Have you been looking for a thermostat to help with saving energy whilst also keeping your home at a convenient temperature? Something that is both easy to use and won’t suddenly adjust to extreme temperatures? Well, whichever it is, the Emerson Sensi Wi-Fi Thermostat may just be the best smart thermostat for you. It comes with a geofencing feature as well as a good amount of sensors which provide you with some automatic changes in temperature while also allowing you to set specific schedules for adjustments through the app. Paired with the Amazon Alexa, Google assistant as well as Apple HomeKit support, you can control almost anything in your smart home with the Emerson Sensi as the main hub. And so, along with the stylish brightly coloured display of it, the Emerson Sensi is a pretty good alternative to the Ecobee4 and even the Ecobee3 lite for those who don’t necessarily like the black plate design. If this thermostat isn’t futuristic enough for you, you might also be interested in our review of the Hello smart camera.
Why We Like It – Emerson Sensi Wi-Fi Thermostat
With a Energy Star certification and a good amount of app integration, the Emerson Sensi Wi-Fi Thermostat saves you money whilst also making life a whole lot more convenient. It offers an easy to control app on both android and iOS devices and even comes with a sleek touchscreen design. Paired with the sensors equipped by the Emerson Sensi Thermostat, you can easily change your home’s temperature from anywhere through the Wi-Fi connection. And so, with all that and the geofencing feature the Emerson Sensi Wi-Fi Thermostat is definitely worth getting for many of you out there.
- Good sensing capability
- Supports Geofencing
- Easy to use app with a good amount of flexibility
- No automatic learning feature
- No occupancy sensor
Performance
Making controlling your home temperature a whole lot easier, the Emerson Sensi Wi-Fi Thermostat connects to your home WiFi as the name states, and this allows you to control it through the internet no matter where you are. The phone app provides you with quite a simple interface which allows you to set the Emerson Sensi to set schedules of about 8 adjustments throughout each day, at specific times fixed by you. You can change the times in 15 minute increments which allows for both simplicity and a better environment for you to return to after work. And as an added benefit you get 4 preset adjustments that follow a standard 9-to-5 work routine. You should also read our Emerson Sensi Touch Smart Thermostat with Color Touchscreen review.
Other than that, you can also set the Sensi Wi-fi Thermostat to follow a geofencing sensor, which is most suitable for those of you who don’t have a fixed routine of going away and back to home. This allows you to set a temperature and heating and cooling rates for a “home” temperature which activates whenever you’re within 3 miles of the thermostat, and an energy costs reducing environment when you’re at least 3 miles away. However, while this is a great feature to have, considering the fact that no one really, goes 3 miles away from home every now and then, it may end up not coming to much use.
Furthermore, you even get to choose a no schedule or geofencing mode, which allows you to change the temperature as you like through the Sensi App without any set time. Whichever mode you use, being able to set the heat pumps heating cooling temperatures without having to move is a great benefit for almost anyone, especially after a rough day at work. Aside from that, while the Emerson Sensi touch smart thermostats are great, they aren’t as good as the similarly programmable thermostat, the Ecobee3 lite in certain sectors. This is due to the fact that the Sensi Smart Thermostat doesn’t come with any room occupancy sensors, which means that you’ll have to constantly manually make changes if you feel like moving from one room to another.
When it comes to using multiple sensors across multiple rooms, the Emerson Sensi Wi-Fi Thermostat comes with it’s own paid business software which allows managers to handle multiple thermostats across an entire building without having to move a leg. However, for other home users, the phone app for a single device is completely free, adding to the cost benefit of the Emerson Sensi Wi-Fi Thermostat.
As for the ease of use, the Emerson Sensi WiFi Thermostat is better than any old thermostat in the matter that it provides you with Amazon Alexa Google Home Assistant as well as Apple HomeKit compatibility, allowing you to control your home automation system via voice. And finally, when it comes to setting up the Emerson Sensi Wi-Fi Thermostat, you are provided with a C wire for electricity drawing and thanks to the illuminated terminals as well as the built in level it becomes a whole lot easier to connect the device to your HVAC system. However, do note that the device isn’t compatible with all HVAC systems meaning that you may need extra wires for connecting to certain systems. After that you simply connect your phone to a WiFi hotspot created by the device only to control it from either the app or the touchscreen display unlike that of the Honeywell WiFi Thermostat.
Design
Moving onto the design of the Emerson Sensi Wi-Fi Thermostat, you get yourself a device measuring to be about 3.6 by 5.6 b 1 Inches in size and a 4.3 Inch touchscreen with a resolution of 272 x 480 pixels. While this isn’t that high, it provides you with a clear view of all the data you need to see with a blue background in cooling mode and a red in heating mode. This makes for a slightly better look and greater convenience compared to the Ecobee4 Smart Thermostats and Ecobee3 lite’s black screen.
You can choose to see the indoor humidity , time of the day or even the temperature in fahrenheit or celsius. And thus, with the overall black body, it might even stand out as a nice addition to your home decor if you prefer it. But, for a better, more unnoticed look, the Ecobee4 or the Ecobee3 Lite Smart Thermostat tends to be a better choice.
Value
Priced at about $140 on amazon com, the Emerson Sensi Wi-Fi Thermostat is almost half the price of the Ecobee4 but still provides you with a good amount of temperature control through the app and more control over smart systems with the HomeKit, Google Assistant and Alexa set compatibility. Thus, if you’re someone who needs a new thermostat that performs well without costing too much compared to the Ecobee thermostats, the Emerson Sensi Wi-Fi Thermostat may just be the one for you. But for better automatic adjustment with room occupancy sensing, the Ecobee 4 tends to be worth the price as well. If you need a smart thermostat that works both with Android and iOS tablets, read our Glas Smart Thermostat review.
Emerson Sensi Wi-Fi Thermostat Wrap Up
If you’re someone looking for a smart thermostat that is easy to control through either Android or iOS, and also supports geofencing, the Emerson Sensi Wi-Fi Thermostat is just the product for you. It comes with a better touchscreen display with more features compared to the Ecobee4 with the red and blue screens depending on heating and cooling and even though it may not have room occupancy sensors, with upto 8 scheduled adjustments per day, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant as well as Apple HomeKit compatibility at a pretty affordable price, the Emerson Sensi Wi-Fi Thermostat stands out as one of the best out there. Just make sure that you don’t absolutely need the room occupancy sensor, and multiple sensor capabilities like the Ecobee4.
