In the fast-evolving world of smart tech, picking the perfect smart thermostat for an enterprise remains a vital step toward achieving far greater energy efficiency, operational cost-effectiveness, and an overall sustainable facility. Far from being a simple on-off switch, smart thermostats boast advanced features that can make a huge difference to the "business" part of a "business climate." Most smart thermostats allow you to control the HVAC system via a mobile app, so you can see at a glance where the system is controlled and make smart decisions about where the system needs to be doing more to save energy—like, say, ensuring that a room is cool or warm enough for its human occupants when it's not using space heaters or other electrical appliances and that a room is using HVAC energy efficiently when there is no one in that room. But some smart thermostats are dumb, and some are smart in ways that are not particularly helpful.
Compatibility is an important consideration for enterprises that want to ensure their new smart thermostats work seamlessly with existing systems. Many businesses house HVAC systems of all shapes and sizes across their myriad locations, and a robust, “diverse” ecosystem like that demands a thermostat that can easily integrate into any number of setups. The leading manufacturers of smart thermostats offer a range of solutions that suit the basic climate control needs of all businesses, whether they tend toward simple two-wire setups or more complex and “stupid” (i.e., not smart, but certainly working hard and well) multi-system arrangements. Beyond that, a good smart thermostat can interface not only with BAS systems (which handle a range of business facilities management functions) but also with a number of software-driven climate control setups that businesses might use.
For enterprises that are opting for the installation of smart thermostats, security is the topmost factor to consider. This is because these devices are part of the network infrastructure and thus could be susceptible to cyber threats. Choosing thermostats that have some basic security features is essential if an enterprise wants to keep its sensitive data safe. These features include encryption, access controls, and secure update processes. An enterprise can further bolster the security of the thermostat, however, by using a network segmentation strategy and by regularly maintaining and patching the device. And all of this is crucial: not only for the reliable and uninterrupted climate control that a smart thermostat should provide, but also and especially for the ever-elusive "workplace comfort" that is rather hard to quantify but nonetheless vital for employee satisfaction and productivity.