Designed for use with The Home Depot’s Hubspace home automation platform, the Commercial Electric Smart Thermostat is equipped with an embedded Wi-Fi radio that allows you to control it from anywhere with your phone. It supports Alexa and Google voice commands and routines, but it doesn’t offer some of the perks you get with pricier smart thermostats, such as remote room sensors or integrations with Apple HomeKit or IFTTT. At $79, it’s a good value, especially if you already use other Hubspace smart home devices, but the $129.99 Nest Thermostat offers a more aesthetically pleasing design, additional integration opportunities, and energy-saving suggestions, making it our Editors’ Choice winner in this price range.
Design and Features: All the Basics
The Commercial Electric Smart Thermostat is white, rectangular with rounded corners, and measures 3.5 by 4.7 by 1.0 inches (HWD). It works with most one- and two-stage heating and cooling HVAC systems, supports auxiliary heat pump control, and comes with a power extender kit for systems without a C-wire. Also included in the box is a comprehensive user guide, mounting hardware, a mounting plate, wiring labels, and a wall plate.
(Credit: Commercial Electric)
The front of the unit has an LCD that shows the current room temperature and has small status indicators for auto, cooling, and heating modes, as well as fan mode, schedule mode, and Wi-Fi.
To the right of the indicators are Fan and Mode buttons, along with up and down arrows to adjust the target temperature. The Mode button lets you toggle between auto, cooling, heating, and off. This button glows red when in heating mode, blue in cooling mode, and white when the thermostat is on but in standby mode. There are three fan settings: auto (comes on when necessary in heating and cooling mode), intermittent (comes on for a set period of time), or on (runs independently of the heating and cooling). There are six presets that you can program for one-touch heating and cooling, a vacation mode setting, and schedule programming for each day of the week.
For connectivity, the thermostat uses a Bluetooth radio to pair with your phone and a Wi-Fi radio to connect to your home network. The Smart Thermostat uses the same Hubspace mobile app (available for Android and iOS) as the Feather River Smart Glass Door and the Defiant Touchpad Deadbolt. Once connected, you can control the thermostat from anywhere using the app or with Alexa and Google voice commands. You can use Alexa routines to have the thermostat interact with compatible smart home devices, but it doesn’t support IFTTT applets that provide a wide range of third-party integrations, nor does it work with Apple HomeKit.
The thermostat appears on the home screen of the Hubspace app in a panel that shows the name of the device, the current temperature, and the status (heating, cooling, off). Tap the panel to open a screen with a dial for setting the target temperature and tabs at the top for customizing presets and enabling vacation mode. Other buttons let you enable heating and cooling modes, fan mode and setting, and turn the thermostat on and off. The screen background is color-coded to turn red while in heating mode, blue in cooling mode, and white when the thermostat is off.
(Credit: Commercial Electric/PCMag)
At the very bottom of the screen are schedule and settings buttons. The schedule button lets you create heating and cooling schedules for each day of the week. The settings button takes you to a screen where you can configure the thermostat for your specific type of HVAC system, set a safety mode minimum temperature threshold, choose a temperature measurement unit (Fahrenheit, Celsius), configure filter replacement parameters and notifications, edit the thermostat name and location, and set up Wi-Fi.
If you use Alexa, it’s also worth checking out the Amazon Smart Thermostat ($79.99), which adds energy usage reports but does not work with Google Assistant. As a more aesthetic and feature-rich alternative, the Nest Thermostat offers energy usage reports, HVAC system health alerts, IFTTT support, and suggestions that can help lower your bill. If you’re willing to spend a lot more and are looking for extra perks such as air quality monitoring, Apple HomeKit support, remote room sensors, and smart speaker functionality, check out the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium ($249.99).
Installation and Performance: Simple and Satisfactory
As with most smart thermostats, the Commercial Electric model is easy to install, but doing so involves working with low-voltage wiring. If you’re uncomfortable with this, it might be a good idea to hire a pro. I started the installation by turning off the circuit breaker that supplies power to my thermostat before removing it. I took a picture of the existing wiring for reference, labeled them, and connected the wires to the new mounting plate terminals. I attached the plate to the wall using the included hardware, snapped the thermostat onto the mounting plate, and restored power to the circuit.
To set up the thermostat, you have to download the app and create an account if you’re new to the Hubspace platform. I already had the app from testing other Hubspace devices, so I opened it and tapped the plus icon in the upper right corner of the home screen, and tapped Add Product. Following the on-screen instructions, I used my phone to scan the QR code on the back of the thermostat. The app immediately recognized the device and added it to my Hubspace account. I gave it a name, selected my Wi-Fi SSID, and tapped Connect to add it to my home network.
The Commercial Electric Smart Thermostat worked well in testing, but the display could be brighter. Both manual and app controls were responsive and the thermostat always adhered to my schedules. The presets worked as intended. I had no trouble using Alexa voice commands to set the target temperature, and my Alexa routine to turn on the heat and set the temperature to 72 degrees when a Philips 4000 Series Smart Lock was unlocked worked without issue.
Verdict: An Affordable Smart Thermostat for Hubspace Users
The Commercial Electric Smart Thermostat lets you control your home heating and cooling system from your phone or with your voice via Alexa or Google Assistant. It’s easy to install, works as intended, and at $79, it’s among the most affordable smart thermostats we have tested. We also appreciate its useful scheduling options and customizable presets for one-tap temperature control. It’s especially appealing if you use other Hubspace-compatible products. That said, if you can increase your budget, the Nest Thermostat offers a more attractive design, better system monitoring, and helpful suggestions to lower your energy bill, so it remains our Editors’ Choice.
Commercial Electric Smart Thermostat
The Bottom Line
The Commercial Electric Smart Thermostat is reasonably priced, easy to install, and lets you control your home’s temperature with your phone or voice, but extra features are limited.
Like What You’re Reading?
This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links.
By clicking the button, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our
Terms of Use and
Privacy Policy.
You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.
About John R. Delaney
Contributing Editor
