Today we are analyzing the smart thermostat from Honeywell, and more specifically the Honeywell Lyric T6 thermostat. More recently, the editorial team of BestSmartDevice felt the need to replace the boiler. Along with the boiler, we decided to replace the thermostat since the previous one was just without smart features. We will tell you why we chose this specific thermostat, its advantages, installation and operating features.
Beeld | Productnaam | Specificaties | Prijs |
 | Honeywell Lyric T6 |
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Main features/selection criteria for this thermostat:
- Phone control
- Heating schedule per day of the week or per group (weekdays/weekends)
- Geofencing – the ability to turn off the thermostat when you are not at home
- Ability to manage from outside the house
- Manage with voice assistants
- Ability to view active working time statistics
- The presence of a smart heating algorithm
- Price
- Reliability of choice
Phone control
Of course, no one can surprise anyone with such a feature as control via the phone nowadays. In Honeywell Lyric, it is very simply organized:
- there is a Honeywell Home application, which serves as a hub for many smart things from Honeywell;
- the thermostat also has a homekit code, with which you can link it to a standard homekit from apple
- easily connects to Google Home
- the device is also compatible with Amazon Alexa, Homey, IFTTT which we have not yet tested.
Of all these methods, the Honeywell Home application is the most flexible and full of functionality, which we will describe.
The most interesting features of Honeywell Home for Lyric T6
With the heating schedule, you set up your own personal schedule. Has two modes:
- group – when the days of the week are divided into weekdays and weekends
- individual – when each day has its own schedule
The user experience has taught that this is almost the most useful functionality, because it allows you to configure the heating mode as flexibly as possible. With the right setting, you can in turn save on heating. For example: if a family only spends a few morning hours at home and returns in the evening, this can be reflected in the graph and the boiler will not heat for most of the day. Also, with the application, you can set a holiday period when you are not at home and do not need to turn on the boiler at all. Geofencing (zoning) allows you to turn off the boiler if the devices of registered users are outside a certain radius around the house and vice versa to turn it on if this radius is exceeded. The minimum radius is 500 meters and the maximum is 500 miles. Smart Tuning is a feature that implies that the thermostat can teach itself based on data such as:
- the time it takes to heat the room to a certain temperature;
- temperature/weather outside;
- your schedule and temperature preferences.
As a result, after a period of 1-2 weeks of trial and error, the thermostat starts to heat the room in advance, so that you already feel comfortable at the agreed hour. At the same time, it takes into account external factors to decide when exactly to turn on the boiler. In practice, this function turns on the boiler too early in the first few days. It is possible that after the initial phase has passed, the settings are changed, but the simplest and also most effective way is to manually set the company schedule of the boiler. With statistics on the operation of the boiler, you can look at the time of the actual operation of the boiler during the day and change the set heating schedule based on this to save more. From the basic functions, you can with the application:
- View the temperature in the room at this moment;
- Temporarily set the temperature at a certain level;
- Turn off the boiler completely or vice versa.
Voice assistants and apps like Apple Home Kit and Google home are also compatible with the thermostat, as mentioned earlier. In this case, the functions are limited to the ability to set the current target temperature and turn the boiler on / off. Also worth mentioning is the problem we encountered when connecting the thermostat to the Apple HomeKit. It was that the iPhone 7 found the thermostat, but it was impossible to operate the thermostat. After removing the thermostat from HomeKit, it was no longer possible to add it again, it simply did not appear in the detected devices. But it is worth noting that the iPhone XS did not have this problem. It is unlikely that this problem occurs with everyone, but keep in mind that this can also happen. A solution to this problem could be to set up a script in the IFTTT application. This allows you to control applications and devices based on certain triggers, so you do not have to use the HomeKit application. The thermostat is available in two colors: black and white.
Installation
In the configuration, the thermostat comes with a boiler control, as shown in the following picture: This control is connected directly to the boiler via a two-wire cable, allowing you to send and receive signals to the boiler. Please note that the wire itself is not included in the package! It is also worth mentioning that the control unit has its own power supply, which means that there needs to be a socket nearby (the cord length is about 1 meter). And of course, you need a wire that connects the control unit to the thermostat: the length and complexity of the gasket depend entirely on where you want to place the thermostat in your home. Here you can find the installation instructions in English (https://getconnected.honeywellhome.com/en/t6-support) Even if you do not want to translate from English, the instructions will be clear to you thanks to diagrams and video links. For installation, you will need to drill into the walls, as usually both the control unit and the thermostat itself are mounted vertically on the wall. But there are also variants of the T6R and T6R-HW Smart Thermostat thermostats that connect to the control unit via wifi. These thermostats come with a stand that can be placed on a table, bedside table, or another convenient horizontal surface.
Wiring Diagrams
This thermostat can be connected to various boilers, both those controlled via the OpenTherm protocol and conventional ones that operate on the on/off principle. Here is the complete list of possible connection diagrams (they can also be found on the link):
- boiler combinations with two circuits: for heating and hot water preparation
- a traditional boiler controlled by a relay that turns on the boiler when the temperature drops below the set temperature and, vice versa, turns off when the current temperature exceeds the set threshold
- a boiler that supports the OpenTherm protocol – such a boiler can operate more energy-efficiently through modulation technology (more on that later)
- central heating system from city heating network.
OpenTherm Protocol
This protocol was originally developed by Honeywell and has become a global standard for boilers. If the boiler supports this protocol, it theoretically works with any other OpenTherm device. But in fact, this protocol, in addition to the standard functionality, provides a certain freedom for manufacturers who can add their own special functionality. This particular functionality of the manufacturer leads to the fact that not all OpenTherm devices are fully compatible with each other. What are the advantages of this protocol? Its use makes it possible to improve the common problem of overheating or underheating of boilers: when a standard boiler operates in the on and off mode, when the room is heated to a certain temperature, the boiler is turned off, but the inertia of the heating system causes the room to overheat. And vice versa – when the temperature drops below the target, the boiler is turned on, but the room heats up gradually. With the OpenTherm protocol, you can adjust the temperature and the moment the boiler is turned on more accurately, which leads to leveling the inertia of the heating system. As a result, we get a completely different, more economical operating scheme of the boiler, as well as a more stable room temperature. As a result, we get:
- Improvement of the efficiency of the heating system
- Reduction of the number of on/off cycles, which extends the life of the boiler
- Possibility to manage a larger number of settings
- The boiler can also send information to the thermostat
Comparison of Honeywell Lyric T6 with Google Nest Thermostat 3rd Generation
Thermostat T6 Lyric and Google nest have a lot in common, such as:
- Geofencing (we talked about this feature earlier);
- Optimal start function – when the thermostat instructs the boiler to heat the batteries, so that by the time
- indicated in the schedule, the temperature already meets your expectations;
- The use of external factors such as the outside temperature and the time needed to heat the house based on
- statistics from the past;
- Setting up a work schedule;
- Using the same protocol to control the boiler;
- Support for voice assistants and the ability to control via applications.
This is how these thermostats differ on other, perhaps less important characteristics.
Google Nest has:
- higher body quality (metal and glass);
- an interesting operating system that uses a rotating outer edge;
- motion sensors built into the thermostat that turn on the screen when you approach;
- the housing has a built-in level, which facilitates installation (although this is not a big problem);
- a huge ecosystem of devices that seamlessly integrate with Google Assistant and Google Home.
Talking about the savings in thermal energy that these thermostats provide is not grateful, because for comparison it would be necessary to use them for a fairly long period in the same house. Due to the difference between houses (whether they are well or poorly insulated, whether the boiler supports improved protocols, etc.) it is very difficult to derive a clear difference in effects between these thermostats. Therefore, unfortunately, we can only judge based on official information from Google, which says that the average heating savings will be about 10-12%. For Honeywell, such information could not be found.
Cost Honeywell t6 Lyric t6
If we talk about the price, then Honeywell t6 lyric is on average 20-25% cheaper than google nest. So at the time of writing, the new Google Nest costs 199 euros, while the Lyric t6 costs about 150 euros. Before you proceed to purchase, you should also familiarize yourself with which boilers can be compatible with this thermostat.
Conclusions
Summing up the above, the Honeywell T6 Lyric thermostat and its wireless options are a very good option for a smart thermostat that can do everything necessary for a modern smart home. Its specifications, price, and the rich history of Honeywell itself, if they do not distinguish it from the flagships, then they certainly ensure a place among them. And the ability to connect to a large number of heating systems makes it truly universal. So in many cases, it is a good choice.
Beeld | Productnaam | Specificaties | Prijs |
| | Honeywell Lyric T6 |
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