Skip to main content

It’s the law: All new homes in Austin, Texas, must have smart thermostats

Austin, Texas wants to get smart, with thermostats, that is. A new city regulation requires smart thermostats in all new houses and apartments built in Austin, according to KUT 90.5, Austin’s NPR Station.

Apparently, the new rule didn’t cause much fuss. “There was little to no objection to that,” said Debbie Kimberly with Austin Energy. “Most of the builders already offer the higher-end internet-enabled thermostats when they’re building homes.”

Recommended Videos

The purpose of the regulation is energy savings. In line with that goal, Austin Energy also has a program called PowerSaver. PowerSaver is only available to energy customers who have smart thermostats. To encourage participation in the program the energy company offers a $85 rebate on installation.

With PowerSaver, Austin Energy can adjust the temperature in peoples’ homes by up to four degrees during peak demand times. According to Kimberly, in a typical year the company only adjusts customers’ home temperatures about 15 times, usually for just a couple hours.

“Rather than cycling their air conditioner on and off, we just adjust the temperature settings by a few degrees in the home,” she said. “It’s typically indiscernible. We have very good participation rates. Customers really like the program.”

Approximately 50,000 customers are enrolled in the PowerSaver program. When customers drop out it’s usually because they live in older homes and buildings that aren’t as well insulated, according to Kimberly. In those cases, at times, “raising the temperature even a few degrees can make things uncomfortably hot.”

Smart home thermostat company Nest partners with Austin in the PowerSaver program. Nest’s Jeff Hamel said, “We look toward hopefully seeing more cities hopefully enacting more requirements like this going forward. It really establishes a great platform for residents in the city as well as the utility to be able to work together.”

Bruce Brown
Bruce Brown Contributing Editor   As a Contributing Editor to the Auto teams at Digital Trends and TheManual.com, Bruce…
Ikea rolls out Matter support for its Dirigera smart home hub
The Ikea Dirigera Hub on a table.

Ikea already had a surprisingly robust smart home catalog, offering smart blinds, light switches, air purifiers, and a handful of other popular gadgets. It’s now grown even more enticing, as the Dirigera Hub that drives most of the action now offers full Matter support.

As of September 11, all products connected to the Dirigera Hub will work with the interoperability standard. That’s a big win for Ikea, allowing its gadgets to interact with those from other platforms like Apple Home and Google Home. To achieve this, Dirigera is being updated to become a Matter Bridge, allowing it to work with all other Matter products.

Read more
Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium vs. Ecobee Smart Thermostat Enhanced: Which is better?
Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium

Few smart thermostats are as well-rounded as the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium. Packed full of useful sensors and automations, it can save you a bunch of cash over the years while still keeping your home cool and comfortable. Ecobee also sells the Smart Thermostat Enhanced, which gets you some of the same functionality but clocks in at a more reasonable price.

That begs the question -- do you need the Smart Thermostat Premium, or can you get by with the cheaper Smart Thermostat Enhanced? From pricing and design to installation and more, here's everything you need to know about these two popular smart thermostats.
Pricing and design

Read more
How long does it take to calibrate the Ecobee Smart Thermostat?
Ecobee Smart Thermostat installed on a wall.

Ecobee produces a range of powerful smart thermostats, and all of them need to go through a calibration phase during setup. And if you're new to the Ecobee system, you might be surprised at how long this can take. Thankfully, a long calibration phase is a normal part of the process -- that means there's not much you need to do other than wait.

Here's a closer look at the Ecobee Smart Thermostat calibration process, along with reasons why you might see the calibration process after your initial installation.
How long does calibration take on Ecobee's Smart Thermostat?

Read more