I’m looking to replace a “dumb” thermostat in my house.
My biggest problem is, the Family (well MIL) will be the primary user of said thermostat. Were it up to me, i’d just duplicate the setup I have in my detached garage (ESP32 and 4channel relay board, with remote temp sensors).
My second biggest problem is many of the smart thermostats requiring internet access and control only being available through their External API. Ideally I’d like something that is 100% local control, with opt in for any remote data.
What setups do you have? do you like it? is it “normal” person friendly?
I’m happy with my ecobees.
I’ve had an ecobee for five years and it’s been great… EXCEPT for that when they were doing a server migration or something a few years back. I swear for several months it was completely unreliable with Google Assistant and the Android App not being able to reach it half the time.
Like the OP said, it uses an external call to cloud servers and you have to trust that those servers will stay online and be reliable. It’s been rock solid for the last few years so I think I was just part of some growing pains, but my god I was pissed during that time and about to buy a Z-wave thermostat.
Ecobees work local-only if you use the HomeKit integration in HA (no Apple devices or cloud connection required).
