Smart air vents are not worth the price. Smart air vents are an exciting concept: they can sense the temperature of the room and adjust the heat or AC accordingly, reducing energy consumption and saving you money on your energy bill. However, if you're looking for an easy way to save money on your utilities, there are cheaper ways to do so than investing in smart vents.
Flexibility At A Cost
Smart air vents have the ability to do just what they say: smartly manage your air flow. Smart vents can indeed turn on and off with hands-free control, but they can have a very high price point.
If you're not going to spend the money for smart vents, then you'll need to take control of your home's air temperature with another solution.
Energy-Use
Smart air vents are supposed to save energy by turning off when you're not in a room and turning on when you are present. However, these energy savings may only start when you upgrade your existing thermostat, as smart vents require a connection to a compatible smart thermostat, which may be an issue if your current thermostat is incompatible. While lower-end smart thermostat models are not a high barrier price-wise, costs can add up with the installation of each smart vent. Depending on the scale of your vent upgrade, you need to consider if the initial investment is worth the relative savings on energy usage.
HVAC Health
With many smart vent options on the market, many blogs may decry smart vents damaging your HVAC, and while there is some truth to this possibility, it is a little more nuanced than saying all smart vents are bad. While yes, smart vents can create a noisy HVAC by closing off vents in certain rooms, this would not necessarily damage your HVAC if properly installed.
The issue with closing off vents is related due to pressure building up in your air system from closed-off vents. Excess pressure can damage your HVAC system, but closing off one vent will not lead to enough pressure for HVAC damage. Your main concern really should be considering the price of the upgrade.
Whole Home Or Single Room Use?
Smart vents can be significant if used strategically rather than for your entire home. If you want to stay within your budget, you can consider smart vents as a great solution to address problem areas in your home, such as rooms that don’t tend to heat up or cool down properly. However, the better solution to addressing odd airflow across your home is an HVAC inspection, as this could be a sign your HVAC needs repairs or your ducts might need some work.
We’re not saying that smart air vents are bad. They can be very useful, and they do offer some advantages over traditional cents. If you have money to spend, then smart vents are a nice way to get some more convenience in your life but are something you can live without if you want to save.