Hello James and Everyone, I purchased the Sensi model st55 Smart Thermostat 2 days ago and had it installed early this morning.
In a word, it is amazing. The physical buttons are easy-to-use and allow for complete use of the thermostat just as was my old unit. I did not configure the wireless settings until late this evening because the buttons work so well. However, I now have the device setup to work with either Alexa or Siri. And of course, one can use the Sensi app which is remarkably VoiceOver accessible. Now I will tell you that the Apple Home Kit setup was a thousand times easier than was Amazon Alexa. In fact, for the first time, I was truly disappointed with Alexa because, in my opinion, not only would a blind or low vision person be hard pressed to configure the unit without sighted assistance, but the process is unintuitive and convoluted. In addition, at the time of this writing, one cannot setup Alexa with the device until one uses the Sensi app to create an external account, etc. Ridiculous. Apple Home Kit, on the other hand, was fast, simple, and could easily be configured by a totally blind person as long as the person had the security code which is included on a sheet of paper located inside the package. The best part? One does not need to install the third-party Sensi app in order to be up and running in minutes. I have decided to use Siri to run the thermostat as doing so is intuitive and works flawlessly from all of my Apple devices including my Apple Watch. I think the Sensi people must love Apple because, if one did not want to configure Home Kit, manually, to work with the device, one only has to point iPhone camera to a QR code located in the packaging which automatically launches Home Kit and begins the configuration process. Most impressive, to say the least. While I love Alexa, this round definitely goes to Siri. Thank you all for your contribution to this thread and, like James, I definitely recommend this $80 unit to anyone who is in the market for a new thermostat, WiFi enabled or not. Mark From: viphone@googlegroups.com <viphone@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of James Bentley Sent: Tuesday, December 27, 2022 7:26 PM To: viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: RE: An Alexa Compatible Thermostat, Anyone? I’ve had a Sensi model st55 for 2 years now.Be sure you get this cheaper $80.00, model available from Amazon. It has buttons that control selecting heat or air conditioning and changing the temperature and more. It also works with Alexa and there is an app for I Phone and I think, Android. Note, the more expensive model is flat screen only. No buttons. The buttons are important for a blind person to use the thermostat in case your internet goes down. The $80.00, thermostat with buttons is model ST55. Here is an Amazon link. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NB1OB0I/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&aaxitk=16b53869f5473df1c2e96eaa091b5ae3&hsa_cr_id=1865675060401&pd_rd_plhdr=t&pd_rd_r=a4851b0d-8d87-4199-8c2b-32c4437daff2&pd_rd_w=8kn92&pd_rd_wg=ViTHK&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_mcd_asin_0_bkgd HTH, James B From: mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com <mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Wayne Scott Sent: Tuesday, December 27, 2022 3:48 PM To: mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: An Alexa Compatible Thermostat, Anyone? I highly recommendthe Sensi thermostat. It works with both Alexa and iPhone. Wayne Scott On Dec 27, 2022, at 2:23 PM, Katrina Anderson <mailto:kanderson8...@sbcglobal.net> wrote: My Honeywell programmable thermostat has buttons around the visual display. I am able to do some basic things without the Internet, app or Alexa, but since I am totally blind, I have to rely on good notes (not enough space for braille labels). I am very pleased with this thermostat, and what is especially cool is that I had nothing to do with selecting it. The thermostat was selected/installed by the company/workers who installed a new furnace and AC 7.5 years ago. In case it would prove helpful, details about my thermostat follow: Honeywell Thermostat Model and/or Serial #: Focus Pro TH6320WF Above based on the Model 6000 Katrina -----Original Message----- From: mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com <mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Sieghard Weitzel Sent: Tuesday, December 27, 2022 2:58 PM To: mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: RE: An Alexa Compatible Thermostat, Anyone? Honeywell T9 or T10 would probably be my choice, we have a Honeywell T5 which has long since been discontinued, but it works well although it is a touch screen thermostat so if for some reason your internet goes down you would have a hard time setting anything on it, but I believe many smart thermostats would be the same way. -----Original Message----- From: mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com <mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of M. Taylor Sent: Monday, December 26, 2022 2:01 PM To: mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com Cc: mailto:vipho...@googlegroups.com Subject: An Alexa Compatible Thermostat, Anyone? Hello Everyone, Okay, I know that I have asked this question before but, now that I must buy a new thermostat for my home, within the next week or so, as my 32 year old model is starting to fail on a virtually daily basis, what Alexa compatible thermostat do you either recommend and / or are currently using? I am aware of the Nest brand models; I thought they were Google-only models but I think they also can work with Alexa, right? Does anyone have any experience with Nest / Alexa compatibility? Also, I know that Honeywell makes Alexa models but, from what I have read on the web, today, one must setup an online account with Honeywell before the device can be used with Alexa. That sounds like a lot of trouble to me; maybe. The only thing I know for certain is that I want a model that will work with Amazon Alexa, out of the box, because I do not want to use a third-party app, is I can avoid doing so. I have come to trust the Alexa app for iOS and iPad OS. Mark -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. 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