The smartphone and tablet are behind Honeywell’s second stab...

The smartphone and tablet are behind Honeywell’s second stab at an Internet-based programmable thermostat, Pat Tessler, director-product marketing, thermostats in Honeywell’s Automation and Control Solutions unit, told Consumer Electronics Daily. Honeywell saw the potential of Internet-based thermostat control as early as 2000 with its Home & Away product but discontinued the line due to limited consumer interest. With only 6 percent of households connected to broadband then, “We were way ahead of the curve,” Tessler said. The dedicated touch screen controller for the system -- originally codenamed Ipad before becoming the WebPAD -- sold for $999, beyond the reach of the average consumer, Tessler said. The iPad and iPhone changed that, putting the burden of the controller on the consumer, leaving just the cost of the hardware for the Wi-Fi-based thermostat. Honeywell’s trio of wireless thermostats includes a $60 model controlled by buttons, a step-up $119 touch screen model and the newest model due out in May ($249) that adds a color-matching feature allowing homeowners to match the background of the display to the room color. A Honeywell app is available from iTunes and Google Play, which enables users to communicate with their heating/cooling system from inside or away from home. Users can change temperature, set up alerts for changes in temperature in the home and view outside temperature and humidity levels, through a licensing agreement with AccuWeather that provides weather data based on ZIP code. A Honeywell advantage, Tessler said, is temperature accuracy within plus or minus one degree, compared with a swing of three or four degrees from competing thermostats, he said. Honeywell sells its do-it-yourself Wi-Fi thermostats through Home Depot and Lowe’s, among other retailers, he said.