Best Thermostats Paid for by the Utility

Best Thermostats to make money, by using your utility rebates and get a paid for smart thermostat in just four (4) years.

I’ll cover the best thermostats to use in utility demand response programs. By enrolling your smart thermostat in utility programs, the utility provider will pay you a rebate on the bill. Turning your thermostat in a passive money maker. In this article I’ll cover the top four (4) thermostat brands that support utility rebates. I will also cover typical programs and what my utility provider (Xcel Energy - Minnesota) offers.

Note: Check with you local utilities regarding program availability, supported devices, and offers. Each thermostat listed has its unique benefits, I won’t list all these here and mainly focus on it’s ability to enroll in utility programs.

Let’s kick right off with the four (4) most common thermostats that work well with utility rebate programs. These are also aligned with the top thermostat brands in general:

Google Nest - Really the first big name in the smart thermostat landscape. Still a very common selection. This works great if you’re already a google house. But does take some tweaks when its learning at first.

Sensi - Made by Emerson and right in line with all the other primary names. Offering remote sensor options and wireless connection for control and management from anywhere like the rest.

Ecobee - A very common and slick design while still offering a more common user friendly screen. All the smarts of learning and timing your occupancy, including remote room sensors and energy savings modes.

Honeywell - This is the option my wife and I went with. It offered the simple to use programming and mobile app interface from anywhere over the wireless connection. We also liked that the bezel was white and allowed us to customize the screen primary screen color.

All of the brands above offer the homeowner a mobile application to program schedules and make changes to the setpoints from anywhere. By connecting the thermostat to the internet this also unlocks the utility control and programs. Within many of the mobile applications or via the utility website you can enroll the thermostat into a demand response (DR) program. What that does is allows the utility to adjust your thermostat a few times a summer to help manage their total energy. In many cases the utility will even do a pre-cooling before setting the thermostat back.

Example: If your standard setpoint is 70 degree F - the utility may set the thermostat to 68 for 1 hour prior to the event. Then during the event the thermostat will rise to 73F for the duration of the event, before finally returning to 70 after the event time has ended. In most cases the utility will send notifications via the mobile app and/or text messages, if enrolled.

Here in Minnesota we are within the Xcel Energy territory. Xcel supports all of these brands and offers a very good rebate program called AC Rewards. If you have an existing thermostat or purchase one, they will give you an initial $100 incentive and $25 annually for every year you participate. If you purchase the thermostat through Xcel’s site they give a $50 rebate on the purchase and still allow the $25 annually. (as of early 2024).

So you may ask, how can I get a paid for thermostat? Let’s take a look at the payback of an average thermostat, priced at around $200 (many are just under) that means you can have the new thermostat paid for in just four (4) years!

Xcel’s program, AC Rewards, supports a few different models within each of the manufacturers, be sure to check the model number prior to purchase. Complete list from my utility: https://mn.my.xcelenergy.com/s/residential/heating-cooling/ac-rewards