Best Smart Vent Overall
FLAIR SMART VENT
We think Flair is the best smart vent overall because of its intelligent airflow management system. You could save 30% of your bills and use it with Ecobee and voice assistants. You do need multiple “pucks” if you plan to set it up in multiple rooms at home.
Best for High Precision Airflow Control
ECOVENT
This intelligent smart vent is all you need if you want precision control and balance of your home’s temperature. It features silent operation and a wired Ethernet port for a more stable connection. The downside, limited compatibility and requires expensive hubs and sensors.
Smart homes are no longer a future dream - they’re here! More and more homeowners switch to smart homes not just to lower their energy costs but also to make life at home more convenient.
So why would you invest in a smart vent? Is it worth it?
Thermostats depend on your air vents to control airflow pressure and distribute air evenly to maintain the right temperature in your home. Smart vents automatically open or close to redirect air to other rooms until a comfortable temperature is reached. So if you have smart thermostats at home such as Ecobee, then you should consider smart vents to help balance individual rooms and save on your electricity bills.
Compare the Best Ecobee Smart Vent
| Flair Smart Vent | Ecovent | Keen Home | Alea Labs | AC Infinity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $79 | $212.49 | $89.99 | $379 | $69.99 |
| Power | Wired or battery | Battery | Battery | Battery | Wired |
| Smart app | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Voice command | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| View on Amazon | View on Amazon | View on Amazon | View on Amazon | View on Amazon |
How much energy can you save with smart vents?
The energy you can save with smart vents depends on your current system and how you intend to use your smart vents. If you want to use it to shut off some areas of your home for longer periods, then smart vents can significantly reduce your energy consumption. Manufacturers claim that you can save 20%-30% of your energy when used with smart thermostats.
Smart vents are useful for equally distributing airflow throughout your home. So it’s not just about energy savings but more for increased comfort.
Must Have Features
Temperature Sensors
Smart vents need temperature sensors to do its job effectively. When choosing a smart vent, make sure that it comes with its own temperature sensor. If not, then it should be compatible with third-party temperature sensors.
Correct Vent Size
Vents can come in various sizes. To know the right size for your vent, start measuring from the opening of the duct (not on the outer dimension). The size of your existing vent will guide you in choosing the correct smart vent size.
Battery Life
Most smart vents today can be powered with batteries. Make sure that the smart vent is designed with long battery life. They won’t be as annoying as your smoke detectors, but you don’t want to replace the batteries in your vents very often.
Pressure Monitoring
One of the essential functions of smart vents is to be able to monitor duct pressure in your rooms. Otherwise, they can cause unnecessary strain on your HVAC unit and shorten its life.
Smart Home Integration
If you’re looking for smart vents, I’m going to assume that you already have some home automation in place. So when choosing a smart vent, make sure that it is compatible with your other smart home devices. Check if you can integrate it with third-party sensors and use it easily with IFTTT or your voice assistants.
Best Smart Vent Overall: Flair Smart Vent
Flair beats the other smart vents in the market with its intelligent airflow management system. Use it with Ecobee and voice assistants, and save up to 30% on your energy.
Customer Reviews
"I have remote sensors with my Ecobee thermostat. I decided to go with Smart Vents because this HVAC guy quoted me at a huge cost to rezone my house. I bought vents for each of my 5 rooms, and then paired them with a remote sensor.
I put the one Puck in my master bedroom, just so my wife can change the temperature there without using an App. Setup was pretty easy and it started syncing with my Ecobee immediately. Within a day I felt it balancing my system. The vents are much cheaper than other smart vents, and with the remote sensors plus one Puck, it’s the best option."
Flair Smart Vent is one of the top smart vents because of its power-saving technology and durability. The manufacturer of Flair claims up to 30% savings on your home energy usage. It is made of steel for sturdy construction and works well with a lot of smart home devices such as Ecobee. You can even use voice commands like Alexa and Google Assistant to manage your home climate.
I personally love how Flair can quickly achieve the target temperature of our room. If you have trouble areas in your home that need to have consistent air flow, then I would say that Flair is a wise upgrade!
Best for High Precision Airflow Control: Ecovent
If you want more precision control on your home climate, then the Ecovent is the best option. It has an expensive price tag but in exchange, you'll enjoy its silent operation and the optimum comfort.
Ecovent comes with three aspects of operation to balance your home temperature. First the opening and closing of the smart vent per room. Next is the checking of the humidity and temperature through the smart sensors. Last is the sending data to the central hub.
Aside from its intelligent technology for precision air flow control, you can also connect the unit to an Ethernet port for more stable internet connection. However, it has limited compatibility with third-party sensors and home automation devices.
Best for Zoned Climate Control: Keen Home
Keen comes with advanced algorithms for zoned climate control in your home. Integrate it with Ecobee and Nest for better home temperature control.
Customer Reviews
"Keen Home support is very helpful with every little issue I ran into. They only have chat/email support on weekdays, so if you are not in a hurry, they are very good at helping out. If you are looking for immediate support, you will be challenged as it is not live and there is no community page."
Over the years, Keen’s product has evolved with better features and hardware design quality. It comes with a complete zoning system such as a smart bridge, smart vents, and temperature sensors for better home temperature control.
Keen works well with popular thermostats like Ecobee and Nest. You can even have your smart vent connected to the SmartThings hub. It comes with built-in temperature and pressure sensors to automate your HVAC system. You can also add more external temperature and pressure sensors if you want better accuracy in certain rooms.
Best for Air Quality Control: Alea Labs
Alea can adjust measure, analyze, and adjust your home climate to meet your unique needs. It can even work as an air purifier!
Alea Labs is a new player in the market that’s packed with advanced features. The unit has the capability to measure, analyze, and adjust to your temperature settings based on your preferences, room usage, local weather, and many other factors.
Aside from being a smart vent, Alea can also work as air purifiers with built-in air quality sensors. You can power it with 4 AA batteries or rechargeable batteries. It even uses an energy-harvesting technology to prolong the battery life of your unit!
Alea is also designed to work well with other thermostats like Ecobee, Honeywell, and Nest.
Quietest: AC Infinity AirTap Smart Booster Fan
AC Infinity's Airtap keeps the right airflow to your room through its booster fan. Improve your HVAC's performance while maintaining a silent operation for optimum comfort.
Customer Reviews
"Since the 6x10 pre order went super fast and the only thing available were the 4x10 I gave it a shot. I was able to get a plastic ceiling register cover from Home Depot and make a flush mount face plate no problem. Product works great and is quiet."
Need a highly-quality booster fan to improve the airflow in your room? Then AC Infinity’s AirTap could be your solution. Unlike the other smart vents, Air Tap works by altering the airflow into the room to regulate the level of temperature.
AC Infinity’s Air Tap works well when installed with your duct system. Aside from improving your heating and cooling system, the booster fan also works quietly to ensure optimum comfort.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Are smart vents safe for my HVAC?
Smart vents should not cause any problems with your existing HVAC system as long as they are properly installed.
2. How many smart vents can I install?
The number of smart vents you can use depends on how many rooms you want to regulate the temperature.
3. Do smart vents help me save money?
In the long run, smart vents can help you save costs as it efficiently regulates your system's heating and cooling cycles, hence reducing your energy consumption.
4. How can I reset my smart vent?
First, you need to remove the smart vent from your smartphone app. Next, remove the battery from the device and insert it back to reset your smart vent.
Key Takeaways
If you’re looking for an upgrade to your HVAC system and at the same time save on your energy bills, then you should consider smart vents to your smart home ecosystem. These are great add-ons to monitor and control the airflow on multiple areas of your home to maintain comfort while reducing energy consumption.
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Hi, I’m Christy, and I’m an electronics engineer by profession. I have taught in a university for 2 years while pursuing my master’s degree in cognitive radio and worked for a company to develop wireless medical devices. Currently, I’m doing research for a doctorate degree in engineering using a wireless sensor network for smart agriculture. I’ve been active in our local IoT community, IoT Cebu, where I participate in conducting talks about Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and DIY home automation using Wi-Fi and ZigBee devices.
Last update on 2024-06-01 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API