Honeywell ZWSTAT Posts

Very recently, we made a post highlighting the best smart thermostats on the market today. We made it clear that smart thermostats offer huge convenience, and they can help users save money on energy bills. But just how much can a household save by using a smart thermostat? Let's find out.

The idea behind a smart thermostat is that it will allow a home's HVAC system to run only when it is needed. The HVAC system is typically the largest contributor to one's energy bill. With a traditional analogue thermostat, a user has to choose between running the HVAC system all the time (expensive) or coming home to house where the HVAC system hasn't been running all day (uncomfortable). This can be somewhat mitigated using a standard programmable thermostat set on pre-determined schedule. However, a user will still be unable to adjust their HVAC system while they are away.

A smart thermostat offers major convenience, since it allows for the HVAC System to respond automatically with certain events. For example, a smart thermostat can be "taught" to turn off the HVAC system when a user presumedly leaves their house because they set their security system to arm away. That way, the HVAC system turns off at exactly the right moment. If you ever plan on leaving your home at different times of the day, a standard programmable thermostat won't be able to achieve this same level of automatic precision.

But the real money saving ability of a smart thermostat comes from the ability to control the HVAC system remotely. This is done by accessing an interactive service platform, such as Alarm.com or Total Connect 2.0. When this setup is done using an alarm system, the command will go from the interactive servers servers to the control panel (through WIFI or cellular communication), then to the smart thermostat (usually through WIFI or Z-Wave), and finally to the HVAC system (through a wired connection). Since most interactive services have their own mobile apps, this type of control and access can be achieved from virtually anywhere in the world.

So say you're away from home, and you're running late. Instead of arriving home at your expected time, it will now be several hours or even the next day until you get back. But oh no, your home's heating and cooling system is still running! If you don't shut it off, the energy bills are going to rack up! In this situation, just pull out your smart phone, access your interactive service account, and tell your smart thermostat to shut off the HVAC system. Just like that, you have saved money. And if you want your house to be comfortable when you arrive, access your account a little bit before you come home and activate your thermostat. It's that easy.

So how much can you really save on your energy bills with a smart thermostat? Well it depends. Obviously, the savings will be largest if you had a traditional thermostat that had the HVAC system running 24/7. Once you adjust to a programmable thermostat, assuming you use it as designed, you will save money in energy costs every time you leave the home and have the HVAC system stop running. But if you had an analogue or programmable thermostat that you adjusted meticulously, or if you almost never leave your home and always run your HVAC system, the savings won't be as large.

As for actual numbers, various studies have found that a typical smart thermostat will save users on average about 10% on heating costs and 15% on cooling costs. This translates to a savings of about $130 per year, or slightly more than $10 per month. But keep in mind, these savings will be larger in certain cases. We've heard of many users saving more than $200 per year in energy costs by using a smart thermostat. For these users, a smart thermostat essentially pays for itself in just a year's time.

The best option is to consider your energy-using habits and determine whether or not a smart thermostat is a good investment for your household. Either way, it will certainly be more convenient and offer more features than a traditional thermostat. And if you're wondering which smart thermostat we recommend, we gotta say we're pretty big fans of the new Honeywell T6 Z-Wave Thermostat.

We strive to have some of the best pricing on the internet for security products. When prices are reduced for us, we do our best to quickly pass off those savings to anyone who has made a purchase here.

In the last week, we have reduced the prices on over 100 items an average of 6%. Our Lyric kits have all seen price reductions between 6% and 19%.

Below is the list of all items whose price has been reduced. We hope you enjoy the savings!

One of the most common questions asked by our customers is: Can I use my Honeywell WIFI thermostat with Total Connect? For years, this question required a complicated response that ultimately resulted in the answer, "No, they do not work with Total Connect 2.0." Well, Honeywell has responded to this customer feedback by integrating WIFI thermostat control with Total Connect 2.0! Before getting into the nitty, gritty details of how this integration works, let's take a step back and review the Total Connect Comfort and Total Connect 2.0 apps. For obvious reasons, these two apps are commonly confused with one another.

Total Connect Comfort is a free app which allows users to control and view status of their HVAC system. This app requires a compatible Honeywell thermostat that communicates using WIFI or Honeywell's RedLink technology. The WIFI thermostats simply to connect to the wireless internet in your home or business and connect to the TC Comfort app. RedLink is a proprietary technology that allows HVAC components to speak to each other wirelessly. Air handlers can wirelessly control boiler and condensing units without any wiring! RedLink thermostats require a RedLink Internet Gateway (RIG). Instead of communicating directly to the WIFI router, the thermostat wirelessly pairs to the RIG. After the RIG is connected to your router with an ethernet patch cable the RedLink thermostat will also be available for interactive control via TC Comfort.

Total Connect 2.0 is technically a free app in the app store but it requires a paid subscription with a Honeywell AlarmNet dealer. This app is designed to control and trigger customizable text and email alerts with a compatible Honeywell security system. The Honeywell system will need a compatible AlarmNet internet and/or cellular communicator in order to work with TC 2.0. This app also supports remote automation control in the form of Z-Wave technology. Essentially, a customer will add a compatible Z-Wave controller to their Honeywell alarm panel and be able to control and configure alerts for Z-Wave lights, locks, thermostats, etc.

Up until late April 2016, the only way to control a thermostat through TC 2.0 was to purchase and install a compatible Z-Wave thermostat. The issue here was that some TC 2.0 customers already had TC Comfort and wanted to keep their thermostats. Other customers required HVAC technologies such as "Dual Fuel" or remote thermistors and humidistats that cannot be found in Z-Wave thermostats. Unfortunately, the Z-Wave thermostat landscape is not very diverse and the technology built into these devices are not very advanced. Also, depending on your alarm system Z-Wave controllers can be expensive. Anyways, the WIFI and RedLink tstats offer a much wider range of features. For all these reasons we are extremely excited that TC 2.0 now supports TC Comfort (TCC) thermostats!

Currently this can only be accomplished through the iOS app on your mobile apple device (i.e. iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch) running iOS 7.0 or higher. The last app update on April 27, 2016 (Version 3.10.5) added the ability to add TCC thermostats through the automation section on the app. Keep in mind that you will need to be enrolled in Total Connect 2.0 service and have "remote automation" services enabled. Some dealers may charge extra for this service but it will give you the ability to integrate Z-Wave devices and just recently the TCC thermostats and August locks.

Assuming you have already setup remote automation services with your alarm company now you can integrate your TCC devices with TC 2.0. After you click into the "Automation" tab on the app, press the icon on the top right (3 horizontal bars). Then press "Add/Remove TCC Thermostat." Now you can enter your login credentials (email and password) for your TCC app. After you login, you should be able to control TCC thermostat from the TC 2.0 app. This is a brand new integration so the details around setting up scenes, rules and scheduling are still being fleshed out. The good news is that Honeywell acted on customer feedback and now you can control even more devices in your home right from TC 2.0!

Total Connect 2.0 can be offered standalone for self monitoring customers or bundled together with central station monitoring for those interested in getting phone calls and dispatching the local authorities when needed.

**Please Note**

Your Honeywell VISTA system must have a Z-Wave module installed for you to use Total Connect 2.0 Automation features. On an all-in-one LYNX Touch or Lyric wireless system, TC2 automation can be added to any TC2 account. However, if you have a traditional VISTA security system, you will need to have a Tuxedo Touch WIFI touchscreen keypad or VAM module connected to your system to take advantage of the TC2 automation features. The Tuxedo and VAM are physical Z-Wave controllers for upgrading VISTA systems to home automation features. Even if the TC2 automation you are doing doesn't require a local z-wave controller (like integrating in the Honeywell WIFI Total Connect Comfort or Redlink Thermostats or integrating in WIFI August locks for instance), the automation TC2 feature can't be enabled without a Tux or VAM MAC/CRC combination being added to the TC2 account. While these cloud based TC2 integrations are a nice way to integrate various home automation into on application, you don't need to upgrade your VISTA panel with a Tux or WIFI if you don't plan to ever do any physical Z-Wave devices as you can always continue to control your TCC/Redlink thermostats and August locks through the existing separate apps that are offered for those devices now.