That fancy $600 smart thermostat was a complete waste of money for my old house

I bought this top of the line smart thermostat two years ago thinking it would save me on my heating bill. It was almost $600 with all the sensors and smart room controls. My house was built in 1978 and has terrible insulation in the attic and single pane windows downstairs. The thermostat kept trying to balance temperatures in rooms that just leak heat everywhere. After two winters I finally did the math and my gas bill was actually a little higher than before. I ripped it out last month and put in a basic programmable one for $45 from the hardware store. My heating bill dropped by about 15 percent just from not having the system cycle on and off every ten minutes. Anyone else find that expensive tech just doesn't work with older home setups?

2 comments

2 Comments

morgan31628d ago

Did you catch that This Old House episode where they tested smart thermostats in older homes? They basically said the same thing the sensors go crazy trying to fix problems the house itself creates.

ryang6528d ago

Wait, your bill actually went up 15% after switching back to a basic thermostat? That's wild, I figured those smart ones might just break even at worst.