It would seem that there are a lot of items coming into the market that are getting the smart treatment, especially now that we have the Keen Home Smart Vent. In theory, it should work seamlessly for room-by-room customization, as well as with the property’s HVAC control. Therefore, it should be perfect for a wine cellar, the bedroom, the kitchen, or an office environment. Plus, its smart features offer data sharing which could assist in normalize rooms on the fringes of the home. This way, temperature gets to be normal at all times even though it is either freezing cold or boiling hot outside. These all sound too good to be true, but this particular smart vent falls short in a lot of areas.
The Keen Home Smart Vent Falls Short to Impress
Despite the Keen Home Smart Vent having a reasonable price tag, there are serious design flaws that makes it borderline unusable. It should be stated early on that customers planning to purchase the unit should stay away from it until a better upgrade is released.
So what does it do? The Keen Smart Vent does have promising elements. To start, the accompanying app is slick and intuitive. It offers the idea of a removable magnetic faceplate for simplifying the process of changing batteries as well as checking network connection. Its vent design is fairly attractive, and the unit also works with the Nest Learning Thermostat, which is a plus.
At the time of writing, the app controls are relatively simple. You can remotely control the vents with it , and you can set a schedule for them to open or close at different times of the day. Also, you are able to control the temperature and set the Home/Away state for your Nest Thermostat.
So here are promising features, what’s wrong with it? To start, it has major connectivity issues. You will start experiencing such challenges for distances as low as 30-feet. Even though you purchase a second smart bridge to act as a repeater, you will still have these problems. Therefore, to get better control for the vents, you would have to stand relatively close to them, which can be an annoyance.
Furthermore, the Keen Home Smart Vent is still too basic despite having a relatively reasonable price tag. Overall, its design flaws are what cripple it immensely into becoming a recommendable product for any home or office.