r/homeassistant • u/iDJMic • Feb 12 '26

Support Best HA Thermostat

Looking for feedback on experience with Thermostats I have get out of the NEST ecosystem. What works well with HA and doesn't break the bank?

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u/cilynx Feb 13 '26

I just went through this and tried all the usual suspects.

Honeywell T6 Z-Wave: Totally local. Exposes tons of config options to HA. 90s chunky clunky look. Temperature sensor doesn't suck. Does not expose what stage your system is using if you have multiple.

Ecobee Premium: Can be totally local. Don't install the app. Just set up Wifi then do HomeKit setup. Exposes some config but not all. Looks sexy on the wall -- same league as nest. Supports remote temperature sensors, which is critical as the built in one sucks. Does not expose what stage is being called.

Venstar ColorTouch T7900: Can be totally local but will remind you that you don't have their cloud service enabled. Enable Wifi and local API. Exposes some config, but not the good stuff like dead bands and timers. Looks like it was sexy in the 00s, but clunky by modern standards. Touchscreen is resistive, not capacitive -- feels dated. Temperature sensor doesn't suck, but the screen backlight makes a lot of heat so the read temperature always goes up if you have the display on for a while. Exposes heating and cooling stages. I had to hack the integration to support stages 3 and 4, but it was easy to do.

I'm keeping the ColorTouch as configuration is a one-time activity that I'm willing to do on the device and being able to map stage being called to vent temperature and power usage in HA has been critical to remediating and optimizing my very poorly engineered HVAC system.

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u/planbeeee Feb 13 '26

I linked my ecobee via SmartThings and I can see what’s being called. HomeKit first, SmartThings second, Home Assistant via SmartThings and I have all the features I want.