These days, smartphones allow people to deposit their paychecks, map their destinations and, of course, order pizza. Now Honeywell offers a new twist: a thermostat that tracks your smartphone and automatically resets temperatures whenever you're out of the house.
Honeywell introduced the device, called Lyric, on Tuesday as the smarter, hipper version of the iconic "Round" thermostat that Honeywell first offered to American homeowners in 1945. Today's version uses Wi-Fi, "the cloud" and encrypted data, and it promises to be very green.
"The Lyric thermostat knows when you are coming and going based on smartphone location and so can deliver comfort when you're home and savings when you're away," said Beth Wozniak, president of Honeywell's Environmental and Combustion Controls division. "Using the location of your smartphone, the geofence feature automatically turns the Lyric thermostat into energy-saving mode when a home is empty and then senses when you are coming home and heats or cools the house to your preferred temperature."
Honeywell's device will retail for about $279 and can be installed professionally or by the homeowner. It will be available in Lowes stores in August and in Home Depot and other retail stores around October, said Tony Uttley, vice president and general manager of Honeywell's Home Comfort and Energy Systems.
Lyric comes a year after Honeywell introduced a voice-activated thermostat and a pilot system that, using Wi-Fi, can connect appliances, lights, heating and entertainment equipment to an e-reader that dispenses energy-saving tips. The idea is to make energy savings and comfort effortless, while staying cutting edge for consumers who expect more wireless conveniences for the home.
It took 18 months, millions of dollars and a team of about 50 engineers, programmers, designers and marketers to bring Lyric to market. Uttley said the market for all Wi-Fi-connected home appliance and energy systems is estimated to be $5 billion and Honeywell intends to increase its market share.
Lyric's geofence feature is set by the homeowners to detect when their cellphone passes a preset perimeter that is either 500 feet or 7 miles from the house. Officials insisted that the device won't track a person's location but only senses when the cellphone passes the designated virtual "fence."
At that point, the Lyric app will calibrate and reset a house thermostat to the best energy efficient setting possible — usually between about 62 and 85 degrees. Midwest homeowners should expect to save $133 to $173 a year with the automated resetting, Honeywell said. Customers in other parts of the country could save more or less.
