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[AstroNut325]

Hello,

I'm having some HVAC work done to my place and I've been thinking of having an smart thermostat installed. I've mostly heard of Nest and Ecobee. I'm leaning towards a Nest at the moment simply because, based on reviews, it's a learning thermostat. Then again, I'm pretty clueless when it comes to smart home stuff.

What kinds of things should I be concerned about? Are the remote sensors of the Ecobee more worthwhile than the learning abilities of the Nest?

Anyone compared or own any of these smart thermostats?

Any advice or suggestions are welcome.

 

[NysGAF]

I have two Ecobees on the way. I'd be interested to hear other's impressions too.

 

[RowdyReverb]

I've used the Nest for 3-4 years. I really like it, but I've turned off the automatic features because I was tired of getting home to a hot/cold house and waiting for the temperature to normalize after I get home.
I really like being able to set the thermostat from my phone or set it to Away (or Eco) mode when I'm gone for a while.

 

[Draysoth]

Never compared them, sorry - but I have a Nest. Its awesome - just having the ability to change temps from my phone is amazing. It keeps track of when you change the temp and how often, as well as outside temps, to learn what you likely want and works with that. Very clever - also emails you how much power you likely saved vs a normal thermostat monthly.

 

[Darryl M R]

I got a Nest last month and I like it. It tries to predict what temperature I want my place.

I leave for the gym around 5am and I get back at 6:30pm and it raises the temperature for my arrival.

Most of the time when I'm home I just have it set to eco though.

 

[Lee]

We have a Nest. It looks neat and it's nice being able to change temps from your phone. We also don't use any of the automated scheduling features because we have a weird schedule.

No complaints. In hindsight, did we need it? Nope. Would I buy it again knowing we wouldn't utilize all the features? No. Is it cool to have? Yeah.

 

[Brandson]

I have an Ecobee and like it. It's extremely easy to use, both at the device, and through the remote app. Having a remote sensor to put in a bedroom is a great feature. It also shows weather information, and has the outdoor temperature right there on the main screen as you walk past it. The unit itself is a touchscreen.

I went with Ecobee over Nest because I read some reviews where people complained that Nest sometimes waited for room temperature to exceed the target temperature by an irritatingly wide margin before turning on the furnace/ac. I don't know if that has been fixed yet. I also found Nest's interface at the thermostat to be more irritating than Ecobee. I don't regret my decision to go with Ecobee at all.

 

[Lord Error]

I have Nest and I like it. It's really nice, but not without faults.

Biggest fault is that the activation temperature swing (industry term for this is maintenance band) is wider on Nest than on any other thermostat I've seen, and is also not user adjustable. What this means is that you can easily get into a situation where the thermostat doesn't heat until it's too cold, then heats until it's too hot. Newer system update claimed to have improved this swing and should narrow it during critically cold and hot periods, but in my experience it's still not as comfortable as I'd like.

What's great about Nest is the ability to use it from anywhere, and also reliability. Their network uptime is commendable.

Essentially, I like it so much that spent significant time building an Apple Watch app for it, because Nest themselves wouldn't do it for a very long time (and now that they did it, it's still really crummy).

I went with Ecobee over Nest because I read some reviews where people complained that Nest sometimes waited for room temperature to exceed the target temperature by an irritatingly wide margin before turning on the furnace/ac. I don't know if that has been fixed yet.

Yep, it sucks less now, but still not ideal. I do like Nest's temperature adjusting interface better than any alternative, which is what I do on it 99% of the time.

 

[RowdyReverb]

I have Nest and I like it. It's really nice, but not without faults.

Biggest fault is that the activation temperature swing (industry term for this is maintenance band) is higher on Nest than on any other thermostat I've seen, and is also not user adjustable. What this means is that you get easily get into a situation where the thermostat doesn't heat until it's too cold, then heats until it's too hot. Newer system update claimed to have improved this swing and should narrow it during critically cold and hot periods, but in my experience it's still not as comfortable as I'd like.

What's great about Nest is the ability to use it from anywhere, and also reliability. Their network uptime is commendable.

Essentially, I like it so much that spent significant time building an Apple Watch app for it, because Nest themselves wouldn't do it for a very long time (and now that they did it, it's still really crummy).


Yep, it sucks less now, but still not ideal. I do like Nest's temperature adjusting interface better than any alternative, which is what I do on it 99% of the time.

Yes! This is very true and it drives my wife absolutely nuts. If the heat is set to 70, it might not turn on until the temperature reaches 68, and then it heats the house to 71. All we wanted was 70 degrees!

Also, what's your Watch app called?

 

[TheCochese]

I went with the Ecobee3 because of the temp reviews with Nest, and the fact our schedules don't permit any use of the learning capabilities. Very happy with it, and I need to buy more sensors at some point. Integration with Alexa is very good once I figured out where I was going wrong.

 

[The Flop]

I've had both. I Love the Ecobee. I like the separate room sensors. So at night I can be like look if it's X Degrees in just this room it's cool.

 

[Dr. Zoidberg]

I've used the Nest for 3-4 years. I really like it, but I've turned off the automatic features because I was tired of getting home to a hot/cold house and waiting for the temperature to normalize after I get home.

Same. I'd be okay with it personally, but my wife hates to be the least bit cold and really got annoyed when she came home early and the house was a few degrees cooler, or had the day off and the device lowered the temps to the "away" settings. I love the remote features on the Nest but the automatic stuff only works if you are either tolerant of temperature variations or have a rigid schedule that you won't break often.

 

[Ixian]

Glad to see the positive Ecobee feedback; I regret not buying one when it was on sale for $200 but am definitely going to pick one up next time it's that low.

 

[SpecX]

I bought the Honeywell smart thermostat last year and it's been great so far. Has voice controls and works with Alexa, though I have yet to use those features. I really like the customizable screen and setup the colors and font to match the holiday/season and the decor as we changed things in the house.

The mobile app is simple to use and the website allows easy setup as well so you aren't forced to the small screen. Was looking at a Nest, but didn't really like the circle design, plus was able to get this on sale for $170.

 

[SourBear]

I have EcoBee. I bought it because of the separate room sensors as well as the HomeKit integration. The EcoBee also lets you adjust different parameters of how the heating/cooling work. Such as minimum temperature differential, minimum cooling/heating equipment run time, etc., etc.

 

[giga]

Have both but I haven't installed the ecobee yet. I can confirm the issues regarding Nest taking too long for it to get cold/hot enough for it to turn on. You get used to it, but it's definitely a drawback. Otherwise it's a great thermostat. People are always impressed with the industrial design and app. The reason I bought the ecobee are twofold: homekit support and multiple temperature sensors. My bedroom is much draftier than my living room, so I'm hoping the ecobee can help that.

 

[Jezbollah]

I have a 2nd generation Nest thermostat and three Nest Protects.

No complaints or problems with them at all, except for pre-programmed schedules sometimes turning on the heating when I'm away from home. Apart from that, it's done a good job in saving me a bit of money and I like the visibility. I just wish I had waited a couple of weeks for the 3rd gen Thermostat so I could control my water heating with it.

 

[Lord Error]

Yes! This is very true and it drives my wife absolutely nuts. If the heat is set to 70, it might not turn on until the temperature reaches 68, and then it heats the house to 71. All we wanted was 70 degrees!

Also, what's your Watch app called?

Thermo Watch. It also has iOS widget, and I have an app for Nest Cam also. Not free, but I can give you a gift code.

 

[Jag]

Glad to see the positive Ecobee feedback; I regret not buying one when it was on sale for $200 but am definitely going to pick one up next time it's that low.

Same. I was so close to impulse buying it.

 

[RowdyReverb]

Thermo Watch. It also has iOS widget, and I have an app for Nest Cam also. Not free, but I can give you a gift code.

Wow, that looks really cool, thanks!

 

[poppabk]

I have the carrier cor thermostat. The wireless control from your phone is nice, and it sort of works with the echo, although the skill needs some work for it be anything more than a novelty.

 

[IceIpor]

Depending on where you live, you could also get a rebate if you purchase a nest or ecobee.
Just look it up and see if there is any energy saving incentives for your state/province.

For example in Ontario, Canada, we have a $100 rebate you can apply for if you purchase one. http://en.knowyourenergyscore.ca/smart-thermostats/

 

[AstroNut325]

Depending on where you live, you could also get a rebate if you purchase a nest or ecobee.
Just look it up and see if there is any energy saving incentives for your state/province.

For example in Ontario, Canada, we have a $100 rebate you can apply for if you purchase one. http://en.knowyourenergyscore.ca/smart-thermostats/

Just researched this. There is a $100 rebate for the Ecobee in my area! This might tip the scale!

 

[Marty Chinn]

I've got a Nest and love it. Nest I believe has better integration with other smart home devices, and that means beyond just Alexa. Like if you got smart locks, the locks can tell Nest when you leave the house and when you come home. The one aspect of Ecobee I do wish Nest had was the ability to set up remote sensors so you can base it on specific rooms rather than the location of where your thermostat is. So if your thermostat is in a good spot, it might be good enough. Our old house it was not in the greatest but worked pretty well, but in our new house it's in a really good spot. Definitely get at least an Echo Dot to voice control it too, and if you get an Echo, there's a second skill that works well with the Alexa integration for Nest that adds additional features.

 

[adamsappel]

I have Nest and like it a lot. I'm not sure what schedule it learns, because my wife turns it up and 15 minutes later I turn it down.

Thermo Watch. It also has iOS widget, and I have an app for Nest Cam also. Not free, but I can give you a gift code.

Good job! Bought.

 

[Earthpainting]

I have a Nest and don't really pay much attention to the schedules, since my home hours are kind of irregular. Being able to open up your app at work and tell the house to get ready for your arrival, is my main interaction with the thing.

 

[soco]

we have a nest here, and while it's cool, it's overkill.

I'm not sure if ours ever really "learned" because we have so many people coming or going, and we don't really have any place central enough in our house. At this point, it's on a fixed schedule.

I guess the one bonus is that the granularity is a little better than most older 6-hour window schedules.

 

[Bane]

I dig my Nest but am another that turned off the learning. It just felt to random so I programed it (I'm sure it being in a hallway with little traffic doesn't help). It has a good app and works with Alexa if you want to tweak things quickly. I also appreciate the energy usage meter in the app.

 

[mrklaw]

I have a nest and its nice but not omg amazing. It has a much simpler way to set schedules using the phone rather than a horrible on-box interface of standard thermostats (like an old clock radio or something). And changing temps is easy. That means we keep the general temp fairly low, and can easily bump it up if we feel a bit chilly.

The auto off isn't great - if I'm working from home in another room it turns the heating off but now you can include your phone location so that has improved. But it still isn't good at knowing when you're coming back home. So eg on weekends we can often come back to a slightly cold house. It isn't super cold here so it doesn't take long to warm up, but it can still be annoying.

Don't use the remote setting often, but when we were on holiday over Christmas it was good to override the schedule and leave the heating off and then just flip it on when we landed at the airport on the way home. You set a base temperature so it doesn't let the house freeze.

 

[Zen Aku]

I have a Nest, been very happy with it so far the past year.

I have a co-worker who bought a Nest but return it for a Honeywell I believe. Can't remember why though.

I don't think you can go wrong with Nest, Ecobee or Honeywell. Though I do think if you have room by room A/C then I would go with Ecobee so you can get sensors for each room. I can't imagine go back to old non-smart thermostat. The ability to change the temperature without having to get out of bed from your phone alone is worth it to me.

 

[mrklaw]

I've got a Nest and love it. Nest I believe has better integration with other smart home devices, and that means beyond just Alexa. Like if you got smart locks, the locks can tell Nest when you leave the house and when you come home. The one aspect of Ecobee I do wish Nest had was the ability to set up remote sensors so you can base it on specific rooms rather than the location of where your thermostat is. So if your thermostat is in a good spot, it might be good enough. Our old house it was not in the greatest but worked pretty well, but in our new house it's in a really good spot. Definitely get at least an Echo Dot to voice control it too, and if you get an Echo, there's a second skill that works well with the Alexa integration for Nest that adds additional features.

This is basically still following the old school thermostat installation style. I find it annoying too, but tim doesn't make installation easier I guess.

What I really want is whole house heating control. Let me have sensors in each room with independently set temperatures and schedules (I'd want the bedroom a little colder than the living room for example). Then let the boiler only send heating to those radiators in rooms that need it.

At the moment the heating basically only comes on if the living room needs heat. So some rooms in the house can stay relatively cold.

That isn't a failure of nest, it's a failure of legacy central heating systems.

 

[Marty Chinn]

This is basically still following the old school thermostat installation style. I find it annoying too, but tim doesn't make installation easier I guess.

What I really want is whole house heating control. Let me have sensors in each room with independently set temperatures and schedules (I'd want the bedroom a little colder than the living room for example). Then let the boiler only send heating to those radiators in rooms that need it.

At the moment the heating basically only comes on if the living room needs heat. So some rooms in the house can stay relatively cold.

That isn't a failure of nest, it's a failure of legacy central heating systems.

There are solutions that help this and I've been considering installing them at some point. There are things that you can install to replace the vent covers so that it's smart about controlling how much heat or cool air flows into each of the rooms when it's on. They even integrate with Nest. Here's an example:

https://keenhome.io/

 

[ReadingRambo]

Ecobee that I installed myself. It was painless and works like a charm. I love it.

 

[dskillzhtown]

I have a nest and its nice but not omg amazing. It has a much simpler way to set schedules using the phone rather than a horrible on-box interface of standard thermostats (like an old clock radio or something). And changing temps is easy. That means we keep the general temp fairly low, and can easily bump it up if we feel a bit chilly.

The auto off isn't great - if I'm working from home in another room it turns the heating off but now you can include your phone location so that has improved. But it still isn't good at knowing when you're coming back home. So eg on weekends we can often come back to a slightly cold house. It isn't super cold here so it doesn't take long to warm up, but it can still be annoying.

Don't use the remote setting often, but when we were on holiday over Christmas it was good to override the schedule and leave the heating off and then just flip it on when we landed at the airport on the way home. You set a base temperature so it doesn't let the house freeze.

I echo all of this. The issue with it not knowing when you are coming back home is something that popped up in the past year for me. I used to get a notification on my phone telling me that Nest was getting the home ready for my arrival. Now when I look at the app, there are a bunch of messages saying that it lost contact with my phone. Maybe it is because I have a 1st gen device.

The good totally outweighs the bad though. I have a Google Home as well, so it's cool to tell it to raise/lower the temp and it does.

 

[sharkmuncher]

I had the Ecobee for about a month and returned it because the remote sensors kept disconnecting, and I have a pretty small house. I put in a Nest instead and have no complaints. That being said, I acknowledge that I have this for about 95% cool gadget factor and about 5% on the off chance that it would save me money at some point over any other properly programmed thermostat.

 

[snacknuts]

I have a 2nd gen Nest and three Nest protects. I have been very happy with the setup. My wife has a wildly inconsistent work schedule and the Nest is in a room that we don't go into very often, so I've disabled the automatic learning stuff. I also have several Hue lights and like that the systems are integrated. If I set my Nest to Away (like when I go on vacation), it will turn my lights on and off at random intervals to make it look like someone is at home.

 

[Rockandrollclown]

I have the Honeywell Lyric, 2nd gen round. Its ok. Being able to set everything through an app is nice, but I assume that works fine through any smart thermostat. Lyric has geofencing where it uses your phone's location and you can set it to go below a certain temperature when you're however far away, and it starts getting back to the temperature you want as you get closer to home. Its a cool feature, but it probably only works like 70% of the time for me. Also for the price Ecobee and Nest look much better aesthetically.

 

[Flux]

Just researched this. There is a $100 rebate for the Ecobee in my area! This might tip the scale!

Came here to post this. Many local governments offer incentives to be more energy efficient. Makes sense to take advantage!

 

[mrklaw]

I have a 2nd gen Nest and three Nest protects. I have been very happy with the setup. My wife has a wildly inconsistent work schedule and the Nest is in a room that we don't go into very often, so I've disabled the automatic learning stuff. I also have several Hue lights and like that the systems are integrated. If I set my Nest to Away (like when I go on vacation), it will turn my lights on and off at random intervals to make it look like someone is at home.

I have the same - nest and hue - how do you do this? When we went on holiday I set up a bunch of specific timers to do the same thing but it was a pain

 

[snacknuts]

I have the same - nest and hue - how do you do this? When we went on holiday I set up a bunch of specific timers to do the same thing but it was a pain

https://nest.meethue.com/connect

 

[Walter White Walker]

I can't see any real world need for these, for me at least. A programmable thermostat works fine, is a lot cheaper, and they aren't that hard to set imho. I don't want something that tries to divine our schedule, especially as it changes fairly often, and have zero need or desire to access my thermostat via a phone app.

 

[DrFunk]

I have a 3rd gen Nest - it's definitely cool, but it's the most unnecessary item in my house. Like others say, the swing from cold --> hot is a bit annoying. I find myself having to go to the app to adjust the temp myself.

eh, it's cool for what it is

 

[besada]

I have a Nest and turned off all the learning stuff almost immediately. The real joy is remote control from your phone, which you could probably get cheaper than a full Nest.

If all you want is remote control, you can get an Insteon for less than half what you're going to spend on the Nest. To be fair, it's interface is uglier, and the thermostat itself is also uglier.

 

[TheCochese]

One of the really nice things about the Ecobee (and I assume the Nest as well) is to see exactly when and for how long your services are running. You can see exactly how long it takes to get to a certain temp when it is set, and see periods where it wouldn't be worth it to run anything at all.

More than the convenience factor, this is what sold me on a smart thermostat. I can see that my heater ran for 87 hours in December, and see how the weather impacted that. I'll eventually be able to anticipate my electric and gas bills based on this data, and I'll be able to conclusively see what impact improvements like new windows or new insulation brings.

 

[Marty Chinn]

I can't see any real world need for these, for me at least. A programmable thermostat works fine, is a lot cheaper, and they aren't that hard to set imho. I don't want something that tries to divine our schedule, especially as it changes fairly often, and have zero need or desire to access my thermostat via a phone app.

You'd think that'd be true, but once you get used to one, it's hard to go back. This stood out to me when I moved and for a month we didn't have the Nest hooked up and was using a regular programmable thermostat. It was somewhat painful to go back to one during that period and how much better, easier, and convenient a smart thermostat was. I'd say it would be like using a flip phone or smart phone before the iPhone was announced, compared to using an iPhone 7 or Android Pixel, or Galaxy S7. Once you grown accustom to it, it's rough going back even though we got by before.

 

[IceIpor]

For all the people who don't use or like Nest's learning ability (or wild temperature swings), I'd suggest an ecobee instead if you're looking to replace your thermostat.

Since it comes with a sensor (and you can purchase more), you can place them in the most heavily trafficked areas of your home to ensure the heater doesn't turn off/switch to away until all rooms are unoccupied. A lot of the settings are also configurable, like how high of a temperature swing should the thermostat operate at.

 

[mrklaw]

You'd think that'd be true, but once you get used to one, it's hard to go back. This stood out to me when I moved and for a month we didn't have the Nest hooked up and was using a regular programmable thermostat. It was somewhat painful to go back to one during that period and how much better, easier, and convenient a smart thermostat was. I'd say it would be like using a flip phone or smart phone before the iPhone was announced, compared to using an iPhone 7 or Android Pixel, or Galaxy S7. Once you grown accustom to it, it's rough going back even though we got by before.

For example - when there was a recent cold period my kids mentioned the house was cold when they get home from school because the timer for the afternoon was set a little late. Super simple to just nudge those in the phone app to start up a bit earlier. If it was your usual manual thermostat it would have been a pain.

The ease of adjustment means you're more likely *to* adjust based on activity/weather etc, meaning the heating should be on less.

 

[AstroNut325]

Which thermostat is easier to just turn off? As in, no heating or cooling? And which one is easier to adjust at the unit itself (not the phone apps)?

 

[hwalker84]

We use the latest Nest and 4 Nest Protects. It integrates into Simplisafe so that when we set the alarm to away the Nest will go into Eco mode. No need for the smart phone prediction. My new home is around the same age as my last apartment and built by the same builders. My home is over twice the size and my bill is almost the same.

 

[empyrean]

Anyone use tadoo? Looks to me like what I would want, I have a multi zoned house, plus they seem to also have radiator trv's you can hook into the system.