The digital thermostat is solid proof of the immense benefits that come with installing smart home devices in your house.
With a smart thermostat, you get complete control of the temperature of your household.
However, some homeowners believe these devices can’t function without Wi-Fi but are they right?
A smart thermostat will work without Wi-Fi. Most digital thermostats switch to manual mode when your internet drops. However, when that happens, they only function as a traditional thermostat, regulating the temperature–you don’t get its unique benefits, such as real-time alerts and remote control.
Keep reading for more insights into how a digital thermostat works, the features you lose when it goes offline, and the benefits that come with installing these smart gadgets.
How Does a Smart Thermostat Work?
The operation of a digital thermostat is almost similar to that of a non-digital one.
Most notably, traditional thermostats come with a thermometer connected to a metal strip.
When you set the temperature, the strip completes the circuit, switching your boiler on.
The strip’s temperature rises with the level of heat in your home.
When the desired temperature is achieved, the strip expands and moves away from its connectors, breaking the circuit. As a result, the boiler turns off.
Similarly, the strip cools down as your home’s temperature declines, causing it to click back into place, complete the circuit, and turn the boiler on.
This cycle repeats, depending on the changes in your home’s temperature.
A smart thermostat works similarly–its thermometer shuts off your boiler automatically when the set temperature is reached.
However, a smart thermostat is more intelligent and energy-efficient.
To use it, you need to download an app that allows you to adjust its settings remotely.
In most instances, you’ll need a working internet connection to change its settings.
In brief, the process of setting a digital thermostat involves:
- Opening the downloaded app and selecting the desired temperature using a smartphone.
- Your Wi-Fi router receives the new instructions via the internet.
- The router transmits the instructions to the thermostat.
- The thermostat adjusts the temperature and tells your boiler to turn on or off.
Will My Smart Thermostat Work Without Wi-Fi?
An internet connection is critical in the operation of a smart thermostat.
As I’ve mentioned before, this device must be online to receive your instructions from the app.
So, what happens when your Wi-Fi drops out?
As I indicated earlier, smart thermostats are designed to switch to a manual mode when there’s no internet connection, so they continue to function as usual, whether online or offline.
However, you lose access to most of their features, including:
- Your ability to remotely change the thermostat’s settings.
- Receiving real-time feedback of events, like your home temperature.
- The clock may not keep time accurately or adjust for daylight saving.
In a nutshell, when a digital thermostat goes offline, it stops sending you updates, so you may not be instantly notified of an emergency or extreme temperature conditions.
Some of the most common events that trigger smart thermostats to send emergency alerts include:
- Water leakage
- Power cuts
- Fire outbreaks
- High or low humidity levels
- Low battery
Therefore, you risk missing these critical alerts when away on vacation, which is why it’s crucial to have a stable internet connection that can run smoothly whether you’re home or not.
Why Should I Get a Smart Thermostat?
Despite its limited functionalities when offline, a smart thermostat comes with several pros, making it an excellent option for any homeowner who needs complete control over their thermostat.
Some of the benefits of using a digital thermostat include:
Easy To Use
Unlike conventional thermostats with knobs and buttons, smart thermostats come with touch screens and mobile apps as their interface.
They’re user-friendly, compatible with voice-control assistants like Alexa and Google Assistant, and intuitive to use.
If your traditional thermostat’s buttons get damaged, you lose control over it.
However, with an upgrade to a modern one, you can easily alternate between using the device’s screen and your phone.
Reduced Energy Costs
Upgrading to a digital thermostat is one of the ways to reduce your energy costs.
Using this smart home gadget, you can schedule your heating, ventilation, and cooling (HVAC) system to run less when stepping out, reducing energy consumption when you’re away.
If you need an energy-efficient digital thermostat, I recommend that you get the Google Nest Thermostat from Amazon.
Besides letting you create a schedule using your phone, this gadget turns itself down when you leave your home, ensuring you don’t waste energy cooling or heating an empty house.
It also monitors your HVAC system and sends instant alerts on detecting unusual changes.
Pro Tip: You can use Nest’s built-in interface to operate it offline. To activate manual heating, press the Heat Link button. The heating light will turn solid green.
Reading tip: Can a Smart Thermostat Detect Room Occupancy? The Truth
Easy To Track Your Energy Usage
With a digital thermostat, you can build your home energy profile.
This will let you monitor your energy usage with time and how your energy costs are likely to change based on that.
Besides, some smart thermostats recommend how to adjust heating and cooling preferences to reduce your electricity costs.
Remote Control
If you need a thermostat you can control from the palm of your hand, a digital thermostat is an excellent choice.
If you’re coming home after a hot day and need some cool, refreshing air, you can log into the companion app and adjust your thermostat’s schedule.
Similarly, you can change the cooling schedule to either keep the house warmer or cooler while on vacation, depending on the weather.
It Makes HVAC Scheduling Much Easier
A smart thermostat makes it easier to schedule your home heating and cooling usage.
Besides sending real-time alerts on temperature changes during the day, most of these devices feature movement detectors that can tell when your family members are home.
Over time, they learn the movement patterns of the members of the household each time the house needs cooling or heating.
These gadgets are programmed to learn from this data and adjust your heating and cooling schedule, depending on seasonal changes.
This makes it easier to schedule cooling and heating – you don’t have to reset the thermometer every time the temperature changes!
Additionally, digital thermostats can monitor the weather and preempt heat waves by cooling your home in advance or heating it more in anticipation of a cold snap.
Check out: Do Smart Thermostats Work With Heat Pumps? 9 Facts Revealed
They’re Easy To Install
A smart thermostat is pretty easy to install.
To do it, you simply need a C, R, W, Rc, or Rh wire.
Armed with these and the relevant user manual, follow these steps to install your digital thermostat:
- Cut the power supply to the existing traditional thermostat.
- Remove the non-digital thermostat.
- Connect the wires to the digital thermostat.
- Install the digital thermostat’s faceplate.
- Turn on the power supply.
- Follow the manufacturer’s guidelines to program the new thermostat.
You may also wonder: Are smart thermostats universal?
The following video is highly resourceful if you need in-depth, step-by-step details on how to install a smart thermostat:
Bottom Line
Smart thermostats are designed to function both online and offline.
If your internet connection goes down, your digital thermostat will serve the primary function of controlling your home’s temperature.
You’ll definitely miss out on its neat features, such as live updates, remote control, shortcuts, and emergency alerts.
However, that shouldn’t scare you from getting one, as these gadgets come with built-in settings you can use to operate them offline.
Besides, adding a smart thermostat to your home comes with benefits like reduced energy costs and easy HVAC scheduling.