First HomeKit Thermostat Hits Apple Stores Today

There is still a long way to go before Apple’s smart home platform establishes a firm footing in the market but it’s working towards that goal with each passing day. Today the first HomeKit supported thermostat has gone up for sale at Apple Stores, the Ecobee3 will be available starting today at the company’s brick and mortar stores across North America.

The $249 Ecobee3 smart thermostat is capable of detecting temperature and adjusting heating as well as cooling depending upon how many people are around and what’s the weather like. Think of it as an alternative to the popular Nest thermostat since both connected objects more or less serve the same purpose.

Customers can buy additional sensors for $79 to make the Ecobee3 even more smarter which then allows it to measure temperature and presence in other rooms of the house. One sensor is included with the thermostat.

Given that it has support for HomeKit, Apple’s smart home platform, users will be able to control it via Siri which will certainly make life much easier for people since they can simply tell the virtual assistant how they would like the thermostat to behave.

There aren’t a lot of HomeKit compatible products out in the market right now but many new products are in development and they should arrive in the near future, allowing Apple to truly demonstrate the power of its connected home platform.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Gadgets
Tags: Connected Objects, HomeKit