We notice that at different forums, people ask and discuss so many things about keen Smart Vent, but no one puts all information in one place categorically. So we decided to make Keen Smart Vent review where all information are available.
Deployment of smart thermostats in houses allows cooling and heating as per requirement. However, the comfort level is not maximum because there are rooms that remain cooler or hotter, and some remain empty most of the time. This is where smart vents dive in to circulate the air where needed and restrict the wind as per requirement.
So, why did we choose the Keen Vents over so many options worthy of the best smart vents 2020?
Keen Smart Vents run successfully in the market with immense customer satisfaction. With this, users can set independent temperatures in different rooms. Keen caught huge customer attraction by coming on the ‘Shark Tank’ program, and till now, it is continually improving various sectors, ensuring customer satisfaction.
Keen Smart Vent review will help you decide among the family of Keens, that is, Keen smart vent, smart vent pro, and Ecovent. We also explain Keen Smart Vent vs Ecovent, Keen Bridge vs Ecovent Hub and Keen smart vent vs. smart vent pro. It is high time to use them as they not only cause ultra-comfort living but also save electricity and money.
Table of Contents
Keen Smart Vent A to Z:
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Design:
Keen Smart Vent come in white colors, and the front plate is of plastic material. It is a magnetic plate so it can be easily put in or take out. This makes it easier to replace the battery or clean the vent. Overall, this smart vent design stands out in contrast to other options.
Size:
It comes in 4 different sizes of the keen vent so that they can fit in with the existing vents. The Keen smart vent sizes are: 4”x10”, 4”x12” , 6”x10” , 6”x12”.
The Keen website contains the following details of how to measure your vent correctly,Here we put it the smart vent sizes simple way:
With the help of Trim Kit, Keen can also fit in with the following measures: 12×12,10×10, 8×14, 8×12, 8×10, 6×14, and 4×14.
Installation:
The installation of Keen home smart vents is a DIY job, and clients can do it within 15 to 20 minutes. The set up requires inserting batteries in the vent and fit the vent in place, if your vent is in the ceiling, you will need a ladder.
Adjacent components:
It comes with a Smart Bridge and a temperature sensor. The former serves as a bridge between vent and cloud, and the latter allows users to set or view the exact temperature of the room.
Battery life:
It runs in 4 AA batteries. They do not give any wiring options. The Keen smart vent battery life is approximately two years, depending on use.
Operation:
The primary function of the vent is to restrict and re-circulate the wind in the ‘needy’ region. The ‘needy’ zone is the hot and cold spots around the house. Users can install several vents and bridges or can simply identify the ‘problem room’ and set a single vent and bridge.
App:
The vent comes with an intuitive and easy to use the app. It allows ‘scheduling’ where a day is divided into four 6 hour time slot. Users can select when they want the vents to open or close. An independent desired temperature can also be set in each room.
The keen smart vent app also helps to connect the smart thermostat with the vent. Keen supports smart vent Nest integration as well as Ecobee thermostat. The smartphone can help to connect them with vent. The app also allows smart zoning throughout the house.
Compatibility:
Keen is known for its’ device compatibility. Currently, it is compatible with Nest, Ecobee, Lowe’s Iris, Securfi. The Keen home smart vent ecobee permits users to customize several options in the app, including, setting temperature limit, adding multiple thermostats, and creating zones.
Keen smart vent SmartThings compatibility makes it attractive for tech-geeks. They have broad community sharing and helping others with codes. They also have open API where several codes are available in github.com for integration.
Voice Assistant:
the Keen home smart vent works with Amazon Alexa. Users can speak and control vents easily.
Energy-saving:
One of the reasons to use smart vents is electricity saving. And as for the question of how smart vents are powered, you’ll have to come back later on to know the answer.
Although manufacturers assume a huge save of 20 to 30%, ideally, this is usually less.
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- Magnetic faceplate makes it easier to remove it as per need.
- It supplies air to ‘problem areas’ in the house.
- Different temperatures for different rooms.
- Four sizes available and on top of that, trim kit expands another four sizes
- It supports Nest, Honeywell, Ecobee.
- It has open API that supports OpenHAB, home assistant, Control4, etc.
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- It can be a little noisy.
- Several vents and bridges can end up being costly.
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Keen Smart Vents: Do Smart Vents Work?
Keen has been in the market for around five years now. After appearing in Shark Tank, Keen Smart Vents became popular due to its unique features. Most of the houses have smart thermostats, heating, or cooling as per requirement.
The Keen smart vent works by communicating with thermostats and helping the ‘problem’ zones or rooms in the house. There are a couple of places in every home that is either too hot or too cold. Some of them remain empty most of the time.
This is where Keens dive in providing a comfortable environment throughout the house by allowing circulation around the house. It is well-known for its ease of use, energy-efficient, and compatibility with Samsung SmartThings, Nest, etc.
How Does Keen Smart Vent Work?
Now we answer the question: how do smart vents work? In this keen smart vent review, we will try to answer it.
The smart vent needs a smart bridge and a temperature sensor to operate. While the bridge helps to connect to Wi-Fi and act as a hub, the temperature sensor shows you the degrees. The whole package pairs up with the mobile app and lets you control everything.
The app has three different modes, manual mode, auto mode, integrated home.
The first mode allows the user to manually control the air regulation in each room by the app. The second mode helps to set each room at the desired degree, and the vent will automatically circulate the wind in the correct place of the house.
And the third option allows consumers to connect the smart vent with the thermostat to make it even more intelligent.
You may be wondering: how many smart vents do I need?
The Keen suggests replacing 30 to 50% of your house with vents. To get an overall effect, installing several vents and bridges will help. A vent in a room that is extremely hot or cold will manually or automatically reduce the airflow in that room and redirect the air in needy places.
Consumers also have to option to only work on the ‘problem room’; in that case, the vent will prevent the airflow such that it is neither hot or cold, but the redirection of air to an under-conditioned room isn’t achievable.
Keen is famous due to its ease of installation, intuitive app, smart zoning, and several integrations. It is not only capable of providing the comfort of life but makes life easier and saves you money.
keen Home Smart Vent: Shark Tank Update
The grand entrance on the Shark Tank program is a turning point of Keen. Keen home smart vent shark tank update took place last year. The owners talk about their system efficiency and purpose. They first made their appearance in the show in 2015, where they needed investment to grow their company. They proposed a deal of 750,000 in exchange for 10% of their company.
Upon discussion with the offers of the entrepreneurs, the deal was set with $750 000 at 13% with Robert Herjavec.
Where to buy keen smart vent:
We’ve already put the points of what the keen vents are among the best smart air vents. Now the question arises: where do I get one?
Keen smart vents are available in Lowe’s Hardware stores throughout the US is several online stores. Users can order it from the Keen official website. It is also available in the world’s largest online market, Amazon and other stores like Best buy, Newegg, Columbia Gas of Ohio.
Keen Smart Vent Review: Distinctions with the Ecovent
Ecovent joined in with Keen in the mid of last year. The Ecovent smart vent is more expandable to give consumers a full house effect. That is, they recommend replacing almost all vents in the house or 80% of it. With intelligent communication of hub and vent and much longer battery life, Ecovent could be considered an advanced version of Keen.
Design: Keen Smart Vent vs Ecovent
While Keen comes with a bridge and temperature sensor, where the vent has built-in temperature and pressure sensor and the bridge to assist it with the internet and other vents in the house, the Ecovent is slightly different.
Ecovent has a sensor that plugs into the power supply. It will measure temperature, pressure, and humidity. The hub will work to ensure the room sets to the desired temperature, and the vent will act accordingly. Along with these, a single or multiple Sensi thermostats are needed. The mobile app will control everything in the house.
Also, for Keen there is a single design for ceiling, wall, or floor. For Ecovent the design is different to ensure maximum operation.
Bridge vs Hub:
The Keen Smart Bridge has Zigbee connection. It connects the vent and temperature sensor as well as to other vents in the home. More than one Bridge is used as a wireless repeater to ensure vents installed far from each other have a secure connection. The Keen offers free Keen Cloud services for a whole year.
The Hub of Ecovent measures all necessary features needed for the ‘weather condition’ of the room. It connects vents with sensors. The hub uses SafeSense to monitor the HVAC system and works with Wi-Fi thermostats and maintains them.
How Many Bridge are Needed?
This is an important decision that users need to make. Keen suggests 30 to 50% of your house to replace by vents and bridges. They also allow using a single vent and bridge only for a room. Keen official website suggests using one Bridge for eight smart vents for a single floor and 2 Bridges for 16 vents for two levels.
Ecovent advises users to replace 80% of the vents for comfort living. A house should have at least eight vents to allow adequate airflow. They come with a package that includes four sensors, one hub and one Sensi thermostat for four rooms. With an additional room, a sensor has to add for each room.
Compatibility:
Keen supports Alexa, Nest, Ecobee, Samsung SmartThings, Lowe’s Iris, Securfi. It has open API. So, the Keen supports home assistant, openhab, iControl, Control4, and codes are available in github.com. Although Keen smart vent Homekit integration is not yet achieved, it is something they are working on.
Keen smart vent has integration with Nest; Ecovent doesn’t support Nest or Ecobee. They only work with Sensi Thermostat and doesn’t have open API. They may implement these in the future.
App:
With the Ecovent app, users can select empty rooms so that air can rush into occupied rooms. For each room, the desired temperature is tuned, and the Sensi thermostat is connected.
With Keen app, users can select from the four 6-hour zones when to open or close vents. They can remotely use both apps.
Keen Smart Vent vs Smart Vent Pro
Design and size:
The Keen smart vent pro is more straightforward compared to Keen vents and Ecovents. It only has a temperature sensor that comes with the vent. These are very effective in starting with an individual room at a time.
It comes with many sizes just like Keen, 4×10, 4×12, 6×10, 6×12, 12×12, 10×10, 8×14, 8×12, 8×10, 4×14, 6×14. It has easy to remove faceplate that can be colored.
Keen smart vent temperature sensor along with the bridge and smart vent allows zoning in the house, ensuring the correct airflow in places. The Keen smart vent starter kit comes with 3 Vents, 2 Sensors, and a Bridge for 1 or 2 rooms. It comes with one-year free Keen cloud services.
Features:
The smart vent pro has a temperature and pressure sensor that can determine the room condition and work accordingly. The vent opens or closes as per the need of room condition without making any sound.
Just like Keen, the vent pro is wireless and requires 4 AA batteries that can run up to 2 years.
Compatibility:
Similar to Keen, the smart vent pro is compatible with Nest, Ecobee, Lowe’s Iris, and SmartThings and has open API. The ecobee3 in Keen smart vents increases comfort and saves electricity. The Smart vent pro can be said to be a smaller version of Keen. It is also compatible with
Filter:
The Keen offers a unique thing that is compatible with their vents, that is, Keen smart vent filter. It is clipped into the faceplate and fits all sizes. The primary purpose is to prevent allergens, household germs, and air pollutants from mixing with the ‘home air.’ This keeps the air germless and odor-free.
Keen smart vent installation:
Once you have decided to go with Keen, you might be wondering about the setup or installation procedure. The following things are needed to begin with the installation
- Wi-Fi or internet connection (DSL, Cable, Fiber, or Satellite).
- A mobile phone with Android 4.4 version or iOS 7.0+ version.
- A central heating or cooling system.
- Keen Bridge or Hub, or Lowe’s Iris, or SmartThings.
- Nest or Ecobee3 thermostat.
When you are ready with the above criteria, you need to take out the existing vent and put it in the new one. Then batteries have to be inserted, and finally, the metal plate is placed. The installation is complete.
The only remaining step is, connecting the smart bridge, which in turn connects itself with vent and temperature sensor. And finally, the vent should be connected to the mobile app. The setup is complete. The Keen smart vent manual for installation is available on Keen Home Support.
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Bottom line:
Keen smart vents are in the market for quite a while. They provide an easy solution to a small yet visible problem of our lives. The vent removes hot/cold areas, takes care of a vacant room, and allows setting different degrees in each room. Users can choose smart vent pro, smart vent, or Ecovent as per their requirement.
If they wish to start with a small region of the house, smart vent pro is the right choice. For 50% of the house, the smart vent is better, and to get 80 to 100% house effect, Ecovent is the best. The Keen can undoubtedly be the right choice based on its function, compatibility, battery life, and durability.
Along with these, Keen home smart vent vs. Flair is another hot topic of discussion because they are competitive with each other. The Flair might be selected as a Keen smart vent alternative.
We did cover a lot of information in this keen smart vent review. If you’ve made it this far, then:
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Shawkat Hafiz
I am very much enthusiastic about Home Automation and actively developing open-source software to extend its capabilities so this is going to all be biased by my own experiences.