As anyone who experienced the recent Polar Vortex on the East Coast can attest to, being cold in your home is rarely ideal. Thankfully, the market for smart thermostats has been growing ever since Apple alumni Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers first unveiled the Nest Learning Thermostat four years ago, ushering in a new wave of connected devices that had more or less been overlooked in the effort to revolutionize the home of the 21st century. The self-aware devicespack far more capabilities than their older counterparts such as the ability to learn your daily schedule, adjust the temperature of individual rooms, and anticipate your heating and cooling needs in conjunction with the local forecasts while simultaneously boasting connectivity with your smartphone or tablet.

Below are a few of our favorites, from Nest to Netatmo, so you can run a more efficient system and cut back onexuberant costs. Well, at least until the next vortex hits.

Related: Five smart home trends were looking forward to in 2015

Surprisingly, Nests Learning Thermostat really does learn. After you initially install the devicea process thats simple regardless of your heating and cooling systemyou can set a desired temperature for your home. The thermostat will then take note of how you move around your house throughout the week, adjusting the various temperature settings according to the time of day and your habits. It will also automatically log and apply said settings when suitable, and showcase the amount of time it will take to get your house to your desired temperature. Nests bevy of sensors will detect when youre not home and adjust accordingly, and like any good friend, the device will offer suggestions designed to save you money. Its ability to adjust the temperature of your home a half hour before you arrive from work is onlyfurthers its intuitiveness.

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In a nutshell, the Honeywell Lyric taps into your location and local weather forecasts via Wi-Fi. The circular device will then anticipate potential temperature changes and compensate for the weather, while offering a host of shortcut settings for straightforward programming and operation. The thermostat features three standard modes one for when youre sleeping, one for when youre leaving your home, and another for when youre arriving all of which you can adjust using the mobile app for iOS and Android devices. The device will adjust accordingly to save you the maximum amount of money, but if you prefer to work outside the box, you can set custom settings to fit your household.

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The EcoBee3 monitors youre position in the apartment much like the Nest Learning Thermostat and the Honeywell Lyric, sure, but it does so utilizing physical sensors you place around your home. The remote sensors allow for more accurate changes in heating and cooling throughout your home, which in turn saves you money because it restricts heating and cooling to the spaces in your home you utilize the most (i.e. the kitchen, living room, bedroom). The slick EcoBee3 also takes notice of humidity, and if you have a humidifier, the thermostat will automatically adjust it to best accommodate your situation. And if you dont, it will simply tweak the temperature to keep you satisfied, whether at home or away.

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Baby, its cold outside: Heres our favorite smart thermostats to heat up your home

Workers with Las Cruces-based C D General Contractors continued construction on the roof of the Plaza Building at White Sands Boulevard and 10th Street Thursday afternoon. Construction to restore the more than 70 year old building began in early February and is expected to last five months. Workers said they expect construction on the roof of the Plaza Building to last a couple more weeks. The Tularosa Basin Historical Society plans to convert the adobe building into a historical museum. The renovations are expected to cost about 405,000. Workers will install a new roof and heating and cooling system, renovate the interiors and bathrooms and redo the parking lot, among other changes. (Bryan Betts Daily News)

Workers with Las Cruces-based C D General Contractors continued construction on the roof of the Plaza Building at White Sands Boulevard and 10th Street Thursday afternoon. Construction to restore the more than 70 year old building began in early February and is expected to last five months. Workers said they expect construction on the roof of the Plaza Building to last a couple more weeks. The Tularosa Basin Historical Society plans to convert the adobe building into a historical museum. The renovations are expected to cost about $405,000. Workers will install a new roof and heating and cooling system, renovate the interiors and bathrooms and redo the parking lot, among other changes.

Workers said they expect construction on the roof of the Plaza Building to last a couple more weeks. The Tularosa Basin Historical Society plans to convert the adobe building into a historical museum. Workers with Las Cruces-based C D General Contractors continued construction on the roof of the Plaza Building at White Sands Boulevard and 10th Street Thursday afternoon. Construction to restore the more than 70 year old building began in early February and is expected to last five months. The renovations are expected to cost about 405,000. Workers will install a new roof and heating and cooling system, renovate the interiors and bathrooms and redo the parking lot, among other changes. (Bryan Betts Daily News)

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Renovations underway on Plaza building

By Mike Pearson, News staff

Stoney Creeks Erland Lee Museum has received a major boost from the Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada, Golden Horseshoe Chapter.

The museum and carriage house will receive a new heating and cooling system thanks to donations of cash and materials valued at more than $45,000 from the local trade association chapter.

Ron Robinson, a member of the HRAI Golden Horseshoe chapter, announced the donation on Feb. 22 during an event at the Ridge Road historic site.

Two years ago, Robinson read a story in the Stoney Creek News that outlined the museums struggles to install a new boiler in the basement.

Robinson, a home comfort and hydronics specialist for AtlasCare Heating and Cooling, assembled a technical team to identify a climate control solution.

This spring and summer, HRAI member contractors will install a new boiler and climate controls for the museum, along with a new second floor ductless cooling unit and a completely new duct system with furnace, air conditioning, ventilation and humidification to reduce heating costs and provide optimal comfort. Two new ductless heat pumps will be installed in the carriage house.

A lifelong Stoney Creek resident and 25-year HRAI member, Robinson said the Golden Horseshoe chapters donation fulfills its community service mandate.

Its a case of giving back into the community we serve, said Robinson. Its a good project. We cover right from Niagara to the Burlington area, so its right in our wheelhouse in terms of supporting the community.

Robinson said members, through association dues, as well as wholesalers and manufacturers who will be completing the hands-on work, have funded the donation.

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Donation brings warmth to Stoney Creeks Erland Lee Museum

Salt Lake City - Utah (PRWEB) February 24, 2015

LINQ Home, a maker of energy-saving home automation products, today announced the launch of a Kickstarter Campaign to improve Heating and Cooling through smart vents.

LINQ is providing households with unprecedented control over HVAC systems. By sensing the temperature in each room and adjusting dampers on every vent, LINQs system enables room-by-room temperature control. The system routes air to the rooms that need it, and not to those that dont. Air flow data processed through algorithms, opens and closes the vents and prevents strain on the furnace or AC unit. Rooms reach their set points faster, run times of HVAC equipment are reduced, and the increased efficiency translates to money savings and consistent comfort.

I couldnt believe the temperature variances between the rooms in my home, said Jason Griggs, founder and CTO of LINQ Home. When I first started testing our Smart Vent system there was a 12 degree difference between rooms. The variance resulted in seemingly endless thermostat wars.

LINQ Smart Vents have all the perks of a zoning system, at less than half the price, and with none of the inconvenience of construction. The simple-to-install, retrofittable system saves users up to 50% on monthly heating and cooling costs.

This technology is such a no-brainer, said Doug Wells, a homeowner and LINQ Home Beta tester, every room in my home is the temperature I want it to be at. I dont waste any time fiddling with vents or worrying about my thermostat.

LINQ Home has 40 days to reach the Kickstarter funding goal of $30,000. The smart vent systems run from $299 to $1,900. Every system includes smart vents and a brain. The brain communicates with the vents, the internet, and most open API smart thermostats. With the funds raised, LINQ will begin commercial production of their patent pending smart vents.

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Contribute to the Kickstarter at http://linqhome.com/kickstarter

About LINQ Home LINQ Home is an innovative, energy-saving home automation company. LINQ Home technologies stress comfort, consistency and control. More information on the company can be found on Twitter or Facebook.

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LINQ Home Launches Energy-saving Smart Vent Crowdfunding Campaign

A little museum has been telling a big story about Tucsons roots, urban renewal and the oldest Mexican-American barrio in Arizona.

But no more. La Pilita Museum now is closed after 15 years.

Founders and directors Joan Daniels and Carol Cribbet-Bell are packing up the memories housed at the 1940s building at 420 S. Main Ave. in downtown Tucson.

Grants became more competitive in the economic downturn. Then grants started to dry up altogether and little cultural house museums such as ours began to suffer, Cribbet-Bell said.

Sometimes she and Daniels didnt take paychecks as they tried to raise money to keep the museum going.

About 6,000 tourists visited each year, and the museum had a membership of about 125. After a year of discussions with La Pilita Foundations Board of Directors, the museum officially closed Feb.1.

When Daniels and Cribbet-Bell took on the building as a community service project for Carrillo school children, it had been vacant for about a decade.

It had no roof, no plumbing, no heating or cooling, and there was food in the refrigerator from 10 years before, Cribbet-Bell said. It was pretty daunting.

Through a series of grants, the two former teachers renovated the property and started a museum and a free after-school program. It grew into a nonprofit association.

For several years, third-, fourth- and fifth-grade students learned about the neighborhoods place in Tucson history, collected oral histories, gave tours of the museum and operated the gift shop.

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Museum that displayed Tucson's lost barrio history closes

February 20, 2015 12:00 PM

(Photo by Tim Boyle/Getty Images)

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FORDS, N.J. (CBSNewYork) Given how cold its been lately, heating and cooling experts are issuing a public safety warning for those heatingtheir homes this winter.

Airdex Heating and Cooling Company President Harvey Stoller said crews on many of their calls to fix or replace heaters have noticed a lack of carbon monoxide detectors.

He told WCBS 880s Levon Putney the detectors should be on every level of every home and every unit of every building.

None or if there are, theyre putting them in places no one would ever hear them, he said.

Stoller also said everyone should have their furnaces checked once a year, even the heating vent outside. He said ice, birds nests and other blockage can cause issues.

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Heating Expert Urges Homeowners To Install Multiple CO Detectors

The Alma School Board has authorized a $3 million bond referendum asking school district voters for permission to borrow money for school building and education technology improvements.

A referendum on the spring election ballot April 7 seeks money to install a geothermal heating and cooling system, as well as upgrades and replacements of electrical works, lighting and windows.

Money also would go for building and grounds repairs and upgrades, replacement of transportation vehicles and new technology equipment.

The school district has spent more than a year studying building energy costs and upgrades that could be made to lower expenses. A steam boiler heating system that burns fuel oil is operating at only 60 percent efficiency, according to studies. The schools heating plant system was installed 62 years ago. The most recent work on the system was done over 20 years ago.

The school board said the early 1950s boiler system was obsolete and useless in ability to apply modern automated controls for timed and building zone heating. A new heating system controlled by a computer software program could be used to control temperatures in rooms throughout the building when in use or vacant.

The school board has recommended installing a geothermal system boiler hot water heating to lower heating costs that have shot up from $24,000 to $122,000 a year since around 2000.

The school has single-pane, metal-framed windows in the high school that were installed in the 1950s and 60s. Elementary school windows were replaced with thermal-paned aluminum framed windows in the 80s.

Referendum technology improvements would include upgrading and expansion of computers used for learning by students.

The school board said technology updates were limited over the past six years because of budget constraints. The school has now fallen behind in utilizing technology for educating children, studies found.

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Alma school referendum seeks $3M for building, tech upgrades

Solar City

Solar panels have been around for a while, but they cost tens of thousands of dollars to install, making them an impossible dream for many homeowners. Solar City is one of a handful of companies in the Bay State pioneering a new way to pay for residential solar panels, which could make them more accessible.

Under the new Solar City model, homeowners pay nothing to have panels put on their roofs; the company fronts the installation cost. Solar City technically owns the panels, but sells the energy they generate to the homeowner under a type of lease agreement.

Company representatives said homeowners in Massachusetts who switched all their power usage from the standard grid to solar panels would cut their energy bills by about 45 percent. In fact, Massachusettss tax laws make it one of the most solar-friendly states in the country and can help homeowners save money.

There are a few caveats, though. Not every house can support enough solar panels to power itself, and Solar City wont install unless they think its worth it. Fortunately, though, you can get a solar quote for free. Next

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Cool, Weird and Useful Ways to Improve Your Home at the New England Home Show

Construction is underway for the largest geothermal residential community in the United States, inside Norton Commons.

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The development is building 1,800 homes using special geothermal heating and cooling, which makes use of the earth's natural temperature to keep homes cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

"The earth will maintain a constant 52 degrees so we're running that pipe down 400 feet, two holes manifold that pipe together and bring it into the house," said Jay Kaiser, director of sales and marketing for Corken Steel Product Company.

The geothermal system connects to a unit inside the house that builders say is quieter than the traditional air conditioner or furnace.

For new homes, it costs the builder about $18,000 to install this system, with a possible tax credit of 30 percent for the buyer. But Norton Commons anticipates significant savings on utility bills.

"You can save anywhere from 65 and 80 percent on your utility bills," Kaiser said.

That means if it usually costs $200 per month to heat a home, this system could slash that to as low as $40.

"It taps into renewable energy and therefore is green, and Norton Commons is well versed in green initiatives," said Marilyn Osborn Patterson, marketing director at Norton Commons.

"Our homeowners are excited, our prospective homeowners are very excited but also we've gotten a lot of positive feedback regionally and nationally too."

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Construction underway at Norton Commons for largest geothermal community in US

SAUGEEN SHORES-

The average Saugeen Shores homeowner faces a combined 3.09 percent increase for town, County and school board taxes this year - but that number could change if councillors add or cut more from the operating and capital budgets before final approval at the end of March.

That 3.09 percent total tax hike is an additional $87.63 this year for a combined tax bill of $2,919 for the average homeowner.

The capital budget which requires $1.2-million in taxes, and the $9.8-million operating budget are described as "stay the course' by Kate Allen, the town's Director of Finance, who said there are no new services and no major service level changes in a status quo financial plan.

Deliberations were tough according to Mayor Mike Smith who said they had to balance wants with needs in times of dwindling provincial dollars - $350,000 less than last year - and a growing wish list from citizens.

'We got (the increase) down there by deferring some things and cutting a bunch of things," Smith said after a four-hour budget meeting Feb. 4 that cut approximately $60,000.

For the town's portion of the tax bill, the budgets include a 3.87 percent increase which equates to an additional $48.36 on the average house assessed at $270,000. The town will collect $11.9-million in property taxes this year, up from $10.4-million last year

"I'm happy that we got down to where we are, and that's probably where we're going to end up," Smith said after the meeting.

Councillors voted not to borrow $1.3-million to begin implementation of phase one of the Port Elgin Waterfront Master Plan.

Vice-deputy mayor Diane Huber said with little or no discussion on how the proposed $1.39-million would be spent, the proposal was a weird one to even have here.., and was very premature.

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Compromise budget means a total 3.09 percent tax increase in Saugeen Shores- probably