have the ability to maintain the perfect and consistent temperature throughout the home as they can run at a constant level.
The big advantage of using programmable thermostats properly can save the energy bills up to 20%. Beyond the cost-saving, the programmable thermostats help to preserve the safest and the most comfortable feeling in all the indoor spaces. The programmable thermostats are commonly used in medium to high-end HVAC systems.
Smart Thermostats
From the last few years, smart thermostats have increased its popularity all over the world. Smart thermostats are basically the upgrade of programmable thermostat as it generally enables the consumer to program their desired settings. Like a Wi-Fi thermostat, the user can connect smart thermostats from any internet-connected device for a more advanced feature and functionalities.
Smart thermostats can track and manage the data accurately according to the energy use, permitting the consumers to monitor the effectiveness of HVAC system. They are more efficient than programmable thermostats when it comes to heating and cooling. It provides a real-time view of energy usage.
A wide set of smart thermostats are available today in the market. Many of these thermostats come with voice recognition functionality and are also available with either Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa.