Google's Nest dominated the smart thermostat market early on, leading to countless smart thermostats that can save both energy and money when it comes to heating and cooling your home. During its annual September gadget event, Amazon signed up as well, revealing plans to join the ranks with the Alexa Smart Thermostat, which will be launched in the US later this year.
Priced at $59.99 (about £45 / AU$80), the Alexa Smart Thermostat was produced in conjunction with Honeywell, which already offers its own smart thermostats. Can a fresh giant like Amazon upset the industry?
Saving energy and money
Amazon says the Alexa Smart Thermostat will work with the majority of HVAC systems and is Energy Star certified, which means the device can help save electricity.
Many of the best smart thermostats are self-learning and will automatically adjust the heating to suit your schedule, and the Smart Thermostat is no different. It uses Alexa’s Hunches features and will automatically lower the temperature if it thinks you’re away from home or have retired for the night.
The Alexa Hunches feature was first introduced in the US in 2018 and saw Alexa on any of its Echo smart speakers or Echo Show devices offer suggestions for any smart home devices installed in a property. For example, if you said "Goodnight" to Alexa and a smart light was still switched on, Alexa would offer to turn it off for you. However, it initially required you to confirm the action before Alexa could perform it. Earlier this year, Amazon made Hunches automatic so there was no need to confirm you wanted the action performed.
The Alexa Smart Thermostat has square white styling and just like Amazon's smart speakers and smart displays, lets you issue Alexa with a command to adjust the temperature. When the heating is adjusted, the display illuminates with the requested temperature.
Amazon also said rebates from local energy providers would be available when purchasing the smart thermostat from Amazon directly, which means it can be obtained for as little as $10.
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