A Guide to Smart Air Conditioners

Before summer gets in full swing—and you find yourself sweltering—equip your home with the latest intelligent A/C-centric devices that will allow you stay at the ideal temperature on even the doggiest of days.

Nest

For the central air home, the solution couldn’t be easier—get yourself a Nest. Bright, brainy and a breeze to use, the market’s leading intelligent thermostat will give you complete control over your home’s cooling from anywhere in the world. Better still, this "learning" thermostat gets to know you and your schedule, automatically altering temps for the times of day you need them and turning the A/C off when you don’t—thus helping to cut down on one of the more costly aspects of staying comfortable in the summer.

The Nest Learning Thermostat is currently available for $199.

Tado

If you’re looking for Nest-like control, but you have a home outfitted with window units—good news; there’s Tado. This clever contraption leverages infrared technology to replace your window unit’s remote, transferring all the control functionality to an easy-to-use app on your smartphone. In addition to the obvious—allowing you to control your A/C units (yes, it controls multiple units) from anywhere—Tado incorporates geo-fencing, based off the location of your paired smartphone. This means Tado can automatically turn off every unit when it detects that everyone has left the home—and automatically get the A/C flowing again when it senses someone has entered the house.

Tado is not yet available in the U.S.—interested parties can sign up here to be notified when it is—but is available abroad for £149 (US$197).

GE Appliance

In a sign of the "ensmartening" of everything in our homes, GE Appliances has released a fleet of Wi-Fi-connected window units that will allow users to control their air conditioning in a variety of ways from a variety of locations. Compatible with Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa and IFTTT, the GE smart series can be voice controlled and coordinated with other device actions. Like it cooler for bedtime? GE will let you easily pair dropping the temperature 10 degrees with turning off your smart lights. GE owners will also have access to the Comfort app that will grant users a more standard—albeit on a smartphone—remote control experience for operating and scheduling their units.

Details on all five of the GE Appliance units, which range from $229 to $389, can be found here.

Kapsul

Those looking to be on the cutting edge of air conditioning technology will want to go ahead and pre-order a Kapsul W5. The Kapsul W5 is a high-tech window unit that is not only smart but attempts to address an oft-overlooked issue—preserving your view. Impossibly thin for an air conditioner (only seven inches tall!), the light-weight, easily removable Kapsul W5 brings the breeziness without bogarting your window space. Better still the device works out of the box with Alexa, Google Home and Nest, offering instant voice control of your A/C. For those who prefer types and swipes, Kapsul can be controlled via an accompanying smartphone app, which gives owners immediate control or allows them to schedule cooling periods.

The Kapsul W5 is available for pre-order now for $499 with expected delivery in spring 2019.