Couple of months ago Google acquired the technologically advanced thermostat Nest for $3.2 billion. Few months later, Honeywell gives them a reason to worry by introducing their smart thermostat with a similar concept.
Let’s start from the installation. Done! Didn’t take too much time, did it?
The Honeywell Lyric can be installed in a heartbeat, exactly where your old conventional thermostat is, with no need for additional wiring. Simply throw away your white ugly “stupid” thermostat. All it does is to increase and decrease the temperature anyway. Isn’t it what all thermostats do? You are kinda right..
It is just a thermostat, what’s the big deal?
The new thermostat from Honeywell is a simple device to use but with lots of smart features. If you just want to adjust the temperature, all you have to do is turn the round dial at the center of the thermostat. But it’s not just that. Otherwise, you would just keep what you already have. The Honeywell Lyric can be controlled via an iPhone or Android app that pairs with the thermostat and on top of that, by using geofencing it can understand whether you are out of the house or just about to get back home.
How does this geofernin…. georefting…. geofencing work?
The Honeywell Lyric considers a distance from home optimal when it is between 500 feet and 7 miles. This means that when you leave from home and you go further than the optimal distance you have set, the installed app on your smartphone informs the thermostat about your location and the thermostat adjusts the temperature by stopping either the heat or air-conditioning depending on AccuWeather’s outdoor temperature. When you are at home however, it operates exactly like a regular thermostat with either manual control or daily/weekly schedules.
I left for work with my iphone and my husband is still sleeping. Is he going to freeze to death?
More than one smartphone can have the app installed and control the temperature of the same thermostat. Therefore, if one person has the app and walks away from the thermostat, the temperature is not going to change automatically as long as another person who installed the app is located within the radius of 7 miles. Apart from that, the same app can control more than one thermostat which makes it simple and easy to create multiple zones within your house.
OK I’ll buy it. Wrap it up!
The new Honeywell Lyric is priced at $279 which is a bit over Nest which sells for $249. In the beginning it will be available only via heating and cooling contractors and by August, it is going to hit the retailers’ shelves.
The war has just began..
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