Rumy is a personal controller for smart thermostats which uses Bluetooth LE radio through a smart hub or phone/tablet to connect to your home network. An easily downloadable phone app then links the controller with your smart home devices like WiFi thermostats and smart lights to avoid wasted energy.
For example, by placing the controller in your bedroom you can adjust the thermostat based on the temperature of the bedroom rather than the temperature of the entire house.
Rumy runs in two modes, either priority mode where the most recent controller changed then becomes the active one. The dominant app can be adjusted manually as you move from room to room. In the average mode, thermostat takes an average temperate from all controllers in the house.
The issues with Rumy
Although smart phones can be used to adjust thermostats, Rumy promotes the idea that their controller is more convenient to use than a smart phone. However, there is no data to backup this assumption as the Rumy product use is mostly anecdotal.
Also, the Rumy device doesn’t seem to have faired as well in the market place as some of its competitors. It’s initial offer price including the hub was higher than comparable products. Although the price has dropped to $69, it is only available through the manufacturer’s website.
The device seems to have suffered from a poor marketing strategy rather than faulty product design.
Comparing and contrasting
Other comparable products have a larger share of the market plus a significant number of favorable product reviews.
Both the Ecobee3 and Nest have several generations of products available, and can be purchased on Amazon for around $250. The Ecobee3 works with a smart phone and seems to be a favorite among the early adopters of this technology.
One feature that is preferred that Rumy does not have is that the Ecobee can sense whether a room is occupied or not, and adjusts the average temperature for the home based on the room usage.
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