Need heat, just tell your thermostat that you're cold without getting out of bed!

At a Pepcom event a while back, a Honeywell spokesperson was telling me about their great new smart WiFi thermostat. I listened, but I didn’t think it was different enough from others on the market, like the Nest. But at the most recent Pepcom event Honeywell took a bigger step forward with their Honeywell Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat with Voice Control. It’s hard to see what’s new by just looking at it. It looks and does a lot of the same things as their current Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat. Namely, it controls your heat and cooling right there in your home, or you can control it over the Internet via their Android and iOS app. You still get to pick a background color to fit your room décor, and like the Nest, it will learn your heating/cooling needs over time. When I saw a big microphone on the display table, I wondered if the new Honeywell unit would also let you put on shows and sing-alongs. Naw. The spokesperson explained the new model’s claim to fame is built-in voice-recognition. The microphone was necessary only because the background noise at the Pepcom event was quite loud and commands might not be heard. To get your new Honeywell thermostat’s attention you say, "Hello, thermostat." Then you say things like, “I’m cold” or “I’m hot” and this clever device will turn the temperature up or down. You can’t request an exact temperature, but you could say “make it four degrees warmer or colder”. It seems like a bit of a learning curve to me, but the spokesperson gave a good example of where it would be a real advantage. You’re in bed and it’s freezing in the room; isn’t it nice not to have to get out of bed to physically touch the thermostat when you can just tell it what to do? Unfortunately, if you already own a Honeywell Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat, you can’t upgrade it to voice control. But if you’re in the market for a new thermostat and you want one that listens to you, the newest model will cost you $349. It will be available at end of October or early November at Lowes, Home Depot, Best Buy, and Amazon. 

Here’s the company website with more info:  http://wifithermostat.com/