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The best smart thermostats for keeping summer electric bills in check
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As summer heats up, a smart thermostat is a great way to save money on bills and keep your home comfortable. Many of the best smart thermostats of 2024 let you set and adjust the temperature remotely via an app. But they go beyond basic home climate control. As a crucial part of your smart home setup, they can also learn your schedule and adjust automatically when you’re out and about. That can lead to lower utility bills without forcing you to sacrifice the most important thing of all: your comfort.
The best part is that some utility companies will give you monthly rebates for installing a smart thermostat. Companies know that these devices help consumers save energy, so they don’t mind giving incentives so more folks will sign up. Before summer officially hits, be sure to check with your utility company to see if you qualify for a rebate by replacing your old thermostat with a smart model. These summer savings opportunities will keep you cool while also lowering those pesky bills. Everyone can get on board with that.
Below, find our picks for some of the best smart thermostats of 2024.
Best smart thermostats for 2024
Best smart thermostat overall: Google Nest Learning Thermostat (3rd gen)
Amazon
C-Wire Required: Yes | Self-Installable: Yes | Multi-Zone Support: Yes | Smart Home Integrations: iOS, Android, Google Assistant, Nest | Mobile App: Nest app | Optional Accessories: Wall Plate Cover, Temperature Sensor | Size: Circular, 3.3 x 3.3 x 1.1 inches | Color/Finish Options: Stainless Steel, Brass, Copper, Mirror Black, Polished Steel, White, Black | Display: 2.08-inch diameter color display
The modern and minimalist Google Nest Learning Thermostat (3rd generation) is one of the most feature-packed smart thermostats you can get. It comes with everything you need to install it yourself, though again, we recommend professional installation. Just like installing a smart lock, this is the type of product you want added to your home correctly.
As its name suggests, this smart thermostat learns your schedule and preferences, so there’s no need to manually program it. It allows you to adjust your home’s temperature by voice (when connected to a smart home hub) or via the Nest mobile app. Control it remotely, or by using the touch-sensitive controls on the thermostat itself.
One of the Nest’s “smart” features is that it monitors the local weather and adjusts the temperature according, based on your personal preferences. It will also help to make your energy use more efficient. After it learns your schedule, Nest will automatically adjust the temperature when you’re at home, when you’re away for the day and at night, all to keep you comfortable.
Why we chose it: Once installed and set up, the Google Nest Learning Thermostat is easy to use and its display is easy to read and understand, even from across the room. We also like that Nest offers tips on lowering energy usage.
Best budget smart thermostat: Amazon Smart Thermostat
Amazon
C-Wire Required: Yes | Self-Installable: Yes | Multi-Zone Support: No | Smart Home Integrations: Amazon Alexa, Ring, iOS, Android | Mobile App: Alexa app | Optional Accessories: None | Size: Square, 3.56 x 3.56 x 0.84 inches | Color/Finish Options: White | Display: LED shows temperature
If you’re worried that adding a smart thermostat to your home is too expensive, consider this: You can get the 4.2-star-rated Amazon Smart Thermostat for under $100, and then advantage of rebates from your utility company (where available) to drop the cost down further. Then, you’ll start saving, on average, $50 on your yearly energy bill.
Once installed, the Amazon Smart Thermostat makes it easy to adjust the temperature in your home remotely using a mobile app and Alexa voice commands via any Alexa-compatible smart speaker or home hub.
If you have a Ring video doorbell or other Ring smart home devices, this smart thermostat from Amazon will work in conjunction with that equipment via the Ring app to learn when you’re away from home. Once the thermostat learns your personal temperature preferences, it will automatically make adjustments when you’re at home and away.
Note that this thermostat does not support 5GHz wireless networks.
Why we chose it: While not as advanced as other smart thermostats, this one from Amazon is affordable and easy to operate once installed. Its emphasis is on controlling it using Alexa voice commands. We also like that it uses Honeywell home thermostat technology.
Best smart thermostat for larger homes: Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium with Smart Sensor
Amazon
C-Wire Required: Yes | Self-Installable: Yes | Multi-Zone Support: Yes | Smart Home Integrations: Apple HomeKit, SmartThings, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, IFTT, Android | Mobile App: Ecobee app | Optional Accessories: Additional temperature sensors | Size: 4.09 x 9.09 x 1.02 inches | Color/Finish Options: Black | Display: 540 x 540 pixel color touchscreen
The Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium offers an extra temperature sensor (and the ability to add more) to place in the most frequently used room in your home, such as your bedroom or living room. That way, the thermostat can maintain a comfortable temperature for you even if some rooms in your home tend to run hotter than others.
When you purchase the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium, you can select a bundle that includes one or two separate room temperature sensors. You can also bundle this thermostat with an Ecobee video doorbell and/or indoor Wi-Fi security camera, and then control all of these devices from a single app. Using the thermostat with its temperature sensors, Ecobee promotes users can save up to 26% per year on their heating and cooling costs.
The thermostat will also monitor the air quality in your home and will remind you to change the air filter in your furnace when it’s needed. It can also adjust the temperature based on humidity. With an optional paid subscription, this thermostat can be programmed to automatically shut off anytime a window or door is left open (with the use of add-on sensors).
Why we chose it: The thermostat is designed to integrate with other Ecobee smart home products, including a video doorbell, indoor cameras, smart smoke detectors and complete Ecobee smart home security systems. This thermostat is ideal for larger homes because it will work with multiple room temperature sensors.
Best 7-day programmable smart thermostat: Honeywell Home T9
Amazon
C-Wire Required: Yes | Self-Installable: Yes | Multi-Zone Support: Yes | Smart Home Integrations: Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant | Mobile App: Resideo app | Optional Accessories: Additional room temp. sensors, cover plate | Size: 3.7 x 4.9 x 0.9 inches | Color/Finish Options: White | Display: Graphical color touchscreen
The Honeywell Home T9 makes it easy to efficiently manage the temperature in your home. The thermostat incorporates a graphical touchscreen display with a built-in backlight. It also comes with one smart room sensor, but more can be purchased separately.
While you can manually create a seven-day program, you can just as easily allow the thermostat and in-room sensor(s) to automatically manage your home’s temperature based on your lifestyle, schedule and preferences. Going with this option allows the thermostat to make decisions that will keep you comfortable and help you save money on your utility bill.
Each room temperature sensor has a 200-foot reach and is designed to continuously send temperature data to the thermostat so it can keep the rooms you frequently occupy at the ideal temperature. It’s also able to adjust temperature based on humidity levels.
Instead of being hardwired to your home’s electricity, this thermostat uses two “AAA” batteries. The thermostat supports 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi.
Why we chose it: You can program the thermostat yourself, use voice commands to make temperature adjustments or rely on the device’s “smart” capabilities to maintain a comfortable temperature while helping to reduce energy costs.
Best smart thermostat value: Google Nest Thermostat
Amazon
C-Wire Required: No | Self-Installable: Yes | Multi-Zone Support: Yes | Smart Home Integrations: Google Assistant, Alexa, Nest, iOS, Android | Mobile App: Nest app | Optional Accessories: Trim kit | Size: 4.8 x 4.8 x 1.9 inches | Color/Finish Options: Snow, Charcoal, Fog, Sand | Display: 2.4-inch QVGA IPS LCD (240 x 320 pixels)
The Google Nest Thermostat is a scaled-down and less expensive version of the Google Nest Learning Thermostat, our top pick. Like most thermostats in this roundup, this one is Energy Star Certified.
While you can remotely control this thermostat using a mobile app or voice commands, it keeps track of when you come and go from your home and can turn itself down when you leave. Using the app, it’s easy to design an energy-efficient schedule that will keep you comfortable.
Google reports that this thermostat is compatible with 85% of all home HVAC systems and it works without a C wire in most homes. Instead of offering a touchscreen display, the Nest has a touch-sensitive bar around its edge. It runs using two “AAA” batteries.
Why we chose it: This model of the Nest thermostat is not as advanced as the Nest Learning Thermostat and will not do as good of a job helping you to save money on your monthly utility bill. It is, however, more affordable and very easy to operate.
Best touchscreen thermostat: Sensi Touch 2
Amazon
C-Wire Required: Yes | Self-Installable: Yes | Multi-Zone Support: Yes | Smart Home Integrations: Google Assistant, Alexa, SmartThings | Mobile App: Sensi Mobile app | Optional Accessories: Trim kit | Size: 5.6 x 3.25 x 0.77 inches | Color/Finish Options: Black, White | Display: 4.3-inch LCD touchscreen
This smart thermostat is impressive for its large and responsive touchscreen. Available in both black and white finishes, it’s a full-color unit that boasts a 4.3-inch screen that comes with everything you need for a pain-free installation (and requires a C-wire).
It’s compatible with most systems, and can be used with up to 15 room sensors to ensure you’re getting the most out of your heating and cooling system. Those aren’t included and cost $40 apiece, but it’s an option if you need it for a larger home.
You can connect this gorgeous touchscreen to your favorite smart assistants, including Alexa, Google, and SmartThings, and program it via app or the LCD touch panel. It’s simple to control and program, and will let you configure HVAC settings and schedule usage straight from the unit.
Why we chose it: This smart thermostat is very easy to install, and its large and great-looking touchscreen sets it apart from the rest, especially at this price point. You’ll love being able to use in addition to the app to change and schedule heating and cooling options in your home.
Will a smart thermostat lower my utility bill?
While it’s not guaranteed, if you install and use a smart thermostat correctly, you’ll likely see a drop in your monthly utility bill. The impact a smart thermostat can have on how much you pay for your home’s heating and cooling will be impacted by the size of your home, your usage habits, outside temperature fluctuations throughout the seasons, the efficiency of your HVAC system and a variety of other factors.
The Google Nest Learning Thermostat’s website indicates that independent studies recently showed its product saved people an average of 10% to 12% on their heating bill and 15% on cooling, while research done by Ecobee revealed you could see your home utility bill drop as much as 26% if your home is always set at 72 degrees Fahrenheit.
Will a smart thermostat continue to function if the Wi-Fi goes down?
This will depend on the make and model of your smart thermostat and your home’s HVAC system. Many smart thermostats will continue working if your home Wi-Fi is down, but you will no longer be able to control them remotely or by voice.
Is there a monthly fee associated with using a smart thermostat?
Typically, there is no monthly fee to use a smart thermostat. But there are exceptions. A few smart thermostat manufacturers offer additional services or unlock additional functions if you pay a subscription fee.
The Biden administration will provide Ukraine with controversial anti-personnel mines in its war against Russia, a U.S. official confirmed to CBS News Tuesday night.
Anti-personnel mines, or APLs, are designed to be used against people, not vehicles. They can be rapidly deployed and are meant to blunt the advances of ground forces, making them useful for Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s advances in Eastern Ukraine, the official said.
The U.S. sought commitments from the Ukrainians on their use to further limit the risk to civilians, the official said, noting that Ukrainians are committed to not employing the mines in areas populated with their own civilians.
The U.S.-provided APLs are different than the thousands of landmines being employed by Russia in eastern Ukraine in that they are “non-persistent,” meaning they become inert over a preset period of time, usually between four hours and two weeks, the official said. They are electrically fused and require battery power to detonate. Once the battery runs out, they will not detonate.
Tuesday marked 1,000 days since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. CBS News learned Sunday that President Biden had lifted restrictions on Ukraine’s use of U.S. weapons to conduct strikes deep inside Russia.
U.S.-supplied ATACMS were used Tuesday on targets inside Russia, U.S. officials confirmed to CBS News.
Ukraine has been one of the most mined countries in the world since Russia’s invasion in 2022, and Ukraine is inundated with APLs. They are known by deceptively innocent names such as “butterfly” or “petal” mines because they scatter like flower petals when they drop from the sky.
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“Typically, several hundred of these at a time will just be liberally and indiscriminately spread across the territory,” Pete Smith, the Ukraine program manager for the HALO Trust, a nonprofit organization focused on ridding warzones of landmines, told “60 Minutes” in August. “They can rest on the roofs. They can sit in guttering. They can take years before they come back into society and into view.”
To date, 164 nations, including Ukraine, have signed onto the Mine Ban Treaty which prohibits the use of APLs. However, three dozen countries have not agreed to it, including Russia and the U.S.
In January 2020, then-President Donald Trump reversed an Obama-era policy which banned the use of APLs anywhere except on the Korean Peninsula. However, in June 2022, Mr. Biden reinstated the ban, except for APLs “required for the defense of the Republic of Korea.”
contributed to this report.
ORION TOWNSHIP, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) – At least two people were injured after a possible gas explosion and ensuing fire destroyed a condominium building Tuesday evening in Orion Township, Michigan, officials said. Another two people remain unaccounted for.
According to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, the explosion was reported at about 6:30 p.m. local time in the Keatington New Town Association condominium complex on Waldon Road, between Joslyn and Baldwin roads.
Orion Township Fire Chief Ryan Allen says the explosion destroyed a four-unit building, causing significant damage to one building and minimal damage to a few others. Allen says crews worked with utility providers DTE and Consumers Energy to control a gas leak.
Photo submitted by Orion Township resident
Allen says the two people hospitalized, a 72-year-old man and a 75-year-old woman, suffered critical injuries. Their current condition is unknown. An unknown number of others suffered minor injuries, he added.
Allen said crews were working to make contact with two people who are unaccounted for.
The sheriff’s office said no fatalities have so far been reported.
“Preliminary indications are it was a gas explosion but the exact cause has not been determined,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
Orion Township is located just north of Detroit.
One resident who lives nearby told CBS News Detroit he was home with family when the explosion happened.
“We just heard this big boom [It] shuck my entire house. I look out the window, I see flares, I see fire just popping through the sky,” the resident said. “It felt like it was going to take a wall down. It felt like it happened at my house. I was terrified. It was so strong.”
Consumers Energy said in a statement that because firefighters were still battling the blaze, it did “not have additional information about the cause of the explosion or about the status of anyone in the building.”
The company said its crews will get on site once they are given the greenlight that it is safe to do so.
CBS News
Comedian Katt Williams often brags about passing Marine boot camp. The Marines say they have no record of it.
Los Angeles — Katt Williams, the Emmy-winning actor and renowned stand-up comedian, for years has claimed to have joined the U.S. Marine Corps as a teenager and successfully navigated the rigorous training only to be drummed out of the military when his superiors discovered he was a minor. The Marines told CBS News they have no record of him.
Dating back to at least 2016, Williams has claimed association with the U.S. Marine Corps when talking about his personal biography in video blogs, in his stand-up routines and in interviews viewed and heard by tens of millions of people. His claims of military service seem to not be attached to any of his critically acclaimed jokes or characters he has created for stage and screen but instead, a part of his journey towards comedy.
The U.S. Marine Corps tells CBS News there’s no record of Williams ever entering military service or attending any Marine Corps recruit training camps.
Multiple emails and phone calls were sent to Williams’ publicist, Amy Sisoyev, and his representatives at Creative Artists Agency, but no reply was returned for almost two weeks.
Earlier this year, Williams sat down for a nearly 3-hour interview with ESPN’s “First Take” correspondent Shannon Sharpe on his podcast, “Club Shay Shay.” The interview has racked up more than 83 million views on YouTube as of publication and is the most watched interview in YouTube’s history.
Sharpe, a former Denver Bronco and ex-NFL analyst for CBS Sports, asked Williams about being raised in Florida.
“I try to join the Marine Corps and they won’t accept me because I’m too young, and I’ve lied and told them I’m 16 and my family is moving down and I don’t have my ID but it’s coming. And so they [the Marines] let me go to the boot camp,” said Williams.
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP
Similarly, on comedian Marc Maron’s podcast last year, Williams said, “And then I attempt to join the Marine Corps, and I go off to boot camp and I pass, and then they reveal that I’m too young, and they give me a little ceremony because I did pass, you know, oo-Rah.”
He added: “I wasn’t even 16. I wasn’t even 16. I was already — I had miscalculated it wrong. I thought that you know, by the time I got back I would be good, but I hadn’t turned 16 by the time boot camp was over.”
Maron, whose “WTF” podcast garners more than 55 million listens per year, asked Williams if he got through boot camp and about his ceremony.
Williams reaffirmed that he passed boot camp, saying, “When you come back everybody gets the ceremony and I was supposed to have been, probably put in the brig or court-martialed or something, but they didn’t treat me like that. … As far as the Marine Corps thing, whatever those commercials were selling, you remember those commercials back in that time … if you wanted to join a gang, the Marines was the gang to join.”
On Saturday, CBS News attended the Vulture Festival in Los Angeles where Williams was interviewed about his life and career by Jesse David Fox, a Vulture writer and host of “Good One: The Podcast About Jokes.” Williams is set to launch his multistate “Heaven on Earth” tour next year.
While Williams did not discuss his alleged short stint in the Marines, the comedian said “Thank God I tell the truth” when asked by Fox about his past statements in interviews.
CBS News filed a Freedom of Information Act request for records pertaining to Williams’ alleged enlistment in the Marine Corps.
Marine Corps officials searched for records pertaining to Williams using his full name — Micah Sierra Williams — and other identifying information such as his date of birth and social security number. Officials told CBS News that their database of official military personnel files dates back to the 1960s, housed at the National Personnel Records Center of the National Archives.
“We searched the files maintained by the Manpower Management Performance Branch but were unable to identify Mr. Williams as a member or former member of the U.S. Marine Corps,” wrote an official in response to CBS News’ public records request.
Marine Corps officials told CBS News that if Williams’ story was accurate, there would be records showing his entry into military service, his graduation and discharge, even if he fraudulently enlisted as a minor.
Army veteran Anthony Anderson, who runs “Guardians of Valor,” a popular social media website that investigates service member records, told CBS News that Williams’ claims are a “slap in the face of people who have earned the title of Marine.”
“Boot camp for the Marine Corps is not an easy task. To call yourself a Marine, you have to go through at least 13 weeks of boot camp and successfully navigate the crucible … people have died in training at boot camp trying to earn the title of Marine,” said Anderson.
While it’s unclear when exactly Williams began to claim he graduated from Marine boot camp, the earliest examples CBS News could find stemmed from Williams’ 2016 feud with actor and comedian Kevin Hart.
In a video that appears to have been recorded by Williams, addressing drug abuse allegations, the comedian says, “Ever since I got out of the Marine Corps, I can only breathe out of one nostril.”
That same year, Williams was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and battery charges after a fight at an apartment complex in Gainesville, Georgia, with a 17-year-old high school wrestler who was also charged, according to previous news reports. Williams pleaded not guilty and the case lingered on until earlier this year when local prosecutors decided to drop the case against Williams.
Soon after his arrest Williams spoke about the episode on stage, suggesting that he wasn’t actually put into a chokehold by the teenager and in fact, that Williams had let him win, adding, “I’m Semper Fi till I die, Marine Corps b—-. I passed motherf—ing boot camp at 16.”
Williams’ routine was removed from YouTube due to copyright infringement issues, but the video still exists in the reader forum on Military.com, a military news and culture website. A user posted the video to the website in 2016 and asked: “Katt Williams a Marine?”
