If you think smart thermostats are too expensive, Amazon today unveiled the $59.99 Amazon Smart Thermostat with an eye on affordability and reducing carbon emissions.
“The largest household contributor to carbon emissions is not your TV, it’s not your Echo device, it’s your HVAC [heating, ventilation, and air conditioning] system,” Dave Limp, Amazon's SVP for devices, said during a Tuesday virtual event.
Amazon sees smart thermostats as a solution to making HVAC systems run more efficiently. But according to Limp, the technology is complicated and expensive. In response, the company created its own Energy Star- certified product for “less than half the average cost of a smart thermostat sold on Amazon.com,” he said. If a customer applies utility rebates, the cost can be driven down even further.
The product is also designed to be compatible with most HVAC systems, Limp added. To develop it, Amazon partnered with smart thermostat provider Honeywell Home.
Although the thermostat doesn’t come with a speaker or microphone, it does work with Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant. So you’ll be able to use voice commands on an Echo device or smartphone to control it remotely. For example, if you tell Alexa you’re going to bed, the voice assistant can trigger the thermostat to calibrate your home’s heating to match the preset temperature you’d like.
“This thermostat allows Alexa intelligence to do the programming for you, automatically adjusting the temperatures to suit your preferences when it has a hunch you’re either at home or away,” Limp added.
Pre-order now for $59.99 (Amazon has a compatibility tool on its site to check whether it'll work in your home). Bundles with a 4th-gen Echo Dot or 2nd-gen Echo Show 5 will run you $99.99 or $129.99, respectively. Shipments begin Nov. 4.