Emerson Sensi Touch Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat

Last updated: December 17, 2019


Emerson Sensi Touch Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat

We looked at the top Smart Thermostats and dug through the reviews from some of the most popular review sites. Through this analysis, we've determined the best Smart Thermostat you should buy.

Product Details

In our analysis of 124 expert reviews, the Emerson Sensi Touch Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat placed 8th when we looked at the top 9 products in the category. For the full ranking, see below.

From The Manufacturer

The Sensi Touch Wi-Fi smart thermostat puts comfort control at your fingertips whether you are at home or on-the-go. Just a tap of the easy-to-use touchscreen display or free mobile app lets you remotely access, change or program your home temperatures – anytime. Anywhere. Designed to work with HVAC equipment in most homes*** (U.S. & Canada only), Sensi mobile app guides you through each step of the DIY installation process. Most people install Sensi in 30 minutes or less**. A common wire (c-wire) is required for all system types. Refer to our online compatibility resources at sensi.emerson.com/compatibility to make sure Sensi thermostat will work in your home. Once your Sensi thermostat is up and running, you can let your location automatically adjust your temperature settings with geofencing or use the intuitive controls to create a custom schedule, to save about 23% on your HVAC energy usage*. Plus, your Sensi thermostat integrates directly with Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant and Wink home automation platforms to give you a complete smart home experience. Set, lower or raise your home temperature with simple voice commands using Alexa or control your Sensi thermostat using Siri on your iPhone or iPad. Connect to comfort in color with thoughtful design features like intuitive menus, easy-to-read temperatures, back glow, precision temperature control, smart alerts and more. What’s more, Sensi Touch Wi-Fi thermostat has been named the ‘best overall’ smart thermostat of 2017, 2018 and 2019 by USA Today’s Reviewed.com. *Energy savings calculated by comparing operation time for a nationwide sample of Sensi users with temperature adjustments averaging 4 degreeF vs. users with no adjustments. Savings vary based on equipment type/condition, insulation, climate & temperature adjustment size/frequency. **Based on survey results of 2120 respondents that purchased and installed a Sensi thermostat in 2018, approximately 70% reported installing in 30 minutes or less. Adding a common wire may impact installation time. ***Does not work with electric baseboard heat and some other systems. System requirements for mobile app: iOS – 10.0 or above Android – 4.2 or above (5.0 or greater to use the Geofencing feature).

Our Expert Consultant

Vicki Liston 
Home Improvement Expert

Vicki Liston writes, produces, and narrates “On The Fly…DIY,” an award-winning home improvement and DIY show of unique project tutorials for the casual DIY’er.

Home improvement and all things DIY have been Liston’s passion since she bought her first house in 2007 and she started making video blogs in 2014. She’s performed hundreds of DIY projects, from small ones to major, wall-smashing renovations and can teach you how to make a trendy DIY barn door for cheap. The proceeds earned from “On The Fly…DIY” are donated to no-kill animal shelters and rescue organizations.

Expert Reviews


What reviewers liked

The Sensi Touch is a good smart thermostat. The touchscreen display is responsive, its app is easy to navigate and it works well with Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri.
-
Other nice features of the Touch include a nightlight mode and the way the screen background color changes between blue and red to let you know if it’s in cooling or heating mode. The Sensi also tracks humidity as well as temperature, which can be especially useful for advanced systems that include humidifying (or dehumidifying) equipment.
It's also amazingly easy to adjust the temperature, with the app mirroring the main display and offering a fully-automatic mode, where the system will heat or cool your home to stay within a preset range.
It is also possible to adjust the thermostat settings using your smartphone, even when you’re outside the range of your home Wi-Fi network. Alerts that ping your phone once the temperature or humidity goes outside user-defined boundaries are also available.
The screen goes to sleep too quickly
Programming your thermostat to reduce energy use when you’re not there is a proven way to cut energy waste and cost.
Like the Sensi Smart, installation is so easy with this device. You are walked through step by step by the app. This device also has geofencing and 7-day flexible scheduling capabilities.
There are up to six programmable day by day warming profiles and up to three high temp water profiles day by day. Programmed ice assurance will switch the warming on when temperatures get excessively low.
It has a high-definition touchscreen color display, which, in turn, features backglow for easy reading.
The HD quality touchscreen is easy to use, and it can be controlled via your smartphone or other electronic computer devices.
-
Easy to set up day-by-day schedules with support for up to 8 temperature change points throughout the day
This smart thermostat is compatible with a wide range of HVAC systems. The only caveat is that a C-wire is required for full functionality.
One thing that many users do like about the Sensi Touch interface is that it features customizable colors. Some people have difficulty reading text when it’s colored a certain way on a touchscreen. This option completely eliminates that problem.
Sensi ST75 is a budget friendly, value for money thermostat that suits any homeowner.
The unit is compatible to work with all the smart appliances available in your home. You can easily install and work with this unit without anyone’s help.
This thermostat includes a wide range of features. Smart Alerts let you know when extreme temperature or humidity changes are detected.

What reviewers didn't like

While its touchscreen works well and the design is an improvement over the older Sensi smart thermostat, it still looks a little outdated.
-
The Sensi Touch isn’t a budget thermostat
This model isn't the most helpful when it comes to initial setup, immediately turning on when hooked up to power, with no series of prompts to guide you through the setup.
One complaint is that the Sensi Touch thermostat’s screen goes to sleep within 10-15 seconds of inactivity, and doesn’t “wake up” until the screen is touched; even with a small backlight that can be turned on manually, the thermostat is difficult to see in the dark.
The screen goes to sleep too quickly
This is NOT a learning thermostat. The term “smart” refers to its integration with smart home automation equipment. Because some homeowners get frustrated with the time it takes learning thermostats to figure out a schedule without adjusting settings at the wrong time, this unit not being a learning thermostat might be a plus from your perspective.
Plus, the display screen goes to sleep after 10 seconds of inactivity and you need to touch the screen to wake it up again.
The customer service could be better
Doesn’t display outside weather data on screen like many competitors
For some the price can be considered to be on a higher end, especially comparing to the competition.
The main drawback is lack of “self learning” unlike a Nest or Ecobee model. You’ve to program the thermostat yourself based on your preferences (Nest & Ecobee are self learning and they program themselves automatically). A
The unit stops working after a few months of use.
View our Smart Thermostat buying guide for in-depth advice and recommendations.

From our partners