Last Updated on June 15, 2023 by Rental Recon
Smart thermostats are some of the most innovative products on the market. They are becoming standard for new homes and especially Airbnbs. Through experience, we’ve managed to identify some of the best smart thermostats for Airbnb:
The Best Thermostat For Airbnb & Vacation Homes Are:
After testing different smart thermostats in varying rentals over the years, we have determined that the best thermostat for Airbnb is the Nest Learning Thermostat. We like this thermostat for a multitude of reasons which are outlined below.
The other smart thermostats that we recommend are:
- Ecobee Smart Thermostat
- Honeywell Home Wi-Fi Smart Color Programmable Thermostat
- Honeywell Wi-Fi 9000 Color Touchscreen Thermostat
How Can Upgrading Your Thermostat Improve Your Airbnb?
Smart thermostats have a sleek design and innovative ways to help make your guests as comfortable as possible. They are easy to use and, more importantly, provide easy access to information on your rental to ensure energy efficiency. You can access information on temperature settings and occupancy within the home, all through an app on your phone.
Moreover, a smart thermostat can save you money while catering the experience for your guests. While you might include regulations for your guests to follow in your Airbnb host guide, not all guests follow these guidelines which can result in wasting electricity, driving up water bills, and even driving energy costs through the roof.
Whether making sure a chilly winter cabin is warm and inviting or keeping guests cool at the beach, being able to also mitigate energy costs is crucial. Smart thermostats allow you to remotely monitor and adjust the temperature in your vacation rental, even while you are not physically on the property.
Factors to Consider When Buying a Smart Thermostat for Your Airbnb
There are many factors to consider when selecting a thermostat for your vacation rental. Some of the most important things to consider as an Airbnb Superhost should include ease of use, remote access, ease of installation, occupancy sensors, energy saving, and touch screen capability.
You should also consider whether you want an appliance that is compatible with other Wi-Fi smart devices like Amazon Alexa, smart locks, and Google Assistant.
Ease of Use
Simplicity is of utmost importance when it comes to Wi-Fi smart thermostat operation. It shouldn’t be any more complicated than turning the dial or tapping the screen to the desired temperature.
No app or other device should be required to operate the thermostat, from a guest’s perspective. Hosts should also have a straightforward app that operates the thermostat remotely from wherever they are. However, you can also use other programs, such as Google Assistant, to remotely adjust the thermostat as needed.
Remote Access
For those hosts who don’t live near their Airbnb, remote access to their thermostat is an important feature. You can lower the temperature upon guest check-out, and raise the temperature an hour before guest arrival, saving costs on utilities.
This allows you to open your app, raise or lower the temperature remotely, monitor the current temperature at your rental, or check to see if any occupants are currently in the home.
Ease of Installation
Simple, fast installation is an important extra when it comes to smart thermostats. Remove the old thermostat, add a base plate if needed, and connect your wires to the base. Push the thermostat onto the base, and let the app do the rest. Set up should take approximately 30 minutes for most thermostats.
Occupancy Sensor
Occupancy sensors are a nice bonus for any smart thermostat for a short-term rental. During a guest stay, the thermostat lowers the temperature if no one is detected in the home, and raises the temperature once someone returns. This saves the host utility costs over time while creating a cool and comfortable environment by regulating the air conditioning remotely.
Auto-Scheduled Feature
Every smart thermostat for an Airbnb should have an auto-scheduling feature that learns the behavior/ desired temperature of the home’s occupants and will automatically adjust the temperature.
This is a nice amenity for longer-term guests, but can also help you cut down on cooling costs by scheduling temperature changes according to guest arrivals and departures.
Sleek Design
Smart thermostats have become another piece of “jewelry” in your Airbnb. Guests are starting to expect these types of luxuries. Smart thermostats look great on the wall and remind a guest that their host has spared no expense…even on the gorgeous thermostat.
Warranty
The more high-tech your thermostat is, the more important a good warranty becomes. Make sure the smart thermostat that you choose has an excellent warranty to cover any glitches that may arise.
Our Top Pick for Hosts: Nest Learning Thermostat
The Nest Learning Thermostat memorizes occupants’ patterns of use making it one of the best thermostats for Airbnb. It learns which temperatures the occupant is most comfortable with at different points throughout the day. As you program it and manage your thermostat remotely, it begins to memorize your preferences and will automatically adjust as needed.
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- No more programming: With Auto-Schedule, the Google Nest Learning Thermostat learns from you and programs itself..Product note: You can also check your system’s compatibility before purchasing a Nest thermostat with our online Nest Compatibility Checker on the Google Nest support page
- Home/Away Assist: don't heat or cool an empty home. Home/Away Assist adjusts the temperature after you leave.
- Remote control: Control your thermostat from anywhere using the Nest app.
Remote Temperature Control & Scheduling
When guests are not in the home, you can remotely set your desired temperature. Just adjust the temperature remotely an hour before guest arrival so the home is at the right temperature.
If you have set days of the week that are set aside for cleaning, you can set up automated temperature sets for those specific days so that your cleaning staff is also comfortable while making your Airbnb clean and welcoming for your guests.
Energy Efficiency
After learning your preferences, the Nest thermostat combines your desired comfort with energy-saving tweaks to lower your power bill considerably. The Nest thermostat is known for being one of the most energy-efficient thermostats on the market. Best of all, most people who purchase this thermostat experience a 10% to 12% drop in their energy bill.
The Nest Learning Thermostat takes advantage of points in the day when it can save you energy by bumping the temperature up or down as needed.
Learning Behavior of Guests
Several of the more expensive smart thermostats, including NEST Learning, provide an auto-learning feature called Farsight that learns your schedule and then adjusts the temperature accordingly. If you have an apartment or home that you live in while renting out a room, this may be a nice option.
If you are renting out your entire home on a full-time basis, the Farsight feature probably isn’t necessary, since guest behavior changes from guest to guest. And since Farsight can take more than a week to learn your temperature rhythms, it is usually not overly beneficial to hosts.
Easy Installation
We loved that this thermostat was easy to install and easy to use. However, our favorite aspect was how quickly we found that the Nest Learning Thermostat was lowering the rental’s power bill.
Automatic Updates
One of the only complaints regarding the Nest Learning Thermostat is that it would not let you opt out of automatic updates. We were happy with the way their thermostat was working and did not want to take advantage of the updates but still had to spend the time to download them when prompted.
Check out our in-depth Ring doorbell review here…>>
Other Great Smart Thermostat Alternatives for Hosts
While we have found that the Nest Learning Thermostat is the best thermostat for Airbnb, these smart thermostats are other great alternatives that can make your guests feel as comfortable as possible.
Ecobee Smart Thermostat
The Ecobee Smart Thermostat pairs with room sensors to get the heat and cooling to the parts of the Airbnb that need it most. In this way, it saves energy. If only one area needs to be cooled down, the Ecobee3 does not have to cool the entire house by several degrees for the desired effect
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- Save up to 23% annually on heating and cooling costs (compared to a hold of 72°F)
- Control from anywhere using your Android or iOS device
- Add SmartSensor to manage hot or cold spots and deliver enhanced comfort to the rooms that matter most
- Automatically pauses your heating or cooling when a door or window is left open (requires ecobee SmartSensor for doors and windows and a Smart Security subscription)
The Ecobee is compatible with up to 32 room sensors. It also connects with Amazon Alexa and many other in-home smart devices such as Google Assistant.
Remote Control Through the App
Like the other thermostats we have discussed, the EcoBee Smart Thermostat can be controlled remotely through an app on your smart device. While it does memorize patterns and work to make your Airbnb more energy-efficient, you are still in charge if you want to make changes to the temperature as it does not automatically adjust.
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- Save up to 23% annually on heating and cooling costs (compared to a hold of 72°F)
- Control from anywhere using your Android or iOS device
- Add SmartSensor to manage hot or cold spots and deliver enhanced comfort to the rooms that matter most
- Automatically pauses your heating or cooling when a door or window is left open (requires ecobee SmartSensor for doors and windows and a Smart Security subscription)
The Ecobee app was enjoyable to use and easy to install. We were also pleased to find that the Ecobee could save us up to 23% annually on our vacation rental energy bills. The room sensors also helped with maintaining a comfortable temperature in every room of the Airbnb.
Honeywell Home Wi-Fi Smart Color Thermostat
The Honeywell Home Wi-Fi Smart Color Programmable Thermostat offers the versatility you are probably not used to with your thermostat. You can even adjust the color of the touchscreen to match your paint or Airbnb décor. You can use the touch screen on the smart thermostat or program it remotely from your smartphone or other devices.
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- COMFORT COMES IN YOUR COLOR. Personalize your Wi-Fi Smart Color Programmable Thermostat to fit your décor.
- SAVE ENERGY AND GET REWARDED by checking with your energy provider about available rebates. Plus, eligible customers can enroll in their local Utility's "DEMAND RESPONSE PROGRAM" which can reward you for allowing the utility to slightly adjust your AC or furnace temperature settings when there is high energy demand.
This thermostat has a digital reading and performs studies to see when peak rate hours are for your power company. It will automatically adjust to use less energy during these hours, therefore saving you money on your electric bill. You can program the thermostat to vacation mode, input your preferences for the day-to-day, or even put it on hold.
This device lets you know when you need to change an air filter, when your Airbnb Wi-Fi is down, and when there are any other heating and cooling-related problems. It can also connect to most other smart devices, such as Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, in your Airbnb.
We really liked this Honeywell Home thermostat. It was easy to install, and it connected easily with other smart devices within the Airbnb. It regulated temperature as expected, and we really enjoyed the fact that we could choose our own color for the screen.
Thermostat Control For Multiple Airbnb Properties
If you’re looking for central control over multiple Airbnb or short-term rental listings, you’ll want to check out Honeywell. Unlike Ecobee and Nest, you can control multiple thermostats from one app which is great for a Superhost with many different properties to manage.
Customer Service
We didn’t like that the “helpline” tends to keep customers on hold too long and that the thermostat often gave error codes, saying it needed to be replaced even after only a few hours of use.
Honeywell Wi-Fi 9000 Color Touchscreen Thermostat: Easiest to Connect to Other Devices
With the Honeywell Wi-fi 9000 Color Touchscreen Thermostat, you can still set the color of your screen to match your Airbnb. This thermostat can easily be linked to and controlled by any number of devices, like computers, smartphones, or iPads.
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- Made in United States
- Package length : 6.0"
- Package width : 2.0"
- Package height : 8.0"
- Material Type: Plastic
This Honeywell model can be programmed for seven days, to accommodate your normal routines of coming and going, or it can be set to “power saver mode”. In Power Saver Mode, the thermostat will keep the area comfortable, while still avoiding too much use during peak charge hours. You will save money and have more control over the temperature in your Airbnb.
This thermostat has a large touchscreen and will also alert you to any problems with your heating and cooling systems or your Wi-Fi. Because the display features larger letters, it was easier to read even from a few feet away.
We found that the thermostat did an amazing job of keeping the Airbnb comfortable while lowering its power bill.
What We Didn’t Like
The thermostat is listed as having a five-year warranty, but there are restrictions on this. For instance, if you install the thermostat yourself, instead of using an electrician, you void your warranty.
Incentives & Rebates for Your Smart Thermostat
You’ll also want to check with your local power and gas company. Many offer incentives or rebates to get you to use these cost-saving thermostats. In some local markets, Idaho Power offers $75 off your smart thermostat purchase if you have it installed by a licensed contractor. They will only provide the incentive if you have an electric forced air heat system or heat pump system.
Final Thoughts
While there are many options for thermostat control, we’ve found that the Nest Learning is the best smart thermostat for Airbnb. The cost savings, ease of installation, ease of use, automatic and remote controls all make this the perfect selection for both hosts and guests alike.
Wanting more tech in your Airbnb? Check out our article on the best Airbnb smart locks here…>>
