LUXProducts GEO-WH Wi-Fi Thermostat, White

I bought 2 of these over 5 years ago and they were perfect. Then Johnson Controls bought them and it has been a terrible experience since then. First they changed the app to one with less features, more complications, and a terrible interface. Both thermostats (in 2 different states) randomly lose their WiFi connection requiring me to restart my network. The latest issue is that you can’t add a thermostat to the app using an iPhone or iPad. I found this out because I needed to change my email address. You can’t do that so I had to create a new account and add the thermostats - but, guess what, you can’t do that using an iPhone or iPad. It only works using an android device. I spent a lot of time on the phone with technical support and they acknowledged the problem and said they are working on it (at least 50% of their customers must be affected). Meanwhile, I have no WiFi connection to my thermostats and it has been almost a month. As a result, I have installed Honeywell thermostats at both locations. Installation was easy and they are working great. The Lux Geo thermostat is good but the app and technical support are terrible

I've searched around a lot and the Lux Geo is the thermostat I finally decided on. It's been installed for almost two months now, and has pretty much lived up to expectations. It's not perfect, but it's plenty good enough that I purchased a second one for upstairs.What I finally decided to be my "must have" feature is usage history data. I want to see what the temperature was and how long my HVAC operated. After reading many different articles on home energy, I confirmed that there's almost no significant energy savings to be had by using a "smart/wifi" thermostat as opposed to a just a "programmable" one. All the big savings claims are in how it's used. So I wanted something more significant when going from "programmable" to "smart/wifi" than just claims of savings.And it also meant that I didn't want one that attempted to "learn" what I wanted. People feel hot, cold, or comfortable at the exact same temperature, depending on what their body is doing at any given moment. And every body is different. Yesterday, I had to put on a jacket and socks, yet the temp was 2 degrees warmer than it normally is inside. Sometimes I run warm. Sometimes it feels warmer/cooler than it is due to the outside temperature differential. Sometimes I'm comfortable, but others are not. And for whatever the reason, there are those in my family that feel that if they change the thermostat to an extreme hot or cold, it'll make it get to that temperature faster somehow---this happens in the car. All. The. Time. The thermostat is at 74 where everyone normally likes it. But the car is hot after sitting in the sun for a while. Change it to 65 so it gets cold faster! ...and I digress. :) Basically, a consistent climate for the house is always better than one that bends to whims. And a "learning" thermostat will always be playing catch-up.The main points I looked for in a thermostat were the following: * Usage history data * WiFi (access through a phone App) * Auto change-over (automatically switches between heating and cooling as needed) * Continues to work when the Internet and/or WiFi is unavailable. * Console lockout (something to deter a passer-by from messing with the thermostat)I looked at a bunch of thermostats, considering reviews as well as perusing the user manuals. All of the Honeywell WiFi thermostats dropped out because none of them offer usage history. The Emerson (Sensi/1F86U-42W) models dropped out for the same reason. The Vine "Smart Wi-Fi Thermostat" (TJ-610B) also has no history, but there were other red flags for me on that one that would have kept me away regardless.That left the Nest (3rd generation), ecobee3 (2nd generation), ecobee Smart Si, Schneider Electric Wiser Air (1st generation), and the Lux Geo. The ecobee3 is the nicest, but was 2.5 times as expensive as the Lux Geo; it's nice, but not 2.5 times as nice. The Nest is in the same boat with the ecobee3, but looks like one of those old Honeywell thermostats from 50 years ago, and it has that irritating habit of thinking it knows what you want more than you do. The Schneider is the next one on the list as you go down in cost, but the "only 24 hours of history" and the repeated reports of a clunky phone-app experience made me feel that I'd rather spend extra to get an ecobee3. In the same price range as the Schneider is the ecobee Smart Si. That has the same functionality as the ecobee3, minus the added temperature sensor functionality---and people don't feel it looks as nice. There have been complaints about ecobee's servers going down, but those were resolved years ago, so that didn't worry me. However, complaints that you can't program an ecobee at all if the Internet is down felt significant to me.And now we arrive at the ~100 mark. Here we have the Radio CT50 and the Lux Geo (well it was back when I bought mine). I was originally favoring the Radio thermostat, but there has been talk (Amazon reviews) of the company starting to abandon the product line and enough people have had issues with WiFi connectivity that it gave me pause. I might have gone for the ecobee Smart Si if not for finding the Lux Geo. It hit all of the major points on my list, and ~100 is better than ~150.Cons * Usage data is only in the "cloud", not local. (ALL thermostats with history have this problem.) * Cannot operate the thermostat through the phone app if the Internet is down. (Almost all "cloud" connected thermostats have this problem.) * No "recovery" functionality. (Where the thermostat automatically figures out how to get the temperature to the setpoint before the next schedule starts.) This isn't really important to me. * The setup couldn't find my WiFi network, so I had to manually enter the SSID. However it did connect perfectly after that and it has stayed connected since---and I did not have this same problem when setting up the second Lux Geo upstairs. * The time that the fan runs in "Clean Cycle" mode is not reflected in the history.Pros * The least expensive thermostat offering usage history data (well, it was at the time I bought it). * I like the look more than I thought I would (don't mind the up-close jaggies in the temperature readout). * The history data display makes it easy to see how your schedule is working out. * Automatic change-over between heat and cool. * Works without Internet access (physically, not through the phone). * Has a console lockout feature (on the Home screen, hold the green triangle-button for ~11sec). * The displayed temperature is very easy to read from a distance. * Leaving the backlight on provides a bright night-light. * It allows offset of the temperature readout. * I like the simple dial interface; the soft audible clicks when turning or pressing are nice feedback.I now have one Lux Geo on the main floor and one upstairs. Both have been calibrated with an offset of -4.6F which brings them into the range of other various digital thermometers I have available around the house (they're all within about 1F of each other). Both are running off the 'C' wire and use the batteries as a backup. I've also figured out, thanks to the history, that having the upstairs temperature set one degree hotter, both HVAC units run about the same amount of time each day. So I feel they're working together fairly well.Everything is presently working well enough that the thermostats fade into the background. Every few days, I might check the history on my phone to see how much the HVACs have been running, or what the variance has been in temperature through the day. On occasion, I turn on the "clean cycle" mode for a day, but I haven't see a clear benefit in the present weather; I'll probably experiment with it again when it's colder. (Clean Cycle makes the fan run for 6min every 20min to push air through the system; some people like/need it in their home to even out the temp through the house.)On a final tangent, the Lux Geo's sensitivity to temperature changes has revealed that I've got an issue with the location of my downstairs thermostat. There's either a draft, or I have something wrong in my wiring that occasionally builds up some heat. I originally had feared that the thermostat was broken, since occasionally it would read 3-5 degrees (F) warmer than thermometers I'd put next to it. However, when I took it off the wall and moved it a foot away, it would change to match the other thermometers. So if you think your thermostat is reading the wrong temperature, get at least one other thermometer to check it against. When it's "off", move them all to another location. I've seen the Lux Geo adjust within 10 seconds, but it really depends on the temperature difference how fast it changes (which is a good thing).

Rating is based on company's support & attitude about their product, more on this in a moment. First the good. The thermostat performs well as a thermostat that happens to be wifi enabled. Reasonably quick response making a change from the app through the internet and to the heater (pellet stove). It can be battery powered or line powered via USB cable & one of the multitude of USB plugs we all have laying around these days. The app is bare bones but does gets the job of turning your HVAC appliance on & off done. It would be nice if the charts scaled to actually show all of the inside termperatures recorded rather than just plunging off the bottom of the chart. It would be nice if the chart also showed exterior temp in parallel with the indoor temp (don't know where they get their exterior temp from, probably some generic feed based on zip code). Both of these improvements would make the data more useful and allow you to quantify weather sealing improvements.App does NOT support configuring all of the available settings that can be configured on the thermostat.There is no full user manual. There is no full install manual. Just a "quick start" guide. Which means that you won't even know what settings are configurable. Like the swing setting - ("swing control is to set up a range around the set point temperature and within this range the thermostat DOES NOT activate the heating or cooling"). With a pellet stove you want the swing setting to be much greater than it would be with a forced air furnace - otherwise your stove is igniting & shutting down multiple times an hour & you'll wear your igniter out long before you would expect to have to replace it.Some functions are covered in the FAQs after digging deep enough.There is not a published API. Requests to Lux to provide an API so the thermostat can be used in "If This, Then That" (IFTTT) automation flows (with things like Wink, Alexa, Stringify, SmartThings, etc.) resulted in a reply that indicated the company would consider it on future products.Wait, What? Future products? This is a wifi-enabled thermostat that I paid $150 for ..... that Lux apparently can't be bothered to support (no user guides, immaterial updates to their app (enroll in an energy program?), won't consider making an API available) and then they have the audacity to think that I'll replace the product with one of their "future" products that supports IFTTT.They are out of their minds. I'll buy a different COMPANY's product.

UPDATE DEC 11, 2021Now I would give a minus-5 rating. They fixed the app this year, and seemed to be stable for months, but now thermostat just disconnects. It does not automatically reconnect and requires removal of batteries and reset. This works for a few weeks. Again unable to connect to tech support by phone, and reply from email is that they are 'aware of connection issues' and are working on it. Same answer I got 4 weeks ago so hardly believe that they are 'working on it'. I am now completely fed up, and today will replace the Lux with an Ecobee or Emerson model - these do not work with millivolt heating units, but installation only requires adding a $10 relay as I already installed a 24v transformer to keep my Lux going without relying on batteries. Of course with transformer and relay, this will not work in power outage but I had already added a manual thermostat in parallel, to kick in if temperatures got close to freezing. This is what you should do with any smart thermostat actually. Lux - I really tried to stay with you, but this is goodbye.UPDATE Oct 19, 2020:Originally I gave this a 4/5 star review. I have reduced this to a 1 star (and would give it zero if I could) and advise people NOT to buy. Most of what I had written remains correct as far as installation. However, Lux was purchased by Johnson Controls in 2019 (after my purchase), and they developed and released a month ago possibly the WORST app ever. IT NO LONGER CONTROLS THE THERMOSTAT RELIABLY. So now I have a 'dumb' rather than 'smart' thermostat. What is the point of having this over a $30 manual thermostat, if you can not control it remotely?? Worse is their lack of customer support. My thermostat suddenly dropped having a solid connection I had for past 18 months, so I travelled 3 hours to our remote property only to find that the sudden disconnect was because Lux servers suddenly stopped supporting the old app. No message from Lux and no option to stay on old app. Installed the new app, connection seemed ok, and the app reported the temperature correctly BUT it would NOT control the thermostat. Poor UI design with scroll wheel that you have to keep trying to turn. Give me back simple UP and DOWN arrows! Very buggy software. If I manually change the thermostat, the app reports the change correctly with a slight lag. If I try to change the temp in the app, at first it looks like the temperature changes but then after 30 seconds , it reverts to the previous temperature! I tried login in and out, resetting the thermostat, rebooting the router, re-installing the app... nothing works. Plus with whatever they did in the firmware, the WiFi sensitivity is worse now, and I was marginal before. Even moving the thermostat right next to the router with full bars does nothing to fix the connectivity.I have tried to call their customer support. They are not open on weekends. They do not have a 1-800 toll free number, only a New Jersey number that has long wait time. After 15 minutes on hold, I hung up. They do not respond to on line email form I filled in. They no longer offer a web based app to control - only the phone app. So fail at every level.I am so angry that this company changed to this app without option to remain on the old app that worked, and left so many customers without access to their thermostats. You would think that they tested, but this appears like they released a completely untested and buggy app. Their customer support is non existent. If I had this over to do, I would have just gone the extra step and installed a small transformer and relay (as my heat system is millivolt) to provide power from AC rather than relying on batteries, and bought from a reputable manufacturer like Nest or Ecobee. I liked the previous Lux thermostat setup. I now hate my useless, non functioning Lux Geo thermostat.PREVIOUS REVIEW:This originally sold for much more but more featured WiFi smart thermometers became available and brought prices down. We bought 1 for remote location cabin, replacing a mechanical dumb thermostat. Here is what I like and don't like.1. While it is one of few battery operated WiFi enabled thermostats, I personally would not trust a smart thermostat controlling millivolt heating unit without a 'failsafe' in a situation in which failure could lead to frozen pipes. A solution that gets around this is to wire a mechanical thermostat in parallel and set it to minimal lowest temperature. I was able to place the mechanical thermostat in a closet that was immediately behind the Geo. Of course if you are running a regular furnace, if the power is out, so is your heat regardless of what thermostat you are using.2. We use a propane fireplace (which has three power vents) to heat a small cabin, and like most fireplaces it is millivolt system. All it needs to call for heat is closing circuit on 2 wires which is great if power is off as we can still get some heat. This thermostat is one of few WiFi themostats that will work with a two wire millivolt system, and was really straight forward to wire using RH and W wires only. The Lux Geo turns heat on/off perfectly well. BIG plus for the Geo. You can use a Nest or Ecobee, but they need 24V to work, so you would need to add a 24v transformer and wire in a relay to then provide an open/close circuit for the millivolt. We did not need all the bells and whistles (or $$) of higher end smart thermostats nor the increased complexity of a relay.3. Lag can be an issue. The lag between changing temperature on app and having the thermostat respond can be quite long if you are using battery as power source. The unit delays communication to protect battery life. I added USB power and it is much better, usually within 1 minute. On battery, could have been 10 minutes or even more! I have noticed that sometimes I have to enter the temp change twice - not sure if this is related to server lag and time out at Lux end. Just need to check if accepted.4. Power: There is no icon for which power is being used ie USB or battery or C wire. I know that USB or AC from transformer is working as I can take the batteries and the unit still operates. As a note, when you put the batteries back in, there is a message asking whether you are installing NEW batteries? Clearly Lux knows that system will fail with weak batteries and again that is a concern if you are using this in remote location and you are unable to physically check the system. Using USB to power adds a wire from the bottom that decreases the clean look. I added a 24v AC transformer (Fyve Global unit bought on Amazon) and fed the wires to thermostat through the backplate, to make the install cleaner. Easy - one wire to C, the other to RC (no polarity on AC so does not matter which wire) and remove the RH-RC jumper that is in place so that they are not connected. Works great.5. There is no indication on app of WiFi communication being intact between unit and router or between app and the unit. This would have been really helpful to have. Maybe they will add in future as other smart thermometer apps have.6. WiFi sensitivity is ok but not great. The icon for WiFi does show 2 bars with the router where it is and that is enough for control. If I put the router further away to get only 1 bar, the unit still seems to work ok. Better to have more bars I think - dropping a WiFi signal would not be good . On the plus side, if the router loses power, and WiFi lost, Geo will re-establish WiFi contact once available. I have our router on a UPS just in case.7. You can invite family or friends to control thermostat through the web site. Adding email addresses sends an invite to them to set up an account and control the temperature. Good to have this feature.8. Not listed as feature, I think that settings are put into non volatile internal memory so if all power fails (house AC and battery), it will remember the last settings.Overall there are clearly some plus and minus issues on this thermostat but overall my impression is positive for the things it does, that no other units do. Looking forward to arriving at a warm cabin this winter.

Only down fall with this unit is that it will not work with Alexa in Canada only the US.Very good looking unit and features are very well laid out in displays.

This has fewer features than an Ecobee or Nest, but for an older furnace with no common wire (especially in a condo/apartment where making changes to the heating setup may not be as easy), this helps to bridge the gap. Most smart thermostats need a c-wire for power; this one makes do with lithium batteries every 9 months or so.The geofencing seems to work reasonably well, it detects when you enter and leave the home and adjusts the temperature appropriately. The app also seems reliable; at least for Android it has a widget so you can easily view the current temperature. It's also useful to see the statistics of how much heating (or in my case, AC) was used, so you can see the effect of your scheduling changes without waiting for the next hydro bill. In my case, the amount of hydro used during a summer month immediately after installing this, was significantly less.If I could, I'd probably have a 'full featured' smart thermostat, but this is much better than nothing.

Finally found a wifi thermostat that would work with my radiant heat 2-wire thermostat this is why it gets 2 stars. Too bad the app is complete garbage.One star reviews on the App Store since v2 and I can see why:Set temperature always reverts back to previous a few minutes later.I use this in my garage so I want it at the minimum temperature until I decide to turn it up. Many reviews complain of this issue.Even with the schedule set to the minimum temp 24/7 still goes back to 17CI’ve now just turned it off until I need it. To me it’s worth it just for that. If you want this for your main residence spend a bit more and get a Nest. It’s 100x better.

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