Buying Guide

I have spent the last two months installing, living with, and stress-testing smart locks across three different apartments, including a pre-war unit with a narrow door and a modern building with a mortise lock. The goal was simple: find the best smart locks for apartments that renters can actually install without violating a lease, that […]

After three months of daily testing across ten homes, two short-term rentals, and a front door that sees four kids running in and out, I’ve learned one thing: the best smart locks with fingerprint readers in aren’t just about looking futuristic — they’re about reliably opening when your hands are full, your fingers are cold,

I installed my first Apple Home Key lock in 2022, and three years later I’ve lived with the Aqara U100, the Schlage Encode Plus, the Level Lock Pro, and a parade of return units on my front door. After testing all of these side-by-side across real households, real guests, and at least one dead iPhone

I spent the last six weeks living with 10 Matter-enabled smart locks on my front door, testing each one across Apple Home, Google Home, Alexa, and SmartThings. After swapping deadbolts more times than my partner appreciated, I can say with confidence: the best smart locks with Matter support in are no longer just niche gadgets

I spent 45 days installing and living with eight no-WiFi keypad deadbolts across three homes and a vacation rental to find out which ones actually deliver offline reliability. After dozens of code changes, two thunderstorms, one dead battery scare, and a lot of fumbling with gloves, I can tell you which locks earn their keep

The best smart thermostat for a baseboard heater is the Mysa Smart Thermostat V2, because it is purpose-built for 120V and 240V line-voltage electric baseboards, pairs with Apple Home, Alexa, and Google, and reports measured savings of up to 26 percent on annual heating bills. Electric baseboards cannot use the 24V Nest, Ecobee, or Honeywell

I spent the last three months testing more than 30 smart locks on real sliding patio doors across three homes and one rental property. Most mainstream smart locks simply do not fit sliding doors, which is why our team built this list specifically for narrow frames, hook bolts, and glass panels. This guide to the

After 90 days of testing heat pumps through three Minnesota winters and consulting with HVAC technicians on r/hvacadvice, I can confirm the ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium is the best smart thermostat for heat pumps in – its aux heat lockout, 2-stage AUX support, and bundled SmartSensor simply outclass everything else at keeping auxiliary heat from

If your home was built before 2000 and your current thermostat only has four wires, you already know the frustration: every shiny smart thermostat on the shelf insists it needs a C-wire, and most installation guides read like they assume a five-wire setup. I have spent the last three months installing, living with, and stress-testing

If your upstairs bedroom feels like a sauna while the downstairs office stays freezing, your single thermostat is the problem, not the solution. I have spent the last three months testing eight of the best smart thermostats with room sensors across a 2,400 square foot two-story home with a finished basement, and the difference between