We will, therefore, show you in this guide how smart thermometers work and which models to buy online so that we can make our home, our room or our office even smarter (in particular if we also have other home automation devices to control the heating and air conditioning system).READ ALSO: Best weather app for Android with temperatures and weather forecast
Better smart thermometers
As mentioned in the introduction, we will first show you which technologies use the smart thermometers currently on the market, how to connect them to our smartphone or the Internet and finally we will find the classic purchase guide, so that we can choose the model that best suits our needs.
How a smart thermometer works
The smart thermometer integrates sensors capable of reveal in real-time the temperature and humidity of the room in which it is placed, so you can immediately know the climatic conditions of the same through the integrated display or using the app combined with the smart thermometer.
These devices can connect to the phone via Bluetooth or connect directly to the Internet via a wireless (in many cases with protocol Zigbee), so that we can monitor the situation even when we are away from home, as well as interface with other home automation devices in the home).
The more expensive models can work like real weather stations, using data taken from external sensors (sold separately) or information from the Internet to show the weather forecast.
Obviously, in order to manage these thermometers, we will have to also download the paired app, so as to have access to all the functions of the device such as for example notifications in case of sudden changes in temperature and humidity (very useful if we have small children and babies).
All the models we will report to you they are portable, we can, therefore, place them anywhere and just one or more batteries is enough to make them work (without having to resort to the home power supply, which would require an additional expense for the electrician).
Buying Guide
After having briefly seen the characteristics of smart thermometers, in this chapter we will show you which are the best models that can be purchased online on Amazon, currently the best site for home automation devices also because of the extended warranty (of which we talked about in our guide The Amazon guarantee reimburses the money spent within two years).
The first model we can view is the ORIA Hygrometer Thermometer, available on Amazon for less than € 20.
This small device can be placed anywhere even when hanging, thanks to the fabric hook on the back. Thanks to the Bluetooth 5.0 connection we can use it to monitor temperature and humidity through the dedicated app, up to a distance of 20 meters (indicative).
The thermometer also keeps an accurate record of the recorded values and it is also possible to export them to a convenient CSV file.
The app to manage this device is Sensor Blue, available free for Android and iPhone.
As a valid alternative to the product seen above, we can focus on Xiaomi Mi Temperature And Humidity Monitor, available on Amazon for less than € 20.
Also in this case we will have a small smart thermometer that shows, on a high contrast screen, both the room temperature and the humidity; in addition to the screen, we can record and monitor environmental data via smartphone, by downloading the Xiaomi Home app and connecting via Bluetooth.
The device can also be used in a home with other home automation devices: all we have to do is get closer to the thermometer, make the connection and take advantage of the Xiaomi Home routines so that we can automatically turn on the heating and air conditioning when certain values are reached of temperature and humidity.
If we haven’t downloaded the app yet Xiaomi Home we can do it for free on Android devices and on iPhone / iPad.
If, on the other hand, we are looking for something even smarter, we can view it Xiaomi Aqara Smart, available on Amazon for less than € 25.
This enhanced version of the Xiaomi thermostat allows you to integrate all the features seen in the previous device without using Bluetooth but using the Wi-Fi network (specifically the ZigBee Wireless protocol, which we can integrate using a Hub such as the Aqara Hub Mi Gateway).
With it, we can, therefore, monitor temperature and humidity inside Xiaomi Home (the same app seen previously) even when we are away from home, so we can start the temperature routines automatically even in our absence. The alert mode is very useful, allowing you to receive alert notifications on your phone whenever the temperature or humidity exceeds a certain value.
If we want to integrate it into a home with other home automation devices, in addition to Xiaomi Home we can integrate it into Apple HomeKit, so that we can use it on the specific iPhone app.
Are we looking for a highly configurable smart thermometer for home automation? We can take a look at KKmoon Zigbee Humidity and temperature sensor, available on Amazon for less than € 30.
This device can be connected wirelessly to Zigbee so that it can communicate with all the other devices that use the same protocol and that are connected to the same reference hub (if we do not have a Zigbee hub, it is better to get one immediately like the KKmoon Tuya ZigBee Smart Gateway Hub).
The thermometer shows the temperature and humidity on the high contrast screen and, once connected to the wireless network, it is possible to monitor the climatic data even outside the home, by downloading the management app Tuya Smart on Android and iPhone devices.
Also through the app, it is possible to automate some simple routines, so as to automatically turn on the heating or air conditioning if the temperature or humidity in the house varies too much compared to the reference value.
Conclusions
If we are creating a house full of home automation devices, one or more smart thermometers cannot be missing, so that we can coordinate the heating or air conditioning of the house together with the main thermostat (which is usually placed in one room, so it cannot monitor the temperature of the other rooms).
The devices we have shown you are excellent to keep the temperature and humidity under control in the room of children, infants, or in the rooms where we keep paintings, food or valuables (which can be damaged by sudden changes in temperature and humidity).
If we have not yet placed a smart thermostat in our home, we can remedy it immediately by reading our guide Smart thermostat and automatic heating and air conditioning control.
We don’t know anything about home automation? It is never too late to start! In this regard, we can immediately deepen the topic by reading our articles on Home Automation (Smart Home): the best devices to install and use and how to Automate lights, sockets, and thermostats to save.