Honeywell intros Lyric T5 thermostat ready for Apple's HomeKit

AppleInsider

Honeywell has announced the Lyric T5, a new Wi-Fi-connected smart thermostat with support for Apple's HomeKit platform.

HomeKit compatibility lets users operate it by way of Siri or Apple's native Home app for iOS 10 and the Apple Watch. It can also be controlled via a black-and-white touchscreen, Honeywell's Lyric app, or Amazon's Alexa voice assistant, found on devices like the Echo.

As with some other smart thermostats, the Lyric T5 can be set to heat or cool based on a weekly schedule, and will adapt to a home's normal cycles to optimize temperature changes. Significantly, it can use geofencing -- polling a phone's location -- to determine when a person is leaving or on their way home, and adjust temperature automatically.

Some other features include filter change reminders, and alerts about extreme heat or cold.

The Lyric T5 will ship in October for $149.99.

jdgaz

That is a price many will be able to live with. Let the competitive games begin.

nolamacguy

yup. while the Nest is a classier looking device, this works and the price is right right. 

volcan

I haven't had much success with geo-fencing on iPhone. Seems so delayed and the radius its rather broad. It is not very practicable in my experience.  The thermostat looks like a nice piece of equipment though, however I really don't even need a new thermostat. My house is so well insulated that I don't have to turn on the heat or AC more than a couple times a year. I did have the AC on last weekend though as it was 105º F here in So Cal.

dachar

Is that it or is other hardware required? I have a Tado system that comprises a wifi controller on the boiler, a thermostat similar in function and size to the pictured Honeywell unit, and a wifi bridge attached to my router.  I have been happy with Tado as a company.Not only are the continuing to invest in upgrades and new hardware, but they also are very good on customer service. This includes if required arranging for an engineer to fit their hardware at a reasonable cost. 

snailer

Looks like it has a 1970s interface, but for $150, works with HomeKit and if it doesn't send my every move to the Google mothership, I'd consider it strongly.

Rez

Ecobee with remote sensors in different rooms still rocks for me, and it can follow me as well for correct temperature setup..

mike1

Geofencing would be pretty useless for me as there are too many people coming and going. I can't see how it would be beneficial unless you lived alone.

zroger73

I wish it provided usage data.

rob53

dachar said:

Is that it or is other hardware required? I have a Tado system that comprises a wifi controller on the boiler, a thermostat similar in function and size to the pictured Honeywell unit, and a wifi bridge attached to my router.  I have been happy with Tado as a company.Not only are the continuing to invest in upgrades and new hardware, but they also are very good on customer service. This includes if required arranging for an engineer to fit their hardware at a reasonable cost. 

What you see is all you need. The WiFi transceiver is built in. As for your boiler, it depends on whether it's supported (see below--from installation manual found on http://yourhome.honeywell.com/en/products/thermostat/lyric-wi-fi-t5-thermostat near the bottom) and whether your boiler has existing thermostat wires coming up from it. It sounds like yours might not, which is why you had to install a WiFi controller. For the majority or people who's homes have existing thermostats, this thermostat simply replaces the old hardware and the old mounting plate. The installation manual is a long read but it appears to cover everything anyone would need. 

Compatibility

• Compatible with most heating, cooling, and heat pump systems

• Required: 24 VAC power (“C” wire)

• Does not work with electric baseboard heat (120-240V)

• Does not work with millivolt systems

• Does not support Universal Input (S terminals) for indoor and outdoor sensors

• Does not support Universal Relay (U terminals) for ventilation

• Android or iOS smartphone, tablet, or device

paxman

dachar said:

Is that it or is other hardware required? I have a Tado system that comprises a wifi controller on the boiler, a thermostat similar in function and size to the pictured Honeywell unit, and a wifi bridge attached to my router.  I have been happy with Tado as a company.Not only are the continuing to invest in upgrades and new hardware, but they also are very good on customer service. This includes if required arranging for an engineer to fit their hardware at a reasonable cost. 

I am so very not sold on smart thermostats. In the home , that is. I have an old fashioned one that changes the settings a couple of times per day. Anything more is just unnecessary. When we go away I press a button. When we return I press it again. 

I can see the purpose if a) you live alone and live an irregular life and spend many nights away, b) no, that's it.  I can also see how a smart thermostat can be very handy for a cottage in cold climates where you really don't want to arrive to a freezing cold cottage at the weekend. Through your app you can keep an eye on the temp and make sure pipes don't freeze up in your absence and make sure people who borrow the cottage don't leave with no heat at all, or with the heat fully on. 

Has anyone tested if they actually save money using a smart thermostat? Just curious.

fallenjt

Rez said:

Ecobee with remote sensors in different rooms still rocks for me, and it can follow me as well for correct temperature setup..

Second to the Ecobee with remote sensor for 2nd room. It's $200 now with Echo Dot ($49) package. 

rob53

paxman said:

...

Has anyone tested if they actually save money using a smart thermostat? Just curious.

I have the original Nest and I believe it has saved me money. Its ability to automatically reduce the heat (I don't have AC) when no one is in the house does reduce my bill. It even shuts off the heat when I'm upstairs too much and don't go past the thermostat. It's also a lot easier to adjust the heat and actually turn it off than my previous manual thermostat that I couldn't read without a magnifying glass and instruction manual. 

(Because I don't trust Google, I no longer have an account through Nest and disabled the wireless feature. Since I paid so much for it, I'm not willing to pay again until the cost comes way down. $150 is getting closer to a reasonable amount but I'll wait until Honeywell adds usage tracking. I understand all it can do is track how long the heat's been on, not how much it costs without being able to access the heater's capability to log electricity usage and gas flow, if it even has that capability. That's the only way to know if any money is being saved by the thermostat versus savings found through other use of electricity and gas.)

vmarks

paxman said:

dachar said:

Is that it or is other hardware required? I have a Tado system that comprises a wifi controller on the boiler, a thermostat similar in function and size to the pictured Honeywell unit, and a wifi bridge attached to my router.  I have been happy with Tado as a company.Not only are the continuing to invest in upgrades and new hardware, but they also are very good on customer service. This includes if required arranging for an engineer to fit their hardware at a reasonable cost. 

I am so very not sold on smart thermostats. In the home , that is. I have an old fashioned one that changes the settings a couple of times per day. Anything more is just unnecessary. When we go away I press a button. When we return I press it again. 

I can see the purpose if a) you live alone and live an irregular life and spend many nights away, b) no, that's it.  I can also see how a smart thermostat can be very handy for a cottage in cold climates where you really don't want to arrive to a freezing cold cottage at the weekend. Through your app you can keep an eye on the temp and make sure pipes don't freeze up in your absence and make sure people who borrow the cottage don't leave with no heat at all, or with the heat fully on. 

Has anyone tested if they actually save money using a smart thermostat? Just curious.

Yes. I wrote about it here when I reviewed Nest.

In July 2010, we used 2619 kWh and had a bill of $292.41 for total energy usage. The bulk of that is going to result from running the A/C. The high that month was 103 degrees Fahrenheit, with an average high at 93 degrees. Comfortable is usually around 72 degrees. In July 2011, we still hadn't installed a Nest Learning Thermostat and used 2241 kWh for a bill of $241.91. The high for that month was 104 degrees with an average of 95 degrees. The billing cycle was two days shorter, which could account for the slightly lower kWh measure than the previous year, but wouldn't account for the $50 difference. These are very similar months and the only thing we can conclude is that we just didn't run the A/C as much or as hard. In April 2012, we installed Nest.From a peak energy bill of $292.41 in 2010, Nest helped us get down to $202.18 as of this June. In July 2012, Our kWh usage dropped dramatically to 1,907 kWh and resulted in a bill of $207.67. The max and average high temperatures that month remained about consistent, at 105 degrees and 95 degrees, respectively. So far, so good, right? This is already nearing $100 less than we paid for the same hottest summer month two years prior. Nest is saving us money, and this is awesome. But wait. In July 2013, we still used less kWh than the year before, or 1,737 kWh, and the bill was $202.18. The high temperature for July in my area was 96 degrees with an average of 88 degrees. Using 170 kWh less than last year, the high and average temperatures in our area were as much as 9 degrees lower, and on average 7 degrees lower. Two years after installing Nest, our bills are lower and usage is lower. As Nest updates make the thermostat more conservative, our bill is reflecting that, but it's not nearly as great a change as when we first installed it.

FWIW, I don't live alone, and don't lead an irregular lifestyle. The gains from a smart thermostat come from it being better able to manage Home and Away, better able to conserve by cycling off the air con compressor and running the fan to blow the cool air that remains in the ductwork (central air system), and when paired with other devices in a home, being able to negotiate the need to run air con versus running ceiling fans to reach the desired temperature. There are other conveniences, but that's where the savings come from.

I grant you that all the thermostat can do is tell you how long it's been calling for heat or cooling, in terms of energy reporting, and whether or not it called for these more or less than other people in your area also using their various clouds. I went back and read through my old bills and correlated with weather history in order to see if I had made any savings. 

I don't have Nest installed currently - I've been using Ecobee for months. The lil bee remote sensors seem like a great idea, although I don't think they've been a real help. I have the prior Honeywell Lyric HomeKit unit I've been meaning to install as well as the iDevices homekit thermostat ($150). 

vmarks

fallenjt said:

Rez said:

Ecobee with remote sensors in different rooms still rocks for me, and it can follow me as well for correct temperature setup..

Second to the Ecobee with remote sensor for 2nd room. It's $200 now with Echo Dot ($49) package. 

Does it actually correct for the temp of the room you're in with the lil-bee sensor? I don't believe it really does. I have two remote sensors. The web app sees their temps, but doesn't always see occupancy in the rooms with the sensors, and seems to cycle on and off based on the temps at the main unit. I'm inclined to believe they're a great idea that doesn't really mean much in practice.