Trane, American Standard Get Smarter With New T-Stats

Trane and American Standard have released new smart thermostats, the Trane Priority Smart Thermostat and the American Standard Gold Smart Thermostat. Both work with almost any heating and cooling system that uses standard 24-volt controls, which covers most home HVAC setups. They connect to the Trane Home app and to Google Home or Amazon Alexa, so you can check and adjust your system's settings from a phone or by voice, and both are Energy Star certified, meaning they meet federal efficiency standards.

An optional add-on sensor, sold separately, tracks temperature and humidity in different parts of the house, which can help even out hot or cold spots and manage indoor humidity. The thermostats also have a touchscreen display with color-coded status lights showing how the system is running.

On the service side, the thermostats collect data contractors can use to spot problems early and diagnose issues remotely, which the companies say could mean fewer in-person repair visits. For a homeowner, that mainly means a smart thermostat that installs on more types of existing systems, gives more detailed feedback on how your heating and cooling is performing, and may catch developing problems before they become a bigger repair. No price or release date was given, so anyone interested in one would need to check with a local dealer for availability and cost.