A thermostat is disclosed. The thermostat can include one or more temperature sensors configured to measure one or more temperature values. The thermostat can include a processing circuit. The processing circuit can receive the one or more temperature values from the one or more temperature sensors. The processing circuit can receive one or more central processing unit (CPU) usage values, wherein the one or more CPU usage values indicate computing usage of the processing circuit. The processing circuit can determine, based on an empirical model comprising one or more gain values and one or more filters and based on one or more signals, a temperature of the building. The one or more signals comprise the one or more temperature values and the one or more CPU usage values. The empirical model accounts for dynamics of heat generated by the processing circuit and airflow acting on the thermostat.