This post brought to you by Schneider Electric. The content and opinions expressed below are that of Baby to Boomer Lifestyle.
Everyone wants to save money, right? But what if you can save money and the earth….OK, well that’s overstating it a bit, but when I wanted to upgrade our 1970’s furnace into someone more ecologically sound without buying a new furnace, my husband laughed at me. That’s because he believes that one house with leaky windows and a manual thermostat would never make a difference. But I was persistent, and I finally got a smart thermostat, and even he has to admit that we’ve saved a lot of money and I smile inside knowing that one family can make a difference by changing their habits!
So if I’m so happy with my current smart thermostat, why am I installing a new one this week? Because like most technology, there’s a new one that’s better! The new Wiser Air Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat gives me some amazing features. It uses Eco IQ™, its self-learning brain to find your right temperature. It uses Eco IQ™, its self-learning brain to find your right temperature. It uses your home’s thermal profile which includes the inside humidity combined with the weather outside and then combines those factors with interaction you’ve had with it previously to produce a pattern just for you. There’s also a Comfort Boost that allows you to make an instant change to the temperature without affecting your learned algorithms. This ability to figured out your routine is perfect for families like us who don’t have a schedule that follows any logical pattern.
Wiser Air Smart Thermostat Installation Video
But what sets the Wiser Air Smart Thermostat apart is that it uses a top-rated weather service to provide accurate weather for your area so it can make the necessary adjustments to keep your home comfortably warm (or cool). This weather provider is the same service that the NFL, Major League baseball sports teams, public utilities, airline companies and more use to make decisions critical weather-based decisions that depend on accurate weather data collecting and reporting. It’s also the only smart thermostat with a companion Windows app – it’ll allow you to see and control your home heating and cooling from your Internet-connected device. The app is also available for iOS and Android devices.
This smart thermostat is perfect for non-techy people too. No agonizing programming like the old thermostats with manually entered schedules which left your heater running when your schedule changed and no one was home to adjust it – what a waste of money! Or you were forced to come home to a freezing house and then had to wait until the walls warmed up before it was safe to take off your coat and mittens. Who needs that? This smart thermostat uses what it learns to heat and cool your home automatically, so your home is warm when you wake up and when you get home from work. It’s like having a little magic heating & cooling Genie turning on the heat for you when the weather turns blustery or to turn it down (or the cooling up) when one of those gloriously unexpectedly sunny days appears in the middle of the rainy season (September through June here in Seattle).
It’s also beneficial to people like me who don’t want to hunt up my glasses just to “read” the thermostat. The Wiser Air Smart Thermostat glows blue when it’s cooling, yellow when it’s heating, and green when it’s in the energy saving mode (Eco IQ™). No fumbling to find tiny buttons or led lights like older models. If I need more details, the app lets me control it right from my smartphone.
These fabulous features make the Wiser Air Smart Thermostat one of the most highly intelligent Wi-Fi smart thermostats available. Plus its sleek design, reliable build, and user-friendly and intuitive design mean you can save money, use less fossil fuels and be MORE comfortable at home which is a win/win all around!
Now don’t worry, I won’t be tossing the old one into a landfill. It’s getting gifted to a friend who also has a dinosaur of a heating and cooling system, so she’ll benefit from my hand-me-downs!
Installing the Wiser Air Smart Thermostat
Quickstart Guide | Wiring Guide | Install Guide | Specifications
Wiser Air Installation Video
We broke the installation duties into two parts – he did the drilling, wiring, and mounting and I did the set-up. We picked the jobs we were better at so that made it a breeze. The installation video is a huge help – we watched it through twice before starting the job. The tools required are ones most homeowners own and don’t skip the important safety steps and you’ll find it’s a simple installation and setup
Our installation was made a little easier by the fact that we’d already installed a similar thermostat last year. The instructions tell you to take a photo of the old thermostat before you remove it so that you have the details of the wiring. Even with just a 2-wire system, that was fantastic advice. Both my husband and I forgot where the wires go and that we’d even taken a photo. Duh! Looking back at the instructions reminded us that we did have the details in a picture, so we were back in business.
We were stumped for a minute by the yellow warning sticker on the wiring plate. We do use the RH wire so the message, “Remove jumper when using RH” was meant for us, but we didn’t see a jumper wire so we were confused. My husband tried to remove the part the arrow was pointing to but wasn’t able to budge it, so he thought maybe we were missing something. I took a look and realized it pops right off – no tools needed – but my fingernails were needed. He didn’t feel the ridge on the plastic, so he missed that it pulled off. Once the jumper and yellow sticker were removed, we were ready to move on.
We also put the screws in too early – they go through both the white faceplate and black wiring plate. Oops!
If one of us had been following along with the directions, we would have been done with the installation in about 5 minutes. 🙂 As it was, we had to drill one hole wider and redo the screws because of our error, so it took 10 minutes for our simple system install. If you have heating and cooling, you’ll have quite a few more wires to connect.
All that’s left is to pop on the faceplate!
Tada! Our new Scheider Wiser Air Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat is installed and ready to set up. That was easy!
As soon as it’s installed, a set-up screen comes on to walk you through the process. Then if you like, install the companion smartphone app and take a few minutes to check out all of the cool features available to make sure you’re getting the most out of your Wiser Air Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat.
There are some significant benefits to some utility customers and even those of us who aren’t included, get some great information on how often we’re heating and cooling and what the weather was like outside at the time. You’ll be able to catch the heat-hogs in the house that turn the furnace up when no one else is home (like my hubby), and know how many hours a day you’re paying to heat the house.
The only feature missing is the one where it convinces you both that the room temp is the same for both of you. There’s always one of us complaining the room is “freezing” while the other is opening a window and saying she’s “sweating buckets.” That’s one of the mysteries of human behavior no one can explain! But with the Wiser Air Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat, we can agree that we’re heating smarter and saving money!
Where to Buy
Visit the Wiser Air Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat Where to Buy page to find out where to purchase this smart thermostat.
About Schneider Electric
Schneider Electric is the global specialist in energy management and develops connected technologies and solutions to manage energy and process in ways that are safe, reliable, efficient, and sustainable.
This is genius and I need it in my life. I love that it looks so simple to install.
This looks pretty awesome. I have always wondered what it would be like to control your home with you phone. Now I get a glimpse of that.
What a great idea and holiday gift. I would love this in my home!
I have never tried a smart themometer. They sound great to me though!
These wifi thermostats are the bomb-diggity. We have one in our house. When we leave, if we forget to adjust it, we can simply do it from our phones. Technology is amazing!
I would love to have this for my house. It would be a great gift for my Dad as well.
Definitely a great gift for dad! He’ll be even more impressed when he finds out how much money it can save him 🙂
Woah this is wonderful thing. I think it’s gonna be useful to me i want these one for my house and use it! Such a great ideas.
It’s the best! But I swear Alexa on the Dot upstairs isn’t as nice to me as the one downstairs. I think she likes my husband better 😉
This sounds amazing! I think we need to have a new thermostat!
OH, I like the look of that. It’s so compact and smart looking.
I love that it doesn’t require a tech degree to get programmed. Our current one baffles me and I have to wait until hubby gets home to reset it. This one is a much better option and sounds like it would really save us a lot of money each year on our energy bill!
I agree! Plus I heard that it will pair with Amazon Alexa sometime soon so you’ll be able to control it by voice. Another fantastic reason to get an Amazon Dot with Alexa! https://babytoboomer.com/2016/12/05/amazon-alexa/
What a great thermometer! So high tech! I bet this would save us tons!
It’s amazing how much money we save. We heat about 2 hours a day now instead of 8-10.
This sounds like a great option. It looks pretty simple to install too.
Super simple! Just remember to take a picture of your old wiring like the instructions tell you to. You’ll need it! I hope you try one out soon.
This review comes at the perfect time, as we are planning on purchasing a smart thermostat within the next month. I love the idea of being able to control the temperature from my phone, all while saving on our electricity bill.
That would come in very handy! We just got a new thermostat last year so I guess I am out of luck for a while.
Unless yours *mysteriously* breaks 😉
I love that you can control it from your phone. So you can check the temperature in the house while you’re not home and know if you should turn on the ac or heat.
I have been telling my husband that we need a smart thermostat. They are so cool!
That is fully awesome! I love that you can control the thermostat with your phone and that it helps keep everything exactly the way we want it!