Continuing with the analysis of IoT products (Internet of Things) that we started with the WeMo from Belkin last week, now it is the turn of one of the star devices of home automation: the thermostat.
And the Nest?
Like most of us, we are quite clear that the best mobile on the market is the iPhone, there is no doubt that the best thermostat is the Nest, which by the way has been updated to its third generation very recently. The problem with the Nest is that it is not designed for our land (and in fact it is not officially sold or supported here), where thermostats generally have pre-installation of electrical power, while in Spain most installations only have two wires to start the boiler. There are some other added problems with the Nest, but we will not go into detail, just mention that it is possible to install it in almost any house but it will cost you time and possibly scratch your pocket beyond the thermostat itself.
Netatmo instead is a parisian company, so they have created their product with Europe in mind, and that makes life easier for us. The thermostat instead of carrying a spectacular color screen has an electronic ink and low consumption screen, which added to the inclusion of a low consumption communication system with an independent WiFi relay (it goes to a socket) makes the installation of the Netatmo is to remove the old and put the new: total time two minutes if the holes coincide.
More than enough
The Netatmo thermostat does have the most important function and what made the Nest famous: intelligent use scheduling and analysis using algorithms that adjust our boiler to be as efficient as possible. This is made possible by a thorough recording of the temperature, as well as the time it takes to heat the house and other details that result in a relatively large bill savings. They say from Netatmo that in a year it pays for itself, I have to see it with my eyes on paper, but whoever has used it for a whole winter speaks wonders.
To the aforementioned function we must add other interesting such as the possibility of creating independent personalized schedules for days and hours, temperature changes from the iPhone application wherever we are and a very well-worked web administration panel -better than the app, in fact-. All this spiced up with a very nice design (courtesy of Starck) and packaging worthy of an Apple product, really very neat.
How to Live Aligned with Bad points We can highlight two things: the first is that the application does not have geolocation for the away mode, so we will have to put it by hand when we go out. And the second, also related, is the lack of integration with IFTTT, both of which are of course solvable with updates, which is the good thing about the IoT.
As for the price, it is below the Nest and in the zone of smart thermostats, over 180 euros depending on the store and the offer. You can find it in some large physical surfaces and also online, as is the case with Amazon.
Updated 28/09: Great news, Netatmo has just activated the IFTTT connection for the smart thermostat.
Our assessment
Sorry to correct you but this thermostat does have IFTTT integration. I do not know the exact date on which the channel was introduced, but today it is already available which is one more point in its favor.
Hello Angel,
Well indeed they have introduced it yesterday, they just confirmed it to me from Netatmo. It has already been a coincidence! Updated the article and enjoy IFTTT 🙂
Well at first glance it is ugly as hell, but I've been looking for something like that for a long time, I'll take a good look at it.
The one that at first glance I like a lot is the one that Gorka points out, the momit, that one if it enters your eyes, I will also value it.
Gracias y saludos.
I'm sorry to tell you that the second review of the Nest DOES WORK in Spain. I have installed it for more than 6 months and it works wonderfully.
The difference between the first review and the second is that the second is made up of two parts. One that is the NEST itself and the other is the "actuator", which is the one that will be connected to the keys of the boiler. And by radio frequency it will be controlled by the Nest.
Hi Fede,
Thank you for your comment, because I have been wanting to buy the Nest for a long time and I had no confidence that it could work in Spain.
Could you please tell me where you bought yours and the experience when connecting it in your installation?
Thank you very much.
Greetings.
I would like to tell you about my disappointing experience with the Netatmo "smart" thermostat: 2 weeks ago I bought on the web http://www.netatmo.com the popular "smart" thermostat for turning the heating on and off from the French company Netatmo. The thermostat has a relay that connects to the boiler and is in charge of activating and shutting it down. Well, after installing it and after working correctly for about an hour the relay hit a creak and stopped working. This problem seems to be quite common among many of the unfortunate buyers (as I have been able to read in the forums of the company itself). Well, all this can happen when we buy a product and it falls within normality. What is shameful is that after 2 weeks writing emails to Netatmo's commercial and technical department to solve the problem or make a refund, they do not deign to answer. I am not the only one affected by this scam as it seems as I read in the forum, and it seems to me that 179 euros paid for a product that fails and that the company does not take care of is something that should be made known to those who plan to buy it . I would only like that given the repercussion that your website has in the world of technology, they would inform about the problem of the product and lack of respect towards their customers to prevent more people from making the mistake of buying it.
Hello good evening, I bought a netatmo thermostat at an Apple store and I cannot get the relay to connect to my Wi-Fi network (Movistar fiber) due to the type of encryption it uses (WPA2-PSK).
Do you know if this can be solved without giving up the type of encryption in the security of my Wi-Fi network?
The application to control the thermostat can be connected to several phones, or it has to be from just one