ecobee Comfort and Security Bundle, Smart Thermostat Premium & SmartSensor

Why it's worth it

This is a thermostat, a room-sensor hub, an air quality monitor and a small security system in one box, bundled with two door and window sensors. It's the only pick here that watches temperature, occupancy and indoor air at the same time.

This is the thermostat that pays attention to more than one room. Every thermostat reads the temperature where it's mounted, which is usually a hallway nobody uses. The included SmartSensor reads a room you care about and tells the system somebody's in there, so the furnace runs for the bedroom instead of the wall by the front door. If your office over the garage is always the wrong temperature, that's the fix.

Ecobee rates the savings at up to 26% a year on heating and cooling, measured against holding a house at a flat 72 degrees. Treat that as a ceiling rather than a promise. It's ENERGY STAR certified, which matters mostly because it makes the unit eligible for utility rebates in a lot of territories, and those are worth checking before you order.

From our review of 5 smart thermostats, by David Sinclair, Managing Editor

What we like

• +This is the thermostat that pays attention to more than one room
• +Ecobee rates the savings at up to 26% a year on heating and cooling, measured against holding a house at a flat 72 degrees
• +The built-in air quality monitor flags when the air in your house goes bad, suggests what to do about it, and nags you when the…
• +The security half of the bundle is the part to think hardest about

What to know

• –It's the most expensive setup here, and a chunk of that cost is security hardware you may not want
• –The door and window sensors are where the install goes sideways
• –It's a physically large unit