Navigating the murky waters of thermostats can be tricky to say the least and just spending more money doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be getting a better thermostat – in some cases you’ll just be spending more money.

The Fantastic Five

Here are five of the top rated digital programmable thermostats you can find today. (Two of them even feature internet controls.)

Proliphix NT160e/h IP Thermostat

Compared to some of the other thermostats below, the NT160e/h really isn’t all that much too look at. At first glance, it looks like any old programmable thermostat with a small screen and a few buttons to push for programming.

However, don’t let the simple and basic looks fool you. It’s actually one of the most sophisticated thermostats on the market today and is really built to be controlled via the Internet, not the physical control panel.

My favorite part is that it allows me to take my Droid (any web enabled smart phone will work) and turn it into a remote control for the heating and cooling of my house whether I’m watching TV in the living room or if I’m 2,000 miles away taking a vacation in Napa Valley.

Pro1IAQ Model T905 Touchscreen Programmable Thermostat

You know how a lot of reviews feature pros and cons type lists. Well, even the best thermostats have complaints… except this one. I couldn’t find anyone saying anything negative about these units.

It has a blue glowing backlight that is both practical and cool looking, and features intuitive and easy to use wake, leave, return, and sleep programming icons.

It also happens to remain a budget friendly thermostat but still packs plenty of features and full touchscreen controls.

Lux Pro 5-2 Programmable Outlet Thermostat – PSP300

The outlet thermostat is actually a really cool little gizmo. This isn’t for controlling your furance of central air conditioning unit but for controlling window air conditioners and space heaters. It’s great for small rooms, greenhouses, passive solar applications, and RVs

BayWEB Internet Controlled Thermostat (white or black)

The BayWEb doesn’t look like much when you see the controller. It’s a small, touchscreen with a green led display. However, just like the Proliphix above, the magic lies in the web interface. You can control your thermostat from anywhere you can access the web and just like the Proliphix, you can use your smartphone (whether it be an iPhone, Blackberry, Pre, or Droid) as your universal remote control.

Honeywell Prestige HD YTHX9321R5003 Deluxe Comfort Thermostat System Kit

Honeywell is the top name in the world of thermostats for a reason – they make some of the best thermostats available and the Prestige HD is a great choice if you’re looking for a high end system.

Some of the people who’ve used it have said: “very best thermostat ever,” “love the Prestige HD,” and “best yet!”

It features a high definition, full color display that has 3 times better visual clarity than other thermostats. It has an intuitive graphical user interface and and easy to user touchscreen. Oh, and there’s also a remote control so you can change the temperature from anywhere in the house.

Other places to find thermostat reviews:

• Amazon
• Buzzilions
• ePinions
• Consumer Search
• Consumer Reports (charges access fee)

1) Install a Programmable Thermostat – I installed a digital programmable thermostat about 3 years ago now and I’ve been reaping the benefits ever since. At night in the winter, I let the temperature drop down to 62 because I don’t need my house to be warm when I’m sleeping. They can be programmed to do the same when you’re at work during the day and the savings can be pretty dramatic.

2) Upgrade your old appliances. How much are those old appliances costing you? It could be a pretty penny. My grandparents recently replaced their 40 year old refrigerator – saved them $60 a month! Old appliances suck up electricity like crazy – newer models are far more efficient.

3) Replace your light bulbs – Incandescent light bulbs may be cheap but they’re also extremely inefficient. If you’ve ever touched a light bulb that’s on, you know they’ll burn your skin (please don’t try this at home). A significant portion of the energy that goes to making light turn on is turned into heat. Now try touching a flourescent bulb – this one is okay to try at home – it will likely be warm to the touch but it won’t burn. I recommend replacing all your lights with flourescent bulbs – they last up to 10 times longer and can save you a bundle. If you really want maximum efficiency – you can turn to LED lights – they’ll remain cool to the touch when running and last for about 100,000 hours (11 years of continuous use). They’re expensive initially but you may never need to replace the bulb.

4) Install ceiling fans – a great way to keep your home comfortable in the summer without making your air conditioner work overtime is to install ceiling fans. The key to saving money with ceiling fans is to remember that ceiling fans cool people, not buildings. Turn them off when you’re not in the room. If you have high, vaulted ceilings, they can also be useful in the winter for pushing the hot air back down to where you want it – set it on low for this task.

5) On demand hot water heaters – Here’s another really cool appliance most people don’t know exist. You don’t need to have a water heater with a big tank to provide you with enough hot water to take your shower. In fact, new water heaters can heat up the water without storing it at all. They’ll heat it up instantly and only when you need it. Just think about how much energy is wasted keeping hot water hot for when you need it and I think you’ll see pretty quickly how this can save you a ton of money every year.

In a world where everything is on the Internet, it was only a matter of time before heating and cooling your home could be done online.

While the technology has been around for several years now in high end home automation installations, the technology has come down in price to the point where internet thermostats are actually cheaper than high end stand alone programmable thermostats from companies like Honeywell and Luxpro.

With IP thermostats, you can go online and securely login to your thermostat and adjust the temperature in your home no matter where you are in the world as long as you can get on the Internet.  (Now if internet enabled coffee makers were cheaper…)

Vacation home owners absolutely love these things and it’s easy to see why.

They can monitor the temperature of your home and send you an alert if the temperature falls outside of a certain range.  For example, if your furnace stops working, it can tell you something’s wrong and you can get someone there to fix it before your pipes burst and you have a major problem on your hands.

It can also get your ski condo warmed up in preparation of your arrival so you don’t have to spend the first couple hours waiting for everything to get warm and comfortable.

However, they’re great for your own home as well.  Let me give you an example.  When I go vacations or travel for work (which I do frequently), my home is empty so I don’t need any air conditioning in the summer and just enough heat to keep the pipes from freezing in the winter.

So I just set and hold my thermostat on an extreme temperature so I’m not wasting energy and money while I’m away.  If I know exactly when I’ll get back, a programmable thermostat could be programmed to have the house at a comfortable temperature when I get back.

However, most of the time I get home because and it’s either way to warm or way too cold because a) it’s a pain to reprogram the thermostat all the time and b) I don’t always know when I’ll be getting back.

However, with the internet controlled thermostat, I don’t have to know when I’ll be get getting home very far in advance.  I can use my Android phone (or Blackberry, iPhone, or any internet enabled smartphone) to pull up the control panel while I’m waiting for my luggage to arrive at the airport and when I get home, the furnace has had a chance to make the house nice and warm again like I never even left.

Heck, companies like Ecobee already have dedicated iPhone apps for their thermostats – expect most companies to follow suit in the very near future.

And they work in the reverse scenario as well.  Have you ever left for a trip and forgotten to turn down the thermostat?  Well, now you can just login and do it remotely without having to turn back around.

Another advantage offered by Ethernet thermostats is that they can get better and more capable over time.  While the hardware will stay the same unless you physical upgrade the unit, upgrading to newer and better software is possible.  With any other thermostat, you’d have to replace the entire unit if you wanted to upgrade.

So who makes these things and where do you get them? I’ve found four major manufacturers for home use and one who makes them for commercial applications.

Manufacturers

• Proliphix
• Aprilaire
• BAYweb
• Ecobee
• Lightstat (commercial an business)

Recommendations

As far as which thermostat to go with, I recommend the Proliphix Nt20e Programmable Internet Thermostat.  It’s highly capable and easy to use once installed.  I do, however, recommend professional installation if you’re not all that tech savvy as some people have reported problems getting the unit online.

I’d say it’s about on par with getting a printer on your network – if you can do that, you can get the thermostat online yourself.  Otherwise, get a pro.

Security

One concern you may have is about security.  After all, since you can control your temperature online, couldn’t someone just hack in?  All IP thermostats are designed with security in mind.  They all use Ethernet cables to plug directly into your network rather than using a wireless connection as it’s more secure.  Also, they all use password protected control panels so as long as you use strong passwords you’ll be the only one who can control the heating and cooling equipment in your home.