Can smart thermostats control multiple zones or do you need buy one for each area?

[JTsyo]

The house still has 20 year old mercury thermostats. Didn't see a need to upgrade since we usually have someone at home so don't need to change settings during the day. System has being having issues and it might be the thermostats. There's a zone for each floor and I'm wondering if one can be wired to control all three. How would it know the temperature in different areas?

 

[Tech Junky]

There's a thermostat that has little temp pods you place in different areas that send back to the main unit. It's been awhile since I've looked at these but, it's similar to nest. Little square black box for the wall and then the pods usually just sit on something in the different rooms. ecobee IIRC os the brand that has them.

 

[Brainonska511]

There's a thermostat that has little temp pods you place in different areas that send back to the main unit. It's been awhile since I've looked at these but, it's similar to nest. Little square black box for the wall and then the pods usually just sit on something in the different rooms. ecobee IIRC os the brand that has them.

I have the sensors for my Ecobee thermostat, but I'm not sure if it would let you independently control different zones. I can tell the thermostat which sensor or sensors to use for temperature at different program times, but I think that's largely the extent of them.

 

[Tech Junky]

I have the sensors for my Ecobee thermostat, but I'm not sure if it would let you independently control different zones. I can tell the thermostat which sensor or sensors to use for temperature at different program times, but I think that's largely the extent of them.

Good point. I suspect it will take a completely different HVAC setup to get zoned air.

 

[dainthomas]

Good point. I suspect it will take a completely different HVAC setup to get zoned air.

This. The ecobee is nice because it can sense whether a room that a sensor is in is occupied, and factor that into it's temperature calculations.

 

[JTsyo]

Good point. I suspect it will take a completely different HVAC setup to get zoned air.

I have a baseboard heat system so it's already setup for zones. The AC on the other hand is just one thermostat for the whole house.

 

[Tech Junky]

AC

I think you would be looking for a split system vs central single unit. Aesthetically though having a small unit per room hanging off the wall might not be something you like. However it does give more localized control per room. I think they use a single outside unit like you have now.

I've had systems replaced and repaired over the years and they're relatively simple but a pro is the best idea. I replaced one unit with a heat pump for under 3k and fixed a shot capacitor on another one for $100. The HP was nice as it kept the bill down until the electric element for heating was needed. Goodman / Amana is what they both are from a badge standpoint and relatively cheap if you shop around. I got 5 quotes on the replacement ranging from the 3k to almost 15k for the same system.

 

[MtnMan]

A digital thermostat will save you money and keep the temp more even, even if you only replace the old bi-metal mercury switch one.

 

[deadlyapp]

Off the top of my head I'm not aware of any smart thermostats that can individually control multiple zones (eg independently control multiple fans/condensers/furnaces). With nest, ecobee, and a few others, you can group and control all the thermostats from the same app, together, which is something at least. You'd still need separate sensors in each zone, and you'd have to pull wire from a single location back to each HVAC unit, so I honestly don't think it's probably worth it.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Sounds like something that could make a fun Arduino project or similar. Most off the shelf smart thermostats require some sort of cloud account or app to even work, so something DIY is going to be much more future proof without being at the mercy of another company's servers or app updates.

 

[deadlyapp]

Sounds like something that could make a fun Arduino project or similar. Most off the shelf smart thermostats require some sort of cloud account or app to even work, so something DIY is going to be much more future proof without being at the mercy of another company's servers or app updates.

Most smart thermostats maintain fine functionality without the wifi and "smartness." I really have very little need or interest in being able to change the temperature from my phone, the only real reason why I purchased a smart thermostat was for the improved functionality around schedule programming, etc. Eventually I may get more in depth with presence sensing but there's almost always someone home so there's very little energy savings I could uncover going that route. Programming an arduino to control multiple zones, reading multiple temperature sensors, integrating a panel for control, and being user friendly is well outside the scope of most.

 

[Stopsignhank]

JT, You are asking a very complicated question.

First answer, are there thermostats with different zones? Yes. I like the Honeywell thermostats. I have the T9 in my house, the T10 also does what you want. You can buy different sensors and place them where you want and the thermostat can read those. You can also buy a sensor and carry it with you. The thermostat has a "follow me" mode and will and will try and keep where you are for the temperature you set. Pretty sure these are the thermostats. I looked into this 3 years ago so I can't guarantee this. These thermostats are also wi-fi and it is fantastic to be wherever you are and turn the system on/off or up and down.

Now for the second part of your question. Unless your ducting is set up for zones then this will not work how you want. The AC will not magically pump the air where you want it. Let's say you have a T9 and a sensor with the follow me schedule. You are trying to keep the room at 74 degrees where you are. If you are downstairs and it is 74 then everything is fine. Now you go upstairs and the thermostat tries to keep you at 74. The AC will kick on and eventually make it 74 where you are, but it will then be 68 in the floor below you.

I tried to do something like this on my single story house and it became a big hassle of where the extra air would go. The additional duct work and Variable air boxes made it not worth it.

 

[JTsyo]

Found this. Since I have baseboard heat with 3 zones, it might be what I need.

EDIT: Never mind this is for systems that are not on a 24V system.

 

[Muadib]

I have an Ecobee smart thermostat that I got for xmas 2 years ago. I like it, but it took time to get it working right. It has little sensors that you put in the rooms that aren't reaching the temperature you have set. Eventually after playing with the vents in the various rooms, it now works well.