Thermostats?

Just hooked up my m1 gold for the 1st time (New construction). So far so good. I am also hooking up my diy, over budget, not for the faint of heart geothermal ac system. I am trying to decide on thermostats and not sure which way to go. I really like how the honeywell prestige iaq looks (hence the over budget), but have seen some info where it's difficult to access the redlink. My 1st question is can it be hardwired into the m1xsp and not worry about wireless? Or what is a good comparable tstat that is acceptable to the elk system?

Thanks in advance

I'm using a Leviton RC2000 (old HAI) thermostat through the m1xsp. I almost went with a zwave thermostat that matched my AC brand but at the time I didn't want to do Zwave through the Elk. I'm doing zwave through the ISY now but that's another story.

Pros with RC
1. Humidistat control
2. Customizable backlight colors
3. Remote thermostat capability, I actually mounted a separate sensor at my AC return location
4. External temp sensor support
5. It has a zigbee radio built in, whatever that does

Cons:
1. It's not a NEST
2. Elk hasn't released a firmware update for it in years, they don't even list the thermostat in their instructions anymore I don't think.
3. Can't set the thermostat in cycle mode from the elk.
4. Don't think the elk can read humidity either.

This will cause a stir with some, but I moved HVAC out of the home automation system and have been very happy with that. In our previous home I ran a serial stat through the Elk (been over six years, so can't remember which) after using a X10 model prior to that. They worked well enough, but all they really did was allow for scheduling via the Elk and setting the system into an "away" mode when we were leaving and arming the house, which was no major advantage. I just kept the existing programmable stat when we bought this house and I installed the new Elk and ISY here about five - six years ago (left old ones in other home).

When the stat here had an issue (power surge may have affected it) and Nest was coming out with their 2nd gen device, I figured I'd give it a try. Very happy with it! What I found was that while I had a second app on my phone, I didn't much mind that. And with a geothermal unit, you will likely not vary your temperature much throughout the day, so putting the system in "away" mode will probably only be used for vacations.

Now, this does bring up the whole cloud vs local control, Big Brother / Skynet debate... I maintain that this is WAY overblown. If the Nest (or similar) can't reach the internet, it just functions as a normal, programmable stat and runs its program. And I have found their system very reliable for maybe three years now, with it being unreachable only rarely, and even then back up within minutes. In fact, I've had more issues with the M1XEP than Nest, if that says anything. The only real drawback is that neither the Elk nor the ISY can speak directly to the Nest, which made it harder for me to use one when I decided to hack a pellet stove recently (hardly a normal situation, and I solved it by using Homeseer, which finally gave me a reason to make use of that largely unused license / software).

So, don't think you have to find a thermostat that uses the Elk or ISY. It's a nice to have, but you can get automation, convenience and great control without doing so.

bjl said:

Just hooked up my m1 gold for the 1st time (New construction). So far so good. I am also hooking up my diy, over budget, not for the faint of heart geothermal ac system. I am trying to decide on thermostats and not sure which way to go. I really like how the honeywell prestige iaq looks (hence the over budget), but have seen some info where it's difficult to access the redlink. My 1st question is can it be hardwired into the m1xsp and not worry about wireless? Or what is a good comparable tstat that is acceptable to the elk system?
 

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I have geo-thermal and the Honeywell units.  It's all working great.  You are correct in that Honeywell has not published any effective ways to interact with the Redlink gateway using anything other than their apps or website.  It hasn't been a big deal though, as once scheduled they handle everything on their own pretty well.  I have several zones and sensor, both outdoor and indoor due to the finding the best place for controlling the thermostat was not the best place to install it.  So I added a temp sensor, using 3m removable tape and repositioned it until I found the best place for it.  

Update... just read that venstar t5900 - t8900 are good with the isy, which I wasn't putting in just yet, and with ha systems. And they are cheaper. Anyone has any experiences with these?

Honeywell prestige is a good option for thermostats. Recently, my LINK REMOVED BY BSR have installed thermostat of this brand and its the best. You can go for it.

The Venstar T78-7900 series can be controlled directly from the ISY with it's Network Resource module but getting feedback for the stats to ISY takes an RPi or equivalent. There is much work on that happening in the UDI forum.
 
Many there have dropped the Nest and Ecobee due to their holding the API too tightly to their chest and cloud dependence. Comparisons for the Venstar products have been favourable.