I'm looking for a thermostat with a remote sensor that doesnt break the bank and works reliably.

We have a split level system in our 1600sq ft home. It seems that we're CONSTANTLY having to adjust the upstairs thermostat to keep a somewhat consistent temperature in our child's nursery upstairs. And even then, if we change the temperature by 1 degree on the thermostat, it can swing 4-5 degrees in the nursery it seems.

I'd like a thermostat upstairs that reads a remote sensor from the nursery to keep it at a constant temp.

What are you guys using for situations like this? I'd love a Nest, but they dont seem to have a remote sensor option (unless you want to go third-party and do some tweaking).

Leaning towards the Ecobee 3...
http://www.amazon.com/ecobee3-Smarter-Thermostat-Remote-Generation/dp/B00ZIRV39M/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1459264123&sr=1-1&keywords=ecobee+3

[Edited on March 29, 2016 at 11:10 AM. Reason : .]

3/29/2016 10:54:07 AM

ecobee if you need the remote sensor but overall i prefer nest

3/29/2016 11:57:42 AM

Yeah, gotta have the remote sensor. Or else rewire and move the thermostat into the nursery

Since the upstairs thermostat is in the hallway directly up from the stairs, it is really susceptible to the heat/ac from downstairs..."fools" the thermostat into thinking the upstairs is hotter or colder than it really is. So I REALLY need a remote sensor

3/29/2016 12:03:57 PM

We had a similar issue in just our kid's room and bought an airflow breeze. It's a register replacement with a fan / temperature sensor combo that helped increase the flow of hot / cold air into the room.

3/29/2016 1:07:50 PM

With the remote sensor option, you're just moving around which part of your house has stable temperature.

If you can manage to find a good HVAC company (this is hard) you can have them double check the thermal loads on all the rooms and make sure that the correct amount of air is going where it needs to. All you may need is some dampers installed and/or adjusted

I recommend a zone kit for your HVAC system. You'd add a second thermostat upstairs. motorized dampers get installed on the supply and return ducts going upstairs and downstairs. A pass through on the return also gets installed. Then, you'll be able to heat/cool the upstairs and downstairs independently without having to add a second unit.

[Edited on March 29, 2016 at 2:14 PM. Reason : didn't read closely enough]

3/29/2016 2:11:43 PM

honeywell makes a nice thermostat for this. I actually ended up installing it because the hvac in my house was retrofitted as dual fuel but there weren't enough conductors in the existing thermostat wiring to control 2 units. I found this out after 2 years of subpar heat strip heat.

3/30/2016 2:00:58 AM

I'd like something of this nature. Upstairs works very well because it's a linear plan, but the downstairs is most decidedly not and the thermostat placement is stupid (at the end of a short hall, with the bathroom register blowing almost directly at it when the door is open). Results in the living room being about 3 degrees colder than the temp setting, but if I crank it to where the living room is comfortable, the office and kitchen are uncomfortably warm.

4/3/2016 4:44:14 PM

I've got the ecobee3, I like it, but I haven't really tested it's limits.

4/4/2016 8:24:30 AM

I, too, have the ecobee3. I recommend it.

4/4/2016 4:28:42 PM

We had this issue in our last house and I installed this Honeywell unit and got the corresponding remote:

http://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-YTH6320R1001-Wireless-Thermostat-Programmable/dp/B001O4F8Y4/ref=sr_1_3?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1460906089&sr=1-3&keywords=honeywell+wireless+thermostat

http://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-REM5000R1001-Portable-Comfort-Control/dp/B004MH0S40/ref=sr_1_6?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1460906089&sr=1-6&keywords=honeywell+wireless+thermostat

If you go this route I still have the remote (just sold the house) and I will sell it to you at a good discount since we don't need it anymore. I thought the whole system worked great and I would install it again if needed. I especially liked that the thermostat itself was wireless because I wanted to move it without dealing with running wires. We would just leave the remote in the nursery so that we knew the temperature was right for the baby.

[Edited on April 17, 2016 at 11:18 AM. Reason : .]

4/17/2016 11:16:52 AM

Ended up with the Ecobee3. Set it up and havent touched it since. It's working perfectly.

4/17/2016 3:42:29 PM

that's the beauty of it...you hardly have to touch it. people seem to be constantly "fighting" their Nests.

4/18/2016 10:08:02 AM

this was the thread i was looking for

nest now has remote temp sensors, not as good as ecobee but they are easy to use

4/18/2018 10:59:24 AM

.....aaaaand the last horse crosses the finish line!

[Edited on April 18, 2018 at 1:53 PM. Reason : nothing against nest. they're cool in my book.]

4/18/2018 1:52:44 PM

I'm amazed at the growing number of products to address problems that should never exist. Why do so many builders do a terrible job designing and installing HVAC systems?

4/19/2018 2:19:13 PM

because engineering back in the 70's isn't like engineering today.

oh, and cutting costs.

[Edited on April 19, 2018 at 2:41 PM. Reason : ]

4/19/2018 2:30:38 PM

i didn't even have manual balancing dampers in my system, i had to add them myself

4/20/2018 12:10:42 PM

Designed properly, you shouldn't have needed them. Luckily that's a super easy job. The only time I ever installed them was trying to mitigate poor airflow in systems someone else installed.

I installed a lot of duct work for my dad's business. I've come to realize that the fact that we did load calculations, computed needed CFMs per room, took into account line length and friction, etc... was a rarity.


That said, remote sensors plus zoning dampers plus variable load heat pumps are freaking awesome.

[Edited on April 20, 2018 at 2:27 PM. Reason : more info]

4/20/2018 2:26:03 PM

Quote :

"I've come to realize that the fact that we did load calculations, computed needed CFMs per room, took into account line length and friction, etc... was a rarity. "

Yep, the lack of that being done in the residential world is frustrating. I tried to do a little bit of work doing that on the side several years back. I did it for a few high end homes for my friend who is a GC and I also helped with some homes going for LEED ratings. But in general, most contractors skip it entirely or maybe do it for a couple homestyles in a development and copy and paste disregarding orientation etc. The residential calculations are super simplified too and yet most places skip them. Ultimately it wasn't worth me offering my services.

4/20/2018 3:13:55 PM