Best Thermostats in the UK

In less than 6 months after the release of the next-gen Honeywell Lyric T5 thermostat in October 2016, the company has already rolled out a bit more advanced Lyric T6 model. It's available in 2 options: hardwired wall-mounted or wireless with a stand and a 3-pin UK plug. As both of them have to be connected to the power source anyway, we've decided to place a bid on the first one because if you have a kid, a dog or a cat, they wouldn't be able to throw it off the table or chew the cord.

After connecting all of the wires to the receiver box, the Honeywell Lyric T6 enables the control over the home heating system. The device reads the ambient temperature and learns from its environment about the most optimal patterns of activations in order to save you money on electricity bills. The first point of access is the touchscreen - all the key options are available via its menu. By hooking it up to a Wi-Fi router, it can be fully accessed from your Android or iOS device and PC. Speaking more about the screen, it shows the current room temperature in large digits plus the desired temp and current time in smaller ones. You can set your own schedules for 5 workdays and 2 weekends. The temperature setting allows a 0.5 °C step adjustment for creating a personal atmosphere just as you like it. Geofencing is another special tech that allows the device to track your GPS location and activate the heating when you are on your way home and vice versa, lower the temperature when you leave. Very handy if you have irregular working hours.

Finally, this Honeywell Lyric T6 thermostat is Alexa and Siri-enabled, thus, it can easily deliver a unique futuristic experience, where you can control your house with a power of your voice or via a mobile device from any place with Internet access.

Nest Learning thermostat represents the 3rd generation of HVAC control systems.

At first, its disc-shaped bright LCD screen looks like a clock face. However, along with the time, it shows the current temperature and some other data that allow you to monitor the overall status.

Its key feature is a learning program that adjusts the whole system in accordance with your daily schedule. For instance, it can sense when there's no one at home and switch to more power-efficient settings automatically thanks to the motion sensors.

Another example: if you set the temp higher in the mornings and lower it before going to sleep a few days in a row, it'll try to remember this pattern and will do the same automatically. When you come into the room or pass nearby the thermostat face, it turns the screen on that creates a strange impression as if it was a live object. Anyway, the device can also be hooked up to Amazon's Alexa-enabled devices like Echo and Echo dots for voice activation.

The special app is also available for both Android and iOS devices for free. Among all of the control options, the app can also show you how much electricity has been saved thanks to it. Therefore, it's an optimal learning thermostat that can quickly become your best friend that will always wait for you at home.

The Hive Active Heating 2 is designed for heat systems and water heaters and boilers. It can be effectively employed not just in new buildings but in houses and flats with old facilities as well. The installation might be easy for you if you only switch some older model with this one. Otherwise, we recommend getting a model with the installation services included.

Performance-wise, the thermostat offers you to build your own time schedules with 6 intervals throughout a day in accordance with your own preferences. For this, you can use either mobile app, website or manually via a control panel on the device. 

Among the variety of available options, it's worth mentioning a Holiday mode, in which the heating system goes hibernating or can be set to the minimum temperature in order to save electricity while you are not at home. However, there's one neat detail that will protect your home pipes from freezing in a cold season. Basically, a sensor keeps track of the temperature and kicks the heating in when it drops below 7 °C, protecting them from cracking under the pressure of frozen water. Therefore, the Hive 2 thermostat is an amazing device that offers the desired functionality for creating a smart house even out of an old flat or house.

The Netatmo Thermostat has a rather simplistic appearance. Designed in the shape of a square it looks very much like a clock. And the e-ink display with 2 sets of digits only adds to that impression. However, it's not as simple as it might seem and can offer you many convenience features you'd get from costly rivals.

Let's start with controls and installation. With the Netatmo Thermostat, you won't need professional help to install it. It comes with clear step-by-step instructions so that you can do it all yourself. Once the setup's done, all you'll need is to download a special app to your phone or computer - this will allow you to control it remotely using either the settings of your phone or via Apple's Siri or Amazon's Alexa assistants, whichever option you prefer.

In all, the device is very straightforward and easy to use. With no extra buttons, its interface is clear and easy to read. Programming the thing is a no-brainer too. On a first set up, you'll need to answer a few questions regarding your routine to help the thermostat learn your heating schedule and adapt to it, and away you go.

It's also worth highlighting that this thermostat has Absence and Frost Protection modes. They will allow you to regulate the temperature from a distance from your digital device, which may come in handy when you need to be away for a longer period of time and want to make sure your home stays at the comfortable temperature.

As you can see, the Netatmo Thermostat doesn't lack great features. Just like more sophisticated models, it can learn your routine and optimise energy consumption to perfectly suit your lifestyle. You can control it from your phone or manually if you are at home and connect it to any boiler no matter what energy source it uses. A great thing for a great price.

The tado° Smart Thermostat add-on will come in useful if you've already got a wired thermostat at home and want to individually control several rooms or living zones.

Sure enough, tado products aren't cheap and there's the subscription fee you need to pay every month, however, the fact that you're getting one of the best smart thermostats available out there makes the deal well worth it. Starting from design to the performance, this smart additional thermostat packs a punch.

Decked out in a glossy white plastic housing with a large LED display, this smart thermostat looks very stylish. It doesn't have many physical buttons except for the one on the lower right to wake up the thing and offers a convenient touchpad for manual control. This makes it look sophisticated and adds to the convenience of use.

To install the unit, professional help is recommended (same as with other tado° products), but if you are more techie, the tado support team can provide you with the instructions based on the specs of your heating system so that you can set it up yourself.

Speaking of the features, you get pretty much everything you'd expect from a thermostat. It learns schedules and notifies you if something needs your attention, it keeps the temperature comfortable and cleverly consumes energy. Basically, it does everything a smart thermostat is supposed to do. What is less attractive about it, for some users, though is that some of its features aren't free. If you think the same, here's the thing: you get only those features that you pay for, and when you don't need them, you can simply cancel them.

All in all, if you're a fan of tado products or you already have a kit and want to manage your heating system in the most energy-efficient way, this smart thermostat add-on is definitely worth your consideration! With the whole system, you'll be able to save up to 31% on your bills.