While the likes of Nest smart thermostats are great, one of their main issues is that they are often simply mounted in the hallway and don't measure temperatures in various rooms.
That's an issue that a new startup called Flair is trying to fix, having released a smart vent system that is designed to control temperatures across all rooms, rather than relying on settings from one thermostat.
"It can figure out the differential, and if you want this room when you're in it to be more comfortable, take that differential into account and adjust the master thermostat," said Flair co-founder Daniel Myers in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle.
Flair itself is offering $40 smart vents as well as $60 individual room controllers, which are available straight from the company's website.
One of the great things about Flair is that doesn't have to work alone. In fact, it's an open platform, and at launch will play well with a range of systems, including Nest, Honeywell Lyric, Honeywell Wi-Fi and Ecobee. It will also work with smart home systems including Philips Hue, Wink, SmartThings and Control4.
Those who don't have a central heating and cooling system obviously won't need the smart vents, but can still use the system. The controller, which is a small puck, will act as the brain of the system, and can connect to devices through Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or even through its IR blaster.
The puck is able to use geofencing with the user's phone as well as the Android or iOS app to set the temperature when users come and go into different rooms. It uses Bluetooth on the user's phone to know when they're in a particular room, meaning that users can create more comprehensive profiles, rather than simply being able to set "home" or "away."
The system is also reportedly able to distinguish between different users and their particular settings, so it can change temperatures based on who is in the room.
As mentioned, you can head to the Flair website to order the system for yourself.
Via: CNET
