Product catalogue

ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium

The strongest smart thermostat for a North American heating system, and the one to buy if you want room sensors done properly. It is a 24VAC device for forced-air, heat pump and low-voltage boiler setups, so it is the right answer in the US and Canada and the wrong answer almost everywhere else.

Wiring

24VAC through C and Rc terminals; Power Extender Kit included for homes with no C wire

HVAC support

Furnace and AC to 2H/2C, heat pump 2H/2C with 2-stage aux, boilers, PTAC and fan coil

Sensors

Temperature, humidity, radar occupancy and proximity, air quality

In the box

Thermostat, SmartSensor, Power Extender Kit, trim plate, mounting hardware

Drayton Wiser Smart Thermostat Kit 1 (Combi Boiler)

The best-value route into room-by-room heating control if you have a combi boiler and no interest in a monthly fee. Buy it for the zoning and the OpenTherm modulation, not for a slick app.

Typical price £130–£170

In the box

1-channel Wiser HubR with wallplate, Wiser Room Thermostat with bracket, thermostat stand, 2x AA batteries

Boiler type

Combi boilers (heating on one channel, hot water on demand)

Boiler interface

Relay (on/off) or OpenTherm

Zones

Up to 16 rooms and 63 Wiser devices, using Smart Radiator Thermostats sold separately

TP-Link Tapo P110 Mini Smart Wi-Fi Plug with Energy Monitoring

The default cheap smart plug for Alexa and Google homes, and the one to pick if you want a rough answer to what an appliance costs to run. Treat the energy figures as indicative, not metering. If you are on Apple Home, or you want Matter, buy the P110M instead.

Hub required

No. Connects directly to 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi

802.11b/g/n, 2.4 GHz only

Maximum load

13 A / 2990 W on the UK and Irish model. Check the rating on your region's version

Energy monitoring

Yes. Current draw plus 30-day and 12-month history

Eve Energy (Matter) Smart Plug

If you already have a Thread border router, this is the plug to buy and the trade-offs are mostly about money. If you do not, buy the hub first or buy a different plug, because the Matter version has no Bluetooth fallback and will not run without one.

Protocols

Matter over Thread (no Bluetooth, no Wi-Fi)

Hub required

Yes. A Thread border router, not included

Works with

Apple Home, Alexa, Google Home, SmartThings, Home Assistant

Power metering

Yes, with historical data and cost estimates

tado° Smart Thermostat X Starter Kit (Wired)

The best-engineered smart thermostat for a European boiler, and the one to pick if you want Matter and OpenTherm rather than another proprietary cloud. Price the subscription in before you buy, because the money-saving features are behind it.

Typical price £120–£160

In the box

Smart Thermostat X (wired), Bridge X (Thread border router), AAA batteries, mounting hardware

Connectivity

Matter over Thread

Boiler interface

Relay (on/off) or OpenTherm

Heating types

Boilers, heat pumps and water-based underfloor heating, per tado's compatibility checker

Amazon Smart Plug

Buy it only if you are certain your home will stay Alexa-only. In that one case the setup really is trivial and it does the job. Everyone else is better served by a Kasa, Tapo or Meross plug that costs the same or less, works with every major platform, and actually reports how much power the thing is drawing.

Plug type

North American 2-pin (NEMA), 120 V. Not sold in a UK, Irish or European fitting

Max load

15 A at 120 V

Connectivity

Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz only

Hub required

No