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View Full Version : Smart Home - thermostats, plugs, etc.



Tradd
9-24-23, 10:19am
I finally bit the bullet and bought an Ecobee smart thermostat. I’ve wanted one for a while. Landlord will install it. I would have done it myself (some handy friends walked me through pulling old one off the wall to look at wires to see if it was compatible), but it needs a C wire to power it. My place is old enough that it doesn’t have the c wire. Ecobee comes with a power extender kit, but it needs to be wired into the furnace control board. That is way beyond what I will mess with.

I also got me a 4 pack of smart plugs. I had them in the past when I did Amazon Alexa, but I have an Apple mini HomePod now for a smart speaker which has nice better sound.

When you do the smart home thing, you have to look at if you’re Apple, Alexa, Google Assistant. Every gadget doesn’t work with every ecosystem (Apple, Alexa, Google).

My electric utility is offering $75 rebate for the thermostat and gas utility has $25. A friend in WI is getting $50. When you look at them on Amazon, it will indicate if there are rebates to check into.

Tradd
9-24-23, 3:57pm
Man, these smart plugs are awesome! I have one on bedside lamp, bedroom fan (I always run it aimed at me in bed due to hot flashes), and two LR floor lamps. I can control them via voice with Siri or in the Apple Home app. Setup was very easy. Just scan the code on the outlet in your phone with Home app and it’s set up on a few minutes. Name it what you like. I also have them set to automatically turn off when I leave and turn on when I come home.