Ever since “Ecobee” produced the first-ever smart thermostat in the year 2007, it has become one of the popular thermostat models.  While the pioneer model had only Wi-Fi capability, now the latest models are embedded with much more features. 

LUX KONO is one such smart thermostat loaded with the latest technologies and comes as a successor of LUX GEO. We have already reviewed LUX GEO in one of our previous articles; you can check it out here. 

This article describes the features of LUX KONO.

LUX KONO was first made available on May 2, 2018. It is one of the latest smart thermostats from the house of LUX Products Corporation, which boasts of providing “zero degrees of difficulty” and ultimate comfort. 

Invite this stylish thermostat at your home to add comfort while subtracting energy usage.  The changeable decor cover snaps, allow you to personalize the color of the thermostat to suit your likings. More of the design details will be discussed in the coming paragraphs of this article. 

The KONO smart thermostat works well with your voice assistants like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple HomeKit, via the cloud. It comes powered with home and away GEOfencing technology that controls your home comfort automatically by sensing your phone’s location. 

KONO’s smart technology is compatible to work with forced air, gas, oil, electric furnaces (up to 2H/1C), and A/C units with a “C” wire connection. For the heating systems, you can install KONO with or without the “C” wires depending on the type of system. 

The easy scheduling feature of the KONO iOS and android app is another plus for this thermostat and it estimates the energy usage and utility cost. 

Let us now discuss some of its important features in detail. 

Design 

LUX KONO has been designed keeping in mind the ease of use. LUX KONO looks similar to Ecobee 4 and measures approximately 4.5×4.5×1 inches(HWD). Its minimalistic yet stylish design blends in with any wall. The square-shaped thermostat has a display screen and a brushed aluminum knob on its front. This knob makes controlling and selecting options an easy-breezy affair. You can use it as it is or personalize the front color to suit your wall by placing the snap-off front covers. These covers come in 5 different shades: deep blue, hibiscus red, midnight black, sea green, and true white. In case, none of these colors match your wall, you can use the paintable front plate, which comes at around   15$. This removable faceplate snaps on and off quite smoothly.

Overall, when compared to the KONO’s counterparts like ecobee and sensi, it has a more visually appealing design and texture. 

Display

The LUX KONO sports a 1.7”×1.7” LCD white backlit display. Once you turn or press the knob the display lights up for a few seconds. The display of this stylish thermostat unit gives all the basic information at one glance. You can check the set temperature by just turning the knob. The display by default shows the current room temperature, time and date, heating or cooling mode. It also shows whether the fan mode is on, the humidity of the room etc. 

A menu is displayed with 4 options once the knob is pressed for a few seconds. The white backlight of the display makes it readable at any given lighting condition of the room. The fonts and icons used are quite good and easy to understand. 

Programming and Operation

LUX KONO App offers both a single temperature/default set temperature option and a day-by-day custom scheduling option.  

The programming of LUX KONO is quite a cumbersome task if you want a day-by-day custom program. The byzantine programming approach may make programming seem like an uphill task for the first time. However, once the Wi-Fi is set up and the app is installed successfully, it works just fine. 

The brushed aluminum knob makes the selection of modes and changing the temperatures very smooth. The temperature can be increased or decreased to the desired temperature by just turning the knob clockwise/anticlockwise direction. There are no other push buttons or knobs, so the whole operation is handled by this single knob. This sometimes makes the operation a bit fuzzy. 

To activate the menu option, you need to press the center of the knob. A 4 option menu pops up on the screen which lets you make schedules and set mode preferences. 

The KONO App interface is smooth and user-friendly and is the same as that for LUX GEO. All the installed KONO thermostats of your home are displayed in the front page itself. Choose the thermostat you want to control and then set the temperatures accordingly over the home wi-fi. 

However, when it comes to scheduling your thermostat, the app user interface is not so user-friendly, in terms that it becomes quite a troublesome task to set a schedule from scratch.

 One of the features of the KONO app which comes in really handy is its energy usage prediction tool. It tells you how much energy will be used when you set a particular temperature. Here you can compare between two temperatures as to which one would be more energy efficient. This helps in choosing a set temperature wisely. Not only this, there is also a provision to set timers for heat on/off or cool on/off according to your schedule. 

You can also use a web console to control or operate the thermostat, apart from the KONO app. 

Installation

Installation of LUX KONO is pretty straightforward. With the elaborate user manual in hand and basic knowledge and experience in low voltage wiring, you can easily set up the thermostat at your home. For homes with HVAC Systems sans C-Wire, this unit comes with a wiring bridge. One thing to take note of while installing the KONO unit is the labels given at the back of the unit. Some of the sockets are not labeled so as to use this with conventional furnaces and heat pumps. This may make installation a bit tricky.

Compatibility 

LUX KONO is a low voltage thermostat and is designed to work with forced air, gas, oil, electric furnaces (up to 2H/1C) and A/C units with “C” wire connection. 

LUX GEO Vs LUX  KONO

Once you take a look at the specifications of GEO and KONO, you will see both have nearly the same characteristics. Both are compatible with voice assistants like Amazon Alexa, and Google Home but the LUX KONO is compatible with apple home kit as well. 

 The design of both is however drastically different. While GEO has a rectangular not so stylish look, KONO’s design is sleek and sharp with changeable face covers and a symmetrical sturdy body. 

LUX GEO can be powered in three different ways: battery, micro USB, and direct 24 V power. LUX KONO on the other hand can be powered only through the 24V direct line. 

LUX GEO is compatible with: Conventional 2 stages heating and cooling, Heat pumps with up to 2 stages cooling and heating, Heat only hydronic systems with three wires, Gas millivolt heaters. 

LUX KONO is compatible with: Conventional 2 Heat and 1 Cool Systems, Heat Pumps with up to 2 stages heat and 1 stage cooling, Oil, electric, or gas furnace. 

LUX KONO:  The sleek and stylish smart thermostat 

No doubt, the design of this modern smart thermostat is LUX KONO’s main USP. It has great features like voice assistant compatibility, GEO fencing, energy prediction capability that help you to use your heating/cooling systems in the most energy-efficient way. 

Let us take a quick look at the pros and cons of LUX KONO before we wrap up this article. 

Pros:

  • Modern stylish design
  • Customizable removable face plates
  • Voice assistant compatibility3w2w
  • GEO fencing allows home/away options
  • Predicts energy usage for a particular temperature

Cons:

  • Lacks compatibility with smart home hubs like Samsung Home, IFTTT. 
  • Cumbersome 7 day Programming
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