Smart homes are more popular in Canada ever, and for good reason! A smart home can offer convenience and comfort far surpassing a standard home. You can save energy, lower utility costs, and control just about every aspect of your home. A smart thermostat can compliment the rest of your smart home setup.
When you choose a smart thermostat over a traditional thermostat, you have greater control over your energy usage. Smart thermostats include many customizable features, so choosing one can be tricky and overwhelming. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of our favourite smart thermostats based on the features that Canadians could benefit from the most. Here’s our list of the best smart thermostats in Canada.
Best Smart Thermostats for Canadians
- Best Overall: Honeywell Home Wi-Fi Thermostat
- Best for Voice Control: Ecobee Smart Thermostat
- Best for Google Home: Google Nest Smart Thermostat
- Best for Smart Homes: Emerson Sensi Touch Thermostat
- Best Versatility: Honeywell Thermostat with Smart Room Sensor
- Best for Electric Heating: Sinopé Smart Wi-Fi Thermostat
Why Did We Choose These Smart Thermostats in Canada?
Each of the options on our list of the best thermostats in Canada was chosen for a specific reason. They offer a range of customizable features designed to make life easier and save you money in the process. Overall, they represent the best of the best in each category. Here’s why we chose these particular models as the best smart thermostats in Canada.
The Honeywell Home Wi-Fi Thermostat was an easy choice for the best overall smart thermostat because it offers the most features and customization. You can program it based on your needs or take advantage of peak rate pricing from your utility company. Plus, you can customize the colour of the touchscreen!
For those Canadians who want to control their smart thermostat with voice commands, we chose the Ecobee Smart Thermostat as our favourite. It uses sensors to automatically adjust the temperature in your home and you can control it with your voice.
If you have a Google Home system already installed in your home, then the obvious best choice for you is the Google Nest Smart Thermostat. It links to Alexa and provides notifications when there’s a potential issue with your heating or cooling system.
Canadians who have already invested in a smart home system will love the Emerson Sensi Touch Thermostat. It works with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple HomeKit, and Samsung SmartThings platforms, and can save users as much as 23% of energy costs.
Our choice for the most versatile smart thermostat is the Honeywell Thermostat with Smart Room Sensor. The smart sensors make the difference here. They can customize settings based on your activity and adjust the temperature room by room.
And finally, the Sinopé Smart Wi-Fi Thermostat is our choice for the smart thermostat for those Canadian homes that use electric heating. It’s compatible with electric heating systems like baseboard heating, and it works with the most popular smart home platforms and voice assistants.
Best Overall
Honeywell Home Wi-Fi Thermostat
Features:
- Controller Type: Amazon Alexa
- Colour: Grey
- Power: 240 Volts
- C-Wire Required: Yes
It's Great For:
- Customization on every screen
- Programming features
- Peak-rate pricing optimization
- Tracking energy usage
When you need the best all-around smart thermostat in Canada, you can’t go wrong with the Honeywell Home Wi-Fi Thermostat. This thermostat was designed with your comfort in mind. And it’s the only smart thermostat on our list that you can customize to match your home’s décor. You can change the background colour of the touch screen to match your walls or to any colour you choose, and you can change your colour options directly from your smartphone or tablet.
Our choice for the best overall smart thermostat had to be compatible with most heating and cooling systems, and this one is. It works with forced air systems (gas, oil, or electric), hot water and steam systems, and heat pumps with electric backups. And it needed to be compatible with most smart home assistants, like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Microsoft Cortana (to name a few).
Next, it had to offer easily programmable temperature settings. The Honeywell Home Wi-Fi Thermostat allows for a full seven days of customizable programming options. And you can save even more money by allowing flexible programming during your utility company’s peak rate pricing.
Finally, our best overall smart thermostat had to offer a list of features designed to make life easier and more enjoyable for Canadians. You can control this smart thermostat from the Total Connect Comfort App or the Honeywell Home app, and via your computer, laptop, or mobile device – from anywhere. The system will automatically alert you when the air filter or humidity pad needs to be changed and will inform you of extremely high or low outdoor temperatures and humidity. You can view the local weather forecast directly from the large, easy-to-read touchscreen or via your phone or computer. This system automatically adjusts based on your preprogrammed settings or by detecting when temperatures in your home need to be adjusted.
The Highlights
What’s not to love about this smart thermostat? It allows for the highest level of customization and compatibility. It works with nearly any heating and cooling system and with nearly any smart home system. And you can change the colour of the touchscreen to suit your preferences!
- Automatic system alerts
- Easy DIY Installation
- Colour-changing touch screen
- Weather forecasts available on the app or touchscreen
From the Test Lab
“Our testers love having the option to customize the colour of the touchscreen on this smart thermostat, but they loved the energy savings more.”
Best for Voice Control
Ecobee Smart Thermostat
Features:
- Controller Type: Control4, Smart Things
- Colour: Black
- Power: 24 Volts
- C-Wire Required: No (With Power Extender Kit)
It's Great For:
- Smart voice commands
- Compatibility with Alexa and Siri
- Eco-conscious Canadians
- Busy users
Smart homes are great because you can use your voice to turn the lights on and off, play or stop your music, and so much more. Now, you can also use your voice to control your thermostat – with the Ecobee Smart Thermostat. But that’s not all this powerful smart thermostat can do.
The Ecobee Smart Thermostat makes life easier by using SmartSensor to detect which rooms in your house are the most used. It learns based on your behaviour and can detect which room you’re in and can adapt to your daily routine. When the system detects activity in a particular room, it automatically adjusts the temperature in that room for the ultimate level of comfort.
This smart thermostat is compatible with most heating and cooling systems, including traditional systems, heat pumps, boilers, and PTACs or fan coil units. And the Power Extender Kit makes it adaptable to systems that are lacking a C-wire. You can even hook up one or two-wire accessories like ventilators, humidifiers, and dehumidifiers.
The Ecobee Smart Thermostat can save you as much as 26% on your energy costs each year. And it can save you from wasting money by automatically pausing the system if your kids forget to close the door or leave a window open. This smart system is looking out for you!
The Highlights
This smart thermostat really does a great job learning how best to save you money on your energy bills by adjusting based on your schedule, behaviours, and patterns. You can control it directly from your smartphone or mobile device, or just through the sound of your voice.
- Occupancy detection targets rooms that are in use
- Learns and adapts to your patterns and preferences
- Voice control
- Integrates well with smart home systems
From the Test Lab
“This smart thermostat was a big hit with our testers because of its smart-learning patterns. It’s virtually a hands-off system that regulates itself.”
Best for Google Home
Google Nest Smart Thermostat
Features:
- Controller Type: Amazon Alexa
- Colour: Snow
- Power: 24 Volts
- C-Wire Required: No (Some Exceptions Apply)
It's Great For:
- Google Home systems
- Remote control with your mobile device
- Easier installation
- Canadians who want to save energy
The Google Nest Smart Thermostat works perfectly together with already-established Google Home systems. It uses smart customizations that automatically turn down the heating or cooling systems when you leave for the day and turn it back up when you return at night. That means no more shelling out cash just to heat a house with nobody in it. Just download the Google Home app on your smartphone, tablet, or computer and you can control all the functions of your smart thermostat from anywhere, at any time.
This smart thermostat offers a feature called “Quick Schedule,” which allows you to quickly and easily create a personalized heating and cooling schedule based on your family’s needs. As you experience the system or your needs change, it only takes a moment to update your Quick Schedule to accommodate your new preferences. You can even access Google’s Savings Finder tool, which will make suggestions on how you can make subtle changes to your schedule to save even more money.
Google says that this smart thermostat is compatible with 85% of heating and cooling systems and is designed to work without a C-wire most of the time. There are a few exceptions to this rule, including homes that use a heat pump system, heating or cooling-only systems, and zone-controlled systems. In those cases, you will need a C-wire or will need a compatible accessory to use this smart thermostat.
The Google Nest Smart Thermostat is easy to install, even for first-timers, and can be up and running in less than 30 minutes. This smart thermostat works with Nest Renew to prioritize your energy usage when prices are the lowest and the energy is the cleanest. We also love the sleek, round design of this chic smart thermostat.
The Highlights
Canadians who love their Google Home system will also love this smart thermostat. It works together seamlessly with your existing system and employs several methods to help reduce your energy usage and save you both time and money.
- Save money through prioritized energy usage
- Create smart schedules for energy usage
- Automatically adjusts when you aren’t home
- Easy DIY installation
From the Test Lab
“This smart thermostat works well for those who have a Google Home system already in place, and just as well for those who don’t. It does everything you would want a smart thermostat to do, plus some.”
Best for Smart Homes
Emerson Sensi Touch Thermostat
Features:
- Controller Type: Amazon Alexa
- Colour: White
- Power: Not Specified
- C-Wire Required: Yes
It's Great For:
- Easier controls
- Users who need flexible scheduling
- Smart home compatibility
- Humidity detection
Smart home users are always looking for ways to better utilize their systems, and adding a smart thermostat to the mix is a great way to do just that. With so many different smart home systems on the market, it can be challenging to choose the right thermostat to match. However, the Emerson Sensi Touch Thermostat covers all the bases, so there’s no need to worry if your new thermostat will work together with your smart home system.
Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple HomeKit, Samsung SmartThings – this thermostat works with them all. But wait, there’s more. The Emerson Sensi Touch Thermostat offers users the ability to create personalized, flexible scheduling based on their routines. You can monitor and adjust the system remotely via your smartphone or mobile device. And this system uses geofencing to determine if you’re home or not, so it can adjust the system accordingly. Just using these built-in tools can save you as much as 23% on your energy costs every year.
Homeowners will love the fact that this smart thermostat is the same size as a traditional thermostat. This removes the need to remodel the wall because your new investment doesn’t match the footprint of the previous thermostat. Just install it in the same spot, and you’re good to go.
This smart thermostat uses sensors to detect when temperatures of humidity in your home reach extremes and will alert you to these scenarios.
the Highlights
This smart thermostat is the perfect companion to any smart home system. Just install it where your old thermostat was, and in less than 20 minutes, set your personalized schedule, and you’re done!
- Easy DIY installation
- Geofencing determines whether you are home or not
- Same footprint as a traditional thermostat
- Compatible with many controller systems
From the Test Lab
“Our testers who had already installed smart home systems loved that this thermostat was guaranteed to be compatible with their existing systems.”
Best for Versatility
Honeywell Thermostat with Smart Room Sensor
Features:
- Controller Type: Amazon Alexa
- Colour: White
- Power: 240 Volts
- C-Wire Required: No (Except Oil Furnace Systems)
It's Great For:
- Canadians on a budget
- Multiple-room adjustment
- Occupancy detection
- Eco-conscious Canadians
The Honeywell Thermostat with Smart Room Sensor is our choice for the most versatile smart thermostat because it offers the greatest range of customizable options. Like other smart thermostats, you can control it remotely through your computer, smartphone, or mobile device. Just download the T9 Resideo app, or control it via Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple Homekit systems, or more smart assistant options. It works with forced air systems, hot water and steam heating systems, and heat pump systems with electric back. It can even handle oil heating systems but will require a C-wire in those instances.
That’s just the start of the list of versatile functions this powerful smart thermostat offers. It uses super-strong sensors that maintain a strong signal over a long range. This allows the thermostat to adjust the temperature in multiple rooms at once, saving you energy in the process by detecting the temperature and humidity in each room. It also determines which rooms are occupied and focuses its attention there. You can set specific temperatures for each room, so you can keep the bedroom warmer at night if you want, or keep the living areas cooler during the day.
Overall, you determine how you want the Honeywell Thermostat with Smart Room Sensor to work, setting a personalized schedule that works best for your life and your family. Or, just sit back and let the smart sensors do all the work for you, adjusting the temperature automatically based on your immediate needs to attain the maximum level of comfort.
The Highlights
Whether you want your entire home warmed or cooled or want to focus attention on specific rooms to save energy and money, this thermostat can do it. Here’s a smart thermostat that allows you to save money by working with your utility companies to avoid using energy during peak pricing hours, and provides monthly energy reports so you can track your energy usage.
- Monthly energy reports
- Prioritizes energy usage to save you money
- Simple installation
- Detects if you are home or away
From the Test Lab
“Our testers really enjoyed the ability to adjust the temperatures in their homes room by room.”
Best for Electric Heating
Sinopé Smart Wi-Fi Thermostat
Features:
- Controller Type: Multiple
- Colour: White
- Power: 240 Volts
- C-Wire Required: No
It's Great For:
- Most smart home systems
- Canadians who are concerned with saving energy
- Personalized scheduling and programming
- Electric heating systems
For the greatest options in compatibility and usefulness for homes with electric heating systems, we chose the Sinopé Smart Wi-Fi Thermostat. Why? Because the other options on our list left out baseboard heaters from their list of compatible heating systems. But not this smart thermostat. It works with electric baseboard heaters, radiant ceilings, convectors, and fan-forced convectors. That makes this smart thermostat the most versatile when it comes to compatibility.
There’s a lot more to love about this thermostat, however. It doesn’t require a hub and works with a wide variety of smart home systems, including Apple Homekit, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Neviweb. And it allows for specialized programming, unlike any other smart thermostat on our list.
You can set “scenes” and develop personalized temperatures for specific ambiances. You can set schedules with up to eight individual periods per day. The system uses geofencing to determine when you’re home and when you’re away and automatically adjusts the energy usage to match. You get energy reports so you can see your usage in real-time. And if you download the Neviweb app, there’s much more you can do.
The Highlights
This smart thermostat is the best choice for Canadians who utilize an electric heating system in their homes because it offers near-universal compatibility. It also works in partnership with nearly any Wi-Fi assistant or smart home system and comes equipped with numerous personalization features to make life more comfortable.
- Wide variety of compatibility options
- Create specialized schedules
- Personalized energy scenarios
- Uses geofencing to reduce energy usage when you aren’t home
From the Test Lab
“This is a smart thermostat that actually is smart. It allows for a great number of customization features and works with nearly any electric system.”
Why Trust Us?
For years, our team has been testing and evaluating the products that Canadians use every day, in their homes, at work, and for their families. Our goal is always to provide the best information to help Canadians make the most efficient choices for their personal needs. We have a dedicated test lab, where each product is tested and evaluated by our team of experts.
We also send our product choices to our group of select testers for real-life observations. Based on this information, we know we can suggest products that offer the best combination of features and designs for Canadians. For our list of the best smart thermostats in Canada, we looked for the following features.
- Compatibility. Thermostats are a unique product because of the variety of heating and cooling systems used in Canadian homes. Many have traditional, forced air heating and cooling systems. Some use electricity, some use natural gas, and others use oil. There are baseboard-style electric heating systems, water boilers, fan coil units, convectors, radiant ceilings, and more. Matching your thermostat to the type of HVAC system in your home is essential, so we chose a variety of options to fit every need.
- Smart Home Functionality. Smart thermostats were designed to work in conjunction with smart home systems, which can be commanded either with your voice or remotely from your smartphone or mobile device. The thermostats on our list work with the most common and well-known smart home systems, and even some that are lesser known, so you get your pick of the most flexible and functional smart thermostat possible.
- Energy Savings. The whole point of a smart thermostat is to save you money. By optimizing your energy usage to specific rooms using sensors that detect when humans are occupying space, using geofencing capabilities to determine when you’re at home and when you’re away, and even detecting when a door or window has been left ajar, a smart thermostat can make automatic adjustments to your energy usage to help prioritize and save you money in the process. For our list, we chose smart thermostats that offer the widest range of energy-saving features so that you can make the most of your energy bills.
- Personalized Scheduling. These smart thermostats also allow you the option of creating your own specialized scheduling to match the activities and needs of your family. We understand that every home and every Canadian family is different. Some people are home during the daytime hours, and some are away at work until evening. By creating a schedule that matches your family’s needs, you can make the best use of your energy costs. That way, you’re not paying to heat an empty home.
Why Use a Smart Thermostat in Canada?
Smart thermostats are becoming more and more popular in Canadian homes for many reasons. First, they can save you a substantial amount of money on your energy bills. Secondly, they are more eco-friendly. And of course, they are super-convenient, offering you the ability to control your thermostat, and therefore your home’s temperature, from virtually anywhere. By using a Wi-Fi connection, you can control your smart thermostat from your smartphone, laptop, tablet, computer, or virtually any other mobile device. Here are some of the main reasons Canadians choose to install a smart thermostat in their homes.
Save on Energy Costs
Using a smart home system and a smart thermostat are both ways that Canadian households can cut their energy usage and reduce their yearly spending on utility bills.
Smart thermostats use sensors to detect the ambient temperature in your home, and even in individual rooms. A smart thermostat can make automatic adjustments without your intervention. You can use your smart thermostat to create personalized heating and cooling schedules so that you can optimize your energy usage. On average, the use of a smart thermostat saves a family as much as 25-28% on their energy bills annually.
Convenience
What happens when you forget to turn down the thermostat before you leave for work in the morning? Simple: your heating system is pumping at full blast all day while nobody is around to enjoy the warmth. This is a waste of energy and a waste of your money.
But with a smart thermostat, you can make adjustments from anywhere by using a Wi-Fi connection. Your smartphone, tablet, and laptop become remote controls for your thermostat, so you can change the settings without needing to run home in the middle of the day.
How to Choose a Smart Thermostat in Canada
Smart thermostats include many features that make life easier and more convenient. They run off Wi-Fi and can control a home’s heating and cooling systems remotely, or even through voice control. Like many newer traditional thermostats, they include the ability to program preset customizations that automatically adjust the temperature throughout the day. But smart thermostats go a step further by adjusting themselves based on the time of day, local weather forecasts, and even by detecting if people are in the home or away.
With all of the different design options and features, it might seem overwhelming when you’re trying to choose the right smart thermostat for your home. We’ve tried to make your choice as easy as possible by putting together this list of the best smart thermostats in Canada. Our list outlines the best of the best based on the features that matter most to Canadians like you: functionality, compatibility, energy savings, and convenience. But there are still some things you should know when shopping for a smart thermostat. Here’s how to make sure you choose the right one for your home.
Compatibility
The type of smart thermostat you choose must be compatible with the HVAC system currently in use in your home. Most smart thermostats work universally with standard heating and cooling systems across the spectrum: gas, electric, oil, and radiant heat. Some, however, do not. Make sure you check the compatibility of a smart thermostat with your specific system before buying. The last thing you want is to purchase a smart thermostat that won’t work with your home.
Of course, it’s important to know what type of system you have. You’ll also need to know if you have a C-Wire or not. While some smart thermostats can work without a C-wire, some may need this connection to properly control your environment.
The C-Wire
The C-wire, or common wire, is a wire that delivers power from your HVAC system to your thermostat. Many smart thermostats require a C-wire to operate Some, however, do not. The presence of a C-wire provides continuous power to your thermostat, instead of requiring batteries. Many homes do not have a C-wire that they can use for a smart thermostat, because standard thermostats have eliminated the need for one by running off of battery power instead.
While this was convenient at the time, the introduction of Wi-Fi-powered smart devices has reintroduced the need for a C-wire. You might find the C-wire tucked into the hole in your wall behind your thermostat. Or it might be missing completely. If you buy a smart thermostat that requires a C-wire and don’t have one, you will need to install one or purchase a compatible power accessory.
Consider Your Needs
The rest of your decision centers around what your family needs in terms of convenience and functionality. There are many options that smart thermostats provide in terms of customizing a schedule and automatically detecting and adjusting the temperature in your home. Choose a smart thermostat that provides the level of customization that best suits your schedule, your home, and your family’s needs.
Integrations
The great thing about smart homes, and the feature that most people enjoy the most, is the ability to control your home with the power of your voice. Voice assistant software has made this commonplace in many homes, with tools like Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home Assistant. Just tell these handy devices what you want, and they oblige. With a smart home system, you can use your voice to turn the light on and off or play music on command. Now, with smart thermostats, you can use your voice to change your heating or cooling settings without even leaving the couch or getting out of bed.
Even if your smart thermostat doesn’t work with any voice assistant software, it may use a separate app to pair with your system. This usually allows you to control your thermostat from your smartphone. If this is something that interests you, consider choosing a smart thermostat that works with your mobile devices. That way, you won’t have to pause your shows or stop in the middle of a task to change the temperature in your home.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do smart thermostats really save you money in Canada?
Smart thermostats are designed to optimize your energy usage for the greatest savings for your pocketbook. Many even partner with your local utility company to prioritize heating and cooling when it’s the most cost-effective, and avoid running the system during peak pricing hours.
Do smart thermostats work with any smart home system?
The answer to this question is sometimes, but not always. Most smart thermostats can pair up with the most common smart home systems and voice assistants. But some are designed to work specifically with one type of smart home system. If you have a smart home system already set up in your home, make sure you choose a compatible smart thermostat.
Can I install my smart thermostat myself?
Yes, the majority of smart thermostats include easy, step-by-step instructions that you can follow to quickly and easily install the system yourself, usually in less than half an hour. However, if you’re uncertain or run into any problems, you can always call an HVAC expert to do it for you.
