Best Smart Thermostats for your Short Term Rental (Airbnb/VRBO)

Let’s talk thermostats.

So, the big three are Ecobee (by Amazon), Nest (by Google) and Honeywell (by Honeywell).

HONEYWELL

Honeywell has been around a long time and has been an industry standard in thermostats for years.  A major perk of the Honeywell smart thermostat is that it integrates directly with the Ring Door Bell system. (Click Here)

NEST

The Nest made a huge splash when it first came out in 2010.  Nest has been owned by Google since 2014.   (Click Here).  Over the last 10 years, Nest has expanded to include their version of a Ring Door Bell called the Nest Door Bell (Click Here).   They also developed a line of cameras called the Nest Cam (Click here).  I bought these and they looked great but I found the wiring set up to be difficult. The Nest smart thermostat does not directly integrate with the Ring Door Bell

The Ring system offers a lot of options from directly wired cameras to battery powered and even solar powered options.

ECOBEE

Ecobee was founded in 2007 but has recently increased its footprint over the last few years (Click here to learn more).  The Ecobee smart thermostat integrates well with Alexa and Amazon products.  To integrate with the Ring Door Bell system you will need to purchase the Ring Security Hub (Click Here).

So, if you want to run everything with the RING app you can integrate your Schlage Encode Smart Lock and Ecobee Thermostat using the Security system provided by RING.

Schlage Encode Smart Locks

The other option is to use separate applications for each product.  One application for RING, one for ECOBEE and one for SCHLAGE ENCODE.  That option works well too. 

There is not a right or wrong with this one…

To give a little back story…

This post began because I was trying to integrate our newest property.  Our previous properties were slope side condos in Mammoth so a security camera was not needed and the thermostats were MYSA thermostats (Click Here to read more).  MYSA thermostats are specialized for in-wall electric heaters…

Our new property has central AC and heating so a smart thermostat combined with smart locks and cameras was the way to go.  We went with the Ecobee because of the ease of use, install and look.  The smart phone app looks great and works really well.  The installation was fast and very easy.  It took less than 30 minutes to install.

In addition, we installed Schlage Encode Smart Locks (Click Here for more).  These locks integrate with Ring and Amazon Keys but require the Ring alarm security kit with a base station for complete integration.  (Click Here)

Honeywell T9 offers the easiest integration with RING because it integrates directly without requiring the RING security hub.  However, since the Schlage Encode Smart Locks require the RING security Hub for integration that factor did not influence our purchase. 

So, we went with the Ecobee because of the style points and it integrates with the Ring Security system.

There are a ton of options out there to secure, monitor and automate your Short-Term Rental property. 

The goal is to find what works best for you.  

If you want to use one application to control everything then consider using the RING doorbell, cameras and security system to integrate everything.

However, if you don’t mind using different applications then you can really choose any of the products that work best for you.

Our set up is RING Door Bell, Ring Wired Flood lights, Schlage Encode Wifi Smart Locks and Ecobee Thermostat.

Below is a table highlighting the options available.  Good luck.

	Ecobee	Nest	Honeywell T 9
Cost	$249	$249	$199
Ring Integration	with Alarm system	No	Yes
App (andrioid & iOS)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Apple Homekit	Yes	No	No
Amazon Alexa	Yes	Yes	Yes
Google Assistant	Yes	Yes	Yes

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