Smart thermostats are one of the best smart home investments you can make. Not only is it highly convenient to be able to control your heating with an app, or even with your voice, but smart thermostats can also save you a signigicant chunk of money. For example, many models will automatically turn off the heating when you’re detected as being away from home, ensuring that you’re not heating an empty home.

The good news is there’s a wide range of smart thermostats to choose from, with a wide range of prices to match. Knowing which to choose can be a challenge. To help you make your decision, here’s our rundown of the best smart thermostats in 2023.

Our picks for the best smart thermostats in 2023

First and foremost, this top-of-the range Ecobee smart thermostat can save you money. The company estimates that you can save as much as 26% of your energy bills by using the device. There’s presence detection built in, to ensure you only heat your home when you’re in it, and the included smart sensor can monitor temperature and occupancy in a different room.

The Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium isn’t just a smart thermostat, however. It’s an air quality monitor, home security device, and smart speaker too. With Alexa or Siri built-in, you can control the temperature with your voice without the need for a separate smart speaker, and even use other smart speaker functions such as playing music or asking about the weather. Additionally, this thermostat monitors your air quality, and send you an alert if it detects motion or smoke alarm activity when you’re not home.

Amazon’s own smart thermostat has been designed using tech from the well-known Honeywell brand, so despite the low price, you can be certain of the quality. It has a simple design, but where it really shines is when you combine it with Alexa.

Using the Alexa app, you can set up heating schedules and monitor your energy usage. With an Echo smart speaker such as an Echo Dot or Echo Show, you can also control your heating with your voice. When you leave the house, just tell Alexa you’re leaving, and the heating will automatically be turned off until you return.

You may think that this smart thermostat from Google Nest looks familiar and has been around for awhile, and that’s because it has. Despite this model having been around for many years now, it’s still one of the very best smart thermostats on the market.

The key to its success is the clever technology that learns your habits over time, and adjusts your heating schedule accordingly. If you’re always out of the house for an hour on a Sunday afternoon, your thermostat will learn this, and make sure that the heating stays off when you’re out, but is back on in time for your return. And if you decide to stay home one Sunday, just ask Google Assistant or Alexa to turn the heating up.

Some smart thermostats come at a fairly steep price, and whilst they can save you money, it may take some time to recoup the initial costs. The good news is that there are some great low-cost smart thermostats out there, too.

This Wyze smart thermostat has a simple dial for manually adjusting the temperature, but you get much control when using the app. You can create schedules and get actionable feedback about your energy usage. You can also control the thermostat with your voice using Google Assistant or Alexa.

If you don’t need all the bells and whistles of the Ecobee Smart Thermostat premium, but still want to take advantage of powerful features such as a built-in radar occupancy sensor and Apple HomeKit integration, then the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Enhanced is a more reasonably priced option.

The HomeKit compatibility allows you to control your home heating through the Apple Home app, and you can even change the temperature and other settings from your Apple Watch. The thermostat will work with Alexa and Google Assistant too.

If you love the stylish design and simple interface of the Google Nest Learning Thermostat, but are looking for something a little more inexpensive, the Google Nest Thermostat can do the job. You still get manual controls, as well as remote control through the app or via voice assistants such as Google Assistant or Alexa. You don’t get the smarts that can learn your habits, however.

The circular design is instantly recognisable as a Google Nest thermostat, but instead of rotating the bezel, you use touch control on the side of the device to swipe up or down to your desired temperature. It can take a little getting used to, but soon becomes second nature.

One downside of many smart thermostats is that they can only sense the temperature in a single location. This means that the room where the smart thermostat is located is always the optimal temperature, but other rooms in your home may not be.

You can get around this by adding additional smart sensors to your Honeywell Home T9 smart thermostat. By placing these in other rooms, you have the option of prioritising heating in the locations where motion is detected, or using an average of the temperature readings across all of your sensors to keep your home a uniform temperature throughout.

One problem with installing a stylish and modern smart thermostat is that it’s often replacing an old style thermostat that’s just a big white box. You then have to touch up the paintwork that’s exposed by your new smart thermostat. The Emerson Sensi ST55 solves them problem by having the same footprint as most old-style thermostats, so there’s no additional work needed once you’ve installed it. It’s also got physical buttons if you’re not a fan of touch screen controls.

Another major selling point is that the company is focused on respecting your privacy. It doesn’t go as far as naming names, but it’s clear that the company is keen to differentiate itself from the makers of certain popular smart thermostat models that have a less-than-stellar reputation for using your data for their own profits.

Best smart thermostats: The bottom line

If you’re looking for a smart thermostat that can do pretty much anything you could every want, then it’s hard to look beyond the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium. It can control your heating, monitor your air quality, tell you the weather, alert you if your smoke alarm goes off when you’re away from home, let you know if motion is detected in your home when you’re away, and ultimately save you a lot of money on your energy bills. If you’re looking for a low-cost alternative, the Wyze Programmable Smart WiFi Thermostat gives you a lot of bang for your buck.

How I chose the best smart thermostats

When selecting the smart thermostats for this list, I wanted to cover a fairly wide price range, from top-of-the-range models such as the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium to low-cost alternatives such as the Amazon Smart Thermostat. I also wanted to include options that worked with all the major virtual assistants; whilst most models work with Alexa, for example, there are many that aren’t HomeKit-compatible.

How to pick a smart thermostat for your home

When you’re choosing a smart thermostat for your home, there are some important questions you’ll need to ask before you bite the bullet.

Is the smart thermostat compatible with my home?

This is a very important consideration before you make a purchase. Some smart thermostats require connection to what is known as a C-wire. This is a wire that can provide constant power to your smart thermostat, but not every home will have one. You’ll need to check whether you have a C-wire in your home; if you don’t, some thermostats offer power extender kits that can be used instead.

What virtual assistants are compatible with my smart thermostat?

Although almost all smart thermostats will work with one of Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant, it’s not always the case that they’re compatible with all three. If you have a lot of smart speakers in your home, it’s worth checking that the smart thermostat you buy supports that particular virtual assistant. If it’s not mentioned in the description or shown on the packaging, it’s probably not supported.

How much should I spend on a smart thermostat?

There is no right or wrong answer to this question; it all depends on what you want from your smart thermostat, and how much you have available to spend. A low-cost smart thermostat such as the models from Wyze or Amazon will do a great job, and can save you money on your energy bills. If you want an all-singing, all-dancing smart thermostat like the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium, then you’ll need to pay a premium price.