Honeywell has been named as the sole member of the “Leader” category in a report that ranks smart thermostat manufacturers by Navigant Research.
The company was singled out for the top spot due to its ability to react to challenger Nest and to capitalize on its dominant brand to its advantage, according to Navigant Research Leaderboard Report Smart Thermostats.
In 2013, responding to the market entrance of Nest thermostats in late 2011, Honeywell launched its Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat, which combines Honeywell’s Smart Response technology with a user-friendly interface and simple access through the Total Connect Comfort mobile application, Navigant said.
Nest, founded by a pair of former Apple executives, is a recent entrant into the smart thermostat market, but its model has been hailed as a reinvention of the device because of its bold aesthetic and technological innovations in analytics and learning capabilities, Navigant said. A video of Yoky Matsuoka, vice president of technology, Nest Labs and former head of Google Innovation, discussing smart thermostats can be seen here.
Five companies, led by Nest, are ranked as “Contenders.” The other four “Contenders” are Trane, Carrier, Energate and Ecobee. A further five vendors, Computime, Venstar, RTCA, Emerson and Tado, are listed as “Challengers,” in the report.
Smart thermostats have varying degrees of functionalityfor controlling temperature, automation, remote access, learning, and connectivity to home area networks, utility pricing signals (e.g., time-of-use and demand response), and cloud-based services.
These devices have gained traction in North America and Western Europe, and steady growth for the smart thermostat market – driven by rising energy costs, increased environmental awareness, regulatory pressure to encourage energy efficiency, and more effective marketing programs – is expected through 2020.
