Honeywell Smart Touchscreen Thermostat Review

As homes become smarter, there are a lot more options available to have all your home systems fully integrated.

A smart thermostat can do many things to help your house not only be at the perfect comfort level for you and your family, but can reduce your electricity usage, and thus your electric bill.

So, what is the best smart thermostat out there? Today, we’re going to take a look at the Honeywell Smart Touchscreen Thermostat.

Below we weigh both the positives and negatives so you can decide if this smart thermostat will be the perfect fit for your home.

Honeywell Lyric Smart Touchscreen Thermostat: The Details

Specs

• Product Dimensions: 4 x 4 x 1.2 inches
• Product Weight: 4lbs
• Compatible with Amazon Alexa?: Yes!

How Does it Work?

The Honeywell Wi-Fi smart seven-day programmable touchscreen thermostat offers a bundle of features that could be perfect for your lifestyle.

It can be controlled with Amazon’s Alexa voice control or through the Apple Homekit with voice control through Siri. It can also be controlled through your phone via the Lyric app.

With this app, you can choose either a seven-day flexible scheduling for your unit, or a location-based temperature control (also called geofencing.) This technology works by keeping track of your smart phone’s location.

The unit can also send smart alerts to your phone, including notifications for filter changes and extreme temperature warnings.

The Honeywell itself has adaptive recovery which learns how long it takes to achieve the right temperature at the right time, and automatically runs your system to get to your desired temperature when you want it, with auto changes from heat to cool.

The Brand

Honeywell was started in 1885, and they have been innovators and inventors since then.

They pride themselves on innovation that helps everyone live a secure, cleaner, and more efficient future through smart technology.

Their company is built on good business practices and integrity, and most of their products come with a limited warranty, so if your unit arrives and does not function as intended, they will replace it.

Honeywell Smart Touchscreen Thermostat Review

The Positives

Geofencing

The geofencing feature is definitely a favorite amongst our testers. It can be set up to use one or multiple phones as triggers based on arrival and departure.

As long as one of the phones is in the home, the thermostat stays in ‘Home’ mode. When all phones leave, it then triggers the ‘Away’ function.

The thermostat can be controlled from anywhere via your phone, or you can let it manage the temperature and savings automatically.

There is no learning curve or rigid scheduling necessary; just the temperature you want when you’re at home and energy savings when you’re away.

Flexible Scheduling

If geofencing is not your style, you can also set up a seven-day schedule on your Lyric.

For those with a consistent work schedule, this can be perfect to ensure that your home is the right temperature when you walk in the door, so all you have to worry about is what to make for dinner.

This will help cut your energy costs to make sure the system runs less, if at all, while you’re not home. Or, it can help you maintain comfortable temperatures for pets or children that may be home while you’re away.

Extreme temperature alerts to your phone can let you control it while you’re out as well, instead of relying on someone to go back home and manually change it, so you can keep the rest of your family comfortable, even if they are too young to control the thermostat (or in the case of pets, lack the thumbs!).

Connecting and Controlling Through Your Phone

Connecting your phone to the system is easy. Download the app and it will walk you through the process from there.

Honeywell understands an overcomplicated app can deter and frustrate new users. They’ve designed their app to be super easy to use meaning you won’t be throwing your phone across the room anytime soon.

If you want to connect it to your Echo, just go onto the Amazon Echo application and then to the Smart Home area. From there, search for Honeywell Lyric, install the app, and you’re ready to roll.

Just remember what you’ve named your unit and you can control it through Alexa.

Easy Installation

The Honeywell is also a very easy to use unit. Removing your old system and installing the new one is quick and easy, and can be done yourself or, if you don’t have the patience, via a hired professional.

This takes the intimidation away for those of us who don’t really like to dabble with new technology or for those of us who feel aren’t too great at handy work.

Installing the Honeywell Smart Thermostat won’t take too much time either, meaning you’ll be saving money and energy ASAP.

As we’ve mentioned, there’s no real learning curve when it comes to this thermostat. Even grandma can adjust it!

It’s also a relatively small unit, so it won’t make a big impression on your wall, allowing you to maintain your home’s sleek look.

Here’s a video showing what the Honeywell Smart Thermostat looks like once installed.

Price

The Honeywell is priced reasonably and at a cheaper price point than much of the smart thermostats in competition. This makes it easier to make the swap from your traditional thermostat to a more energy (and money) saving alternative.

Not only do you get a stylish and modern new thermostat, but the price you pay won’t break the bank.

Many areas also offer rebates or special tax discounts for installing smart home systems like this, since it controls your energy use more efficiently than traditional thermostats.

Contact your local energy provider for more details.

Warranty

Investing in a product even at a reasonable price point doesn’t mean you should be left hanging. Honeywell agrees by offering a two-year limited warranty so you won’t be left out in the cold.

This warranty covers any defects or errors in craftsmanship for two years after purchase. Should you encounter any manufacturing errors, Honeywell will repair or replace your thermostat at no additional cost (minus shipping).

Just be sure not to damage the thermostat yourself, as this will most likely void your warranty.

The Greener Option 

While saving energy saves you money on your electricity bill, it also helps reduce your carbon footprint. If green living is what you’re after, this device will put you in the right direction.

A lot of users have reported a significant drop in their energy consumption after using the Honeywell thermostat for a short span of a week!

The Negatives

Requirements for Installation

When it comes to installation, the Honeywell does require a c-wire connection and will not work without it.

Unfortunately, this thermostat also does not work with any other sensors such as humidity or outdoor air temperature sensors, so if you have these already installed to help with your temperature control, they are not compatible.

Drawbacks of Geofencing

Some testers have also had problems with the geofencing function.

For example, if both phone users leave the home but there are still children or non-phone users in the home, the thermostat will set to ‘Away’ despite still having people in the house.

Luckily, this can be overridden from the thermostat directly before the house gets too warm or cool for comfort.

Connectivity Problems to Certain Phones

Other testers have had less popular phone models where they could not get the geofencing to read their device correctly.

Some people have also had some problems getting their specific device to connect to the app and the Honeywell system, and to get correct readings from the thermostat on their phone.

Sometimes a re-installation of the app would fix this. Some testers also could not get the Lyric and Alexa to connect.

Appearance

Although it is a small unit, it has some limitations. For example, it is not recommended to be mounted flush in a wall, as it can affect the temperature readings.

The backlighting is also not completely adjustable, which some testers found frustrating.

The thermostat itself also does not show the weather on the screen, even though it shows that information on the app.

These are all aesthetic details that aren’t performance related. If you aren’t too picky about looks, this won’t be much of an issue to you.

The Help Desk

If problems do arise, the help line has not been extremely useful.

Many testers found the help line to be short or unprofessional with their problems, or unable to troubleshoot effectively.

This can be a little frustrating especially when trying to address an issue. While not always the case, you may have to exercise a little bit of patience when calling in.

Overall Verdict

When it comes to making your home smarter, the final call really has to come from your own individual needs.

In general, a smart thermostat can save you a lot of money on electricity and help your home run more efficiently, whether you are settled in for the night or away for a week on vacation.

The Honeywell Touchscreen Thermostat offers an option that is easier on the wallet than some of its competition, and is generally very reliable, so hopefully there will be no need to use their less than stellar helpline.

As long as your phone and your home wiring are compatible with the Honeywell thermostat, it’s a good bet to help you live a smarter, easier life.

Its variety of features to give you complete control from your phone or Alexa could save you money and make sure that your entire family stays comfortable year-round.

Where to Buy the Honeywell Smart Touchscreen Thermostat

Smart thermostats have become a useful tool to easily and efficiently control your home with the use of technlogy, while also saving on money and bills.

The Honeywell Touchscreen Thermostat offers an affordable option to these devices, making it a popular choice for homeowners. For these reasons, this thermostat won’t be too hard to find in retail stores or online.

Check out the following online retailers to start.

• Honeywell (from $179)
• Wal Mart (from $149)
• Home Depot (from $149)

And of course, it’s also available for purchase on Amazon.

That’s it for our review on the Honeywell Smart Touchscreen Thermostat. Curious to give it a try?