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Thermostat wars heating up

By WTOP Staff

By Gregg Stebben, Men’s Health

WASHINGTON — Most houses have thermostats to keep air temperatures comfortable through changing seasons. And one of the hottest tech trends — smart thermostats — is helping make the process easier and more cost-efficient.

Google paid $3.2 billion for smart-thermostat company Nest earlier this year. And this week, Honeywell has announced their own competitior, a smart thermostat called Lyric.

Now that there’s competition in this home-automation space, here are the kinds of questions you might find yourself asking:

1. What is a smart thermostat?

Many of us have programmable thermostats today. These enable you to observe your family’s patterns at home, and then use those patterns to predict the best settings for your home heating and cooling in the future. Take my programmable home thermostat, for example: It allows us to automatically change the temperature setting 4 times a day, with one set of settings for Monday through Friday and another set for the weekend. This means that during summer, you can drop the temperature just as everyone is waking, raise it while the home is empty all day, drop it again as everyone is getting home, and then raise it again while everyone is sleeping.

As you might expect, a smart thermostat is a lot smarter. The Nest can detect motion; motion means someone is home, and that means the house needs to be cooler during summer than when it is empty, and vice versa during winter. Nest also learns about your family patterns. And, of course, you can control Nest and your thermostat with a smartphone.

Lyric, on the other hand, is focused on your smartphone. If there is a smartphone in the house, there must be a human in the house. If there is a human in the house, the house needs to be cooler during summer and warmer during winter. Because Lyric is focused on your smartphone, it presumably could even begin cooling the house for you during summer as it saw you approaching home.

2. How much does a smart thermostat cost?

Nest costs $249; Lyric is $279. Both are easy DIY projects, or you can hire an electrician or HVAC professional to do the installation for you.

3. Why is this an important, developing form of home automation?

For many families, the first flirtation with home automation will begin with a smart thermostat. But it probably won’t end there: Nest has already moved beyond thermostats to smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. Honeywell has already said that Lyric is just the first of many home-automation products. The bet is that once a family takes the plunge and buys one home-automation product, they’ll be primed to buy more.

4. What about privacy? Could one of these things end up spying on me?

Define “spying.” If you mean a company could use a smart thermostat to compile data about you and your family that would be then be used for marketing purposes, then spying is absolutely possible. If by spying you mean that a hacker could take control of your device and watch or listen to you, I doubt it’s possible with Nest or Lyric, but I have no doubt it will be possible in future generations of devices such as these. Remember the recent story of the hacker who hacked into a baby monitor, and was screaming at the baby in the middle of the night?

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Don’t Settle for Student Loans to Pay for Online Education

By WTOP Staff
Online college programs are becoming a more popular choice for prospective students, with one study finding that more than 6 million students enrolled in at least one online course in fall 2015. The popularity of these courses can be attributed in part to their flexibility with working adults' schedules, students' ability to progress more quickly through online programs and, oftentimes, cheaper tuition. [See 10 low-cost online bachelor's programs for out-of-state students.]Online degrees can be beneficial to many college students, but some studies have shown online learners complete their programs at lower rates than students at traditional brick-and-mortar campuses. Individuals with student loans but no degree comprise two-thirds of defaulted borrowers. Though these numbers are not encouraging, just like for traditional programs, there are ways to reduce how much you'll need to borrow for an online program to ensure you won't become one of these statistics. Don't just settle on borrowing student loans to cover the whole cost of your program and living expenses. Instead, start thinking about how to cut costs and cover your balance in different ways, such as the following. -- Grants and scholarships: Even though you are taking an online course, you can still apply and receive grants and scholarships. But your first step should be to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly referred to as the FAFSA, which will allow you to receive a Pell Grant if your expected family contribution is low enough. The EFC criteria and award amounts are adjusted annually, but the 2017-2018 academic year awards range from $606 to $5,920, which could significantly lower the amount you borrow annually. Your next step is to apply for scholarships. You can start by checking online scholarship search engines, such as the Salt Scholarship Search, College Board's BigFuture and Peterson's. But don't forget to take advantage of local organizations and your school's financial aid office. Both may offer scholarships that you can't find with a national scholarship search. [Review these 10 sites to kick off your scholarship search.]For instance, organizations like the Elks Club, Knights of Columbus or the Rotary Club typically offer scholarships annually to local students. Just because you're going to school online doesn't mean you're ineligible. Visit your local library for scholarship listings, and ask around town. You might be surprised how many local organizations offer scholarships. While these scholarships typically aren't large, every little bit counts. Each dollar you receive in a scholarship is a dollar you don't have to borrow and pay interest on. -- Work-study: Another option for online students may be work-study awards. Not all students enrolled in online programs are eligible, but students at some schools -- including, for example, SUNY Empire State College and Liberty University -- are. Work-study awards are not given upfront like scholarships and grants. In most cases, they are an offer to earn up to the awarded amount if you secure an eligible work-study job. While there is a misconception that all work-study jobs must be on campus, students can work for off-campus, nonprofit or public employers as long as the work is in the public's interest. You may be able to work for a for-profit employer if the job is relevant to your course of study. No matter who the outside employer is, it will need to have an established agreement with your college for you to receive work-study funds. Remember, to be eligible for federal financial aid, you must be enrolled and pursuing a degree or certificate. If you're not working toward a credential, Pell Grants and work-study won't be option, but you may still be able to take advantage of private scholarships -- just be sure to read the eligibility criteria carefully. [Explore what to know about financial aid in online programs.]-- Pay as you go: One of the great benefits to enrolling online is the flexible schedule, which can allow you to complete your college coursework around your responsibilities. But prospective students often overlook using their part- or full-time job earnings as an option for paying for college. Almost 80 percent of college students in 2015 worked at least part time while attending classes, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. By budgeting and thinking strategically about your college costs, you can likely reduce your dependence on student loans by paying a portion out of pocket. Many -- but not all -- online programs are less expensive than traditional programs and often have shorter payment periods. Six, eight or 10 weeks are common course durations. Because of the frequency of payments in an online setting, you may be well-placed to pay as you go and possibly avoid borrowing altogether. Attending college online and avoiding student loans may be challenging, but if you are willing to put in the effort, you can limit the amount you need to borrow. More from U.S. News Q&A: Understanding Student Loan Discharge Eligibility Student Loan Refinancing Isn't Right for All Borrowers
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