Getting Your Home Connected

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Schneider Electric . All opinions are 100% mine.

We are always looking for ways to keep our home organized and running efficiently. Today I am sharing our experience on getting connected with our new wifi thermostat. Weather in Wyoming is always sporadic but never more so than in the fall and winter. We sometimes leave the house in the morning with freezing temperatures only to arrive home in the afternoon with warm 70 degree temps. While we’ve enjoyed the variety of weather we’ve been having, it’s been irritating trying to regulate the temperature in our home. We recently had the opportunity to install the Wiser Air Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat by Schneider Electric, the global specialist in energy management that develops connected technologies and solutions to manage energy and process in ways that are safe, reliable, efficient, and sustainable. I’m excited to walk you through the process and share our experience. While I love to DIY, I know nothing about wiring so I was a bit nervous, but the process is actually pretty simple and totally doable! We started by opening up the packaging and reading through the instructions which gave us simple installation and setup directions along with listing the tools recommended for installation. After going through the preparation stages listed in the manual (which included making sure the breaker was turned off and checking the volt meter to make sure the power was turned off) we got started by removing the old thermostat. After removing the wires from the old unit, we realized we needed to connect a common wire to the new unit. We found a spare in our wiring (the blue wire) and used the wire stripper to prepare it for the new unit. We also had to attach the common wire in our furnace. Next we reattached the wires to the new thermostat and secured the unit to the wall using the anchors and screws provided. You’ll notice that the new Wiser Air Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat covers a smaller area then our old thermostat which left us needing to paint and patch the previous holes. There is an optional back plate included with the system that completely covers the area so you don’t have to make these repairs if you run into the same issue but I love the smaller, sleeker look of the unit by itself so I figured I wouldn’t mind repainting over the old area. (This thermostat also comes in two colors, black or white.) To finish the installation, we attached the front of the wiser air to the back plate making sure the terminal pins connected correctly.  At this point I patched and painted the wall and we flipped on the breaker to the unit to find it wasn’t powering on. We went through the instructions again and were stumped as to why it wasn’t working. We talked to customer support and realized there was a safety switch inside our furnace that was engaged removing power to our furnace because we had left the cover open. I’m sure this is a safety measure, so make sure you have your furnace door back on securely so the safety is disengaged and the thermostat will power up. Total rookie mistake on our part which was amusing considering how seamless the wiring process was.  Now I love being able to manage everything right from my phone, whether I am away from the house or sitting on the couch. We can regulate our thermostat from the app on our phones (this is the only smart thermostat with a windows app) and manage our home energy even when we are away.The Eco IQ™ self-learning finds the right temperature and you don’t even have to pick a number, just let the thermostat know if you are too hot or too cold. It also has a unique comfort boost feature that allows you to get instant heating or cooling without changing your schedule or settings. My kids favorite feature is the Wiser Pulse which provides an ambient glow feature on the thermostat that lights up BLUE for cooling, YELLOW for heating and GREEN when Eco IQ™ is saving energy and helps homeowners save money without sacrificing comfort. Not only do you get access to the temperature inside your home, but also outside of the home including weather alerts for your area. So many cool features with the Wiser Air Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat. Go here to  purchase. Wouldn’t this make a great Christmas gift?