Support NeoGAF

[TRios Zen]

I have a nest as my upstairs thermostat and like it enough that I will likely replace my downstairs one as well.

Learning doesn't work too well on it because I work from home, so I use the app to adjust it when I have too.

Got a nice retro look to it, is easy to change temperatures at the unit itself and access via phone/web. Can't really compare to others but I'm happy with it.

 

[Marty Chinn]

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)?

Can't speak for Ecobee, but Nest is super easy on both. The dial interface works really really well.

 

[ahoyhoy]

I bought a Sensi for my rental becuase the one it came with didn't have any scheduling features whatsoever.

Its not a "learning" thermostat but it can do scheduling/Alexa integration/mobile access, was super easy to install and is half the price of the Nest

 

[vacantseas]

I have an ecobee and did a lot of going back and forth between that and the Nest. Nest touts their thermostat is a learning device. Set it and forget it. For where my thermostat is in my house there's not a lot of traffic, so i dont think the Nest would really "learn" our movements.

For the ecobee we have a sensor set up in our family room and it does a nice job of averaging the temperatures through the house it seems. If you added more sensors in other rooms it can sense movement and kick on the furnace/AC when you're home when you're not usually.

I mean really, both thermostats ultimately do the same thing when it's all said and done.

Edit: Check with your local gas/electricity company. Both of mine were offering rebates, and I was able to get the $200 Ecobee for $50.

 

[mrklaw]

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)?

For adjusting heating on the nest you just walk up and twist it like a big volume dial. Nicely weighted feel to it as well

 

[Struct09]

I have a Nest and really like it. I disabled its learning and just set its schedule on my own.

 

[Javaman]

I would totally buy a Nest but they are way overpriced and never have price drops. They've been the same price for what, 4 or 5 years?

$150 is the magic number for me.

 

[Luschient]

I'd like to get a Nest but it would be just for looks. I work from home so there's someone here all the time and we just leave the temp at the same level all day/night. I don't care about it learning/programming itself as there's a certain temp we like in the summer and another when it's cold.

If it was just a bit cheaper I would've gotten one by now.

 

[Dahellisdat]

I would totally buy a Nest but they are way overpriced and never have price drops. They've been the same price for what, 4 or 5 years?

$150 is the magic number for me.

I thought the same thing....Lowes ran a $50 sale on them In November though and there was an additional $100 rebate I got from my electric company and another $25 rebate on top of that from my gas company. So I ended up getting it for like $75 in the end after cashing the rebate checks.

I think I'll be able to recoup that easily in a year by the amount I'll save on the auto-eco temp feature that kicks in and lowers/raises the temp when I leave the house.

 

[Earthanoid]

I saw some sales and deals during the holidays. I don't know if it ever got to $150 but a friend of mine got one for around $175.

I've had a Nest for a couple of years now, it's great. I turned off the learning function, since my wife and I have different preferences when the other is not home. Plus we get long visits from the in laws and they change the temp, so it would come up with some wacky schedules.

Automatically shutting off if no one is home is great, but the best thing is the ability to change the temp from anywhere. In bed and want to turn it on/off? No problem. Sitting five feet away and too lazy to stand up? No problem.

I'm all in with the Nest stuff, I have the smoke detectors and cameras too. The camera alerts are great, they will actually tell you if they see a person if you pay for the subscription service. The smoke detectors have a killer feature they don't even advertise, which is that they light up if it's dark and you walk by them. It's great for letting you walk around your house at night without having to turn lights on.

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)?

If you have it set to heat only or AC only, all you have to do is turn it, it's super easy. If you have it set to heat and AC it's a bit more involved and involves a few clicks, but it's still pretty easy. From the app it's super easy, just hit the button. Set up is a bit of a pain with just the dial but you only have to do that once, afterwards everything can be done with the app which is very easy to use.

 

[AstroNut325]

So I took the family to Home Depot and had them see all the smart thermostats. Both my wife and my mom and my son preferred the Nest. They find it more easier and intuitive.

But they want the ability to use Siri to turn the system on or off. And based on my research, only Ecobee has that. And it seems that Ecobee has better integration with the Amazon Echo. Plus the additional room sensor...

Argh, I want the Nest unit with the Ecobee features!


I need to decide today.

 

[Marty Chinn]

So I took the family to Home Depot and had them see all the smart thermostats. Both my wife and my mom and my son preferred the Nest. They find it more easier and intuitive.

But they want the ability to use Siri to turn the system on or off. And based on my research, only Ecobee has that. And it seems that Ecobee has better integration with the Amazon Echo. Plus the additional room sensor...

Argh, I want the Nest unit with the Ecobee features!


I need to decide today.

Get the Nest and buy an Echo Dot to go with it so they don't even have to pull out a device to talk to it. They'll realize how much better it is when you don't have to pull out a device to interact with something =)

 

[Leatherface]

I have a NEST and I really like it. It has done a great job of learning my behavior and keeping my yearly heating costs down. It's easy to set up and use, has a very nice app which has features like setting up schedules and controlling temps from afar. It also keeps pretty detailed stats on usage so you can monitor activity and tune it to be more eco friendly.

That being said and even though I'm completely satisfied so far, I am intrigued by the Ecobee multi sensor thing. If I were to go in fresh right now I would probably give that one a shot instead.

 

[mr stroke]

So I took the family to Home Depot and had them see all the smart thermostats. Both my wife and my mom and my son preferred the Nest. They find it more easier and intuitive.

But they want the ability to use Siri to turn the system on or off. And based on my research, only Ecobee has that. And it seems that Ecobee has better integration with the Amazon Echo. Plus the additional room sensor...

Argh, I want the Nest unit with the Ecobee features!


I need to decide today.

I have 2 Nests and 2 echos and couldn't be more happy

You can turn on and off the Nest with a IFTT hack

Otherwise you can control it will Alexa, but as someone who has used the nest for 2 years now, I never use Alexa to control it, always my phone. ( plus we like the Nest as we've added outdoor cameras to the app to make everything simple)

 

[poppabk]

I have 2 Nests and 2 echos and couldn't be more happy

You can turn on and off the Nest with a IFTT hack

Otherwise you can control it will Alexa, but as someone who has used the nest for 2 years now, I never use Alexa to control it, always my phone. ( plus we like the Nest as we've added outdoor cameras to the app to make everything simple)

How is the alexa integration? The cor thermostat pretty much only allows you to set a temperature and that is it. Would use it more if it had better controls.

 

[ParityBit]

I have 3 Ecobees (6 remote sensors). I have nothing but great things to say about it. Save d me money, it is really smart and I love the energy reports.

The remote room sensors are the best thing ever. I could never have a thermostat without them.

 

[Marty Chinn]

I have 2 Nests and 2 echos and couldn't be more happy

You can turn on and off the Nest with a IFTT hack

Otherwise you can control it will Alexa, but as someone who has used the nest for 2 years now, I never use Alexa to control it, always my phone. ( plus we like the Nest as we've added outdoor cameras to the app to make everything simple)

There's a second skill called Thermostat Controller that you can install that works well with Nest and Alexa too. This one will allow you to find out what the current temperature is set to, say things like it's cold, and it knows to turn up the heat if you have heat/cold mode on instead of just heat or cold. It's really nice additional functionality.

 

[DJ_Lae]

I have a Nest and I really like it - it's unnecessary to a large extent, but it's also nice to have. I like being able to view my usage history, although I have to admit that Nest's monthly reports are slow to come out and not particularly insightful. Why I couldn't just delve in there and pull out my past year's data to analyze myself, I don't know (or maybe there is a way to do this).

I'm not sure what the benefit of multiple sensors would be, either, unless you have a fancy system that can shut off particular vents at will to maintain an even temperature around the house. Otherwise, you'll always have a pretty good idea of what temperature certain rooms will be once the main thermostat has hit its set temp and can adjust as necessary.

 

[Marty Chinn]

I'm not sure what the benefit of multiple sensors would be, either, unless you have a fancy system that can shut off particular vents at will to maintain an even temperature around the house. Otherwise, you'll always have a pretty good idea of what temperature certain rooms will be once the main thermostat has hit its set temp and can adjust as necessary.

In the daytime my kids rooms will maintain a certain temperature, but at night time they tend to get much colder than the rest of the house. So while the temperature might be the same where Nest reads it from, my kids rooms could be a different temperature depending on the conditions or time of day. Multiple sensors would help maintain the temperature in their room at night time.

 

[AstroNut325]

In the daytime my kids rooms will maintain a certain temperature, but at night time they tend to get much colder than the rest of the house. So while the temperature might be the same where Nest reads it from, my kids rooms could be a different temperature depending on the conditions or time of day. Multiple sensors would help maintain the temperature in their room at night time.

This is the biggest thing pulling me towards the Ecobee. The AC/Furnace is close to my living room and kitchen but my bedrooms are always colder or hotter than the living/kitchen area.

Edit:
Can someone explain this video to me: https://youtu.be/z7v_lLNmYvg

So he asks Alexa to set the temperature to 67 degrees, but supposedly, the Nest doesn't do anything? Is that because of the warming/cooling gap that others mentioned in this thread? Or is it failing to register the voice command to the Nest?

In reality, I only use AC/heating when it's really cold or really hot out. So for my family and I, the scenario in the video would not occur (raise temperature 2 degrees).

 

[AlanzTalon]

Have an Ecobee2.

The sensors are key, and critical. It's crazy Nest doesn't have a similar solution. I keep them in my kids room on the main floor and one in our upstairs...they even out the temps. Probably ordering one for our finished basement too.

If your house is bigger, or has multiple levels. you have to go Ecobee. Priced similarly and otherwise feature parity to the Nest, but the sensors are the key.

 

[gcubed]

i have too much nest stuff around my house along with works with nest stuff to go with ecobee, but the remote sensors on them are probably worth considering it over the nest if you dont have a lot of things tied into the system already

 

[mrklaw]

There's a second skill called Thermostat Controller that you can install that works well with Nest and Alexa too. This one will allow you to find out what the current temperature is set to, say things like it's cold, and it knows to turn up the heat if you have heat/cold mode on instead of just heat or cold. It's really nice additional functionality.

Cheers - was looking for something like this. Mainly what the current temp indoors is.

Edit: not available in the UK :/

i have too much nest stuff around my house along with works with nest stuff to go with ecobee, but the remote sensors on them are probably worth considering it over the nest if you dont have a lot of things tied into the system already

I wonder if you could get some indoor temperature sensors and then use something like IFTTT to control nest?

 

[Schlep]

Bought a new construction house in September (~3100 sq ft) that came with an Ecobee3 upstairs and downstairs, as well as two remote sensors. Honestly, I would never use a Nest in this house. I work in the office, at the front of the house, which faces east. The thermostat is in the hallway near the master on the west side of the house.

In the morning during the summer, it could easily be 73 in that hallway, and 79 in the office due to the direct sun. I usually keep the thermostat at 75 during summer days. That means it could potentially get to 80 in the office before the Nest decides to kick in. Not a chance.

Really helps that the Ecobee3 is just a nice thermostat in general, but Nest not having remote sensors is a deal breaker.

 

[Trouble]

I have line voltage heater boxes and 3 thermostats for an 1,100sqft condo. Even if any smart thermostats supported line voltage (none do), I would have to buy 3. Sigh.

 

[teiresias]

I have one of the cheaper internet enabled Honeywell thermostats (not the touchscreen one posted earlier). Works fine and gives you control via your phone without the Nest or Ecobee "coolness" tax.

Really, I see no need for a learning thermostat for most people.

That temp issue with the Nest is ludicrous though. That's like how regular thermostats from a decade ago performed by waiting for three degree differentials before turning on or off.

 

[borghe]

Have had an Ecobee installed for about 5 months now.

Pro - Best Thermostat setup on the market
Con - Expensive (for the best setup)

The sensors outweigh every "learning" feature on all other thermostats. Being able to have the furnace work to heat/cool based on the rooms you are in, auto sensing whether you are home or away, etc.. Most of the reviews I read prior to deciding on Ecobee agreed.. Nest was first, Ecobee is better, EXCEPT...

You need sensors. The retail package comes with one sensor, and you can get a bundle (that is basically MSRP) for three sensors and the thermostat. At minimum you will want all bedrooms and your primary living rooms (i.e. the rooms you are in the vast majority of the time). The good news is that the thermostat itself is a sensor.. So as long as it is placed well (i.e. not in direct sunlight, at least 6ft off of an outside wall, motion sensor facing a regular walking area) it reduces the number of sensors you need by 1. Sadly my wire was run to a poor place, and it was just less hassle for me to disable the thermostat sensor and use solely remote ones.

So for me I have four sensors. Three bedrooms and one main living area. So I had to buy two sensor packs for like $60 each bringing my total to ~$370.

Beyond that, Ecobee does a lot of cool things. It keeps records of how efficiently your home heats and cools, and works to pre-heat/cool based on that efficiency. So if it takes 12 minutes to heat your house to temperature when it is 29° outside, it knows this and starts the heating program 12 minutes before the schedule takes effect. The auto-home/away feature is awesome. I've never had to touch the thermostat. Ever. If I come home in the middle of the day (right now) the heat is guaranteed to kick in within a few minutes. I'm guessing the summer will be the same.

Also the reports you get on the web portal are incredible. Basically a running log of everything your thermostat has done, along with the outside temps, efficiency ratings, etc.

If you can afford it, Ecobee is better in every way. And if your a home owner, honestly it is probably one of the biggest bang for your buck improvements you can make.

 

[ColdPizza]

So I took the family to Home Depot and had them see all the smart thermostats. Both my wife and my mom and my son preferred the Nest. They find it more easier and intuitive.

But they want the ability to use Siri to turn the system on or off. And based on my research, only Ecobee has that. And it seems that Ecobee has better integration with the Amazon Echo. Plus the additional room sensor...

Argh, I want the Nest unit with the Ecobee features!


I need to decide today.

Get the Ecobee then. Don't worry about the Nest "looking" cooler. You'll get over that soon enough.

I had a new furnace put in last November. I had the same feelings as you, but the installer steered me towards the Ecobee. He said the Nest was good but still needs more work. He was going to recommend the Ecobee if I got the 95% efficiency furnace, but I opted for a 98% efficiency furnace with a modulating motor so I was stuck with a wifi thermostat made by the manufacturer of the furnace. Yeah, I wanted the Nest or Ecobee, but I find what I mostly wanted was a single panel that I could control with my phone remotely when I need to and it does that.

 

[borghe]

as an update to the above.. the ecobee actually accomplished something no other thermostat could. My daughter's bedroom is on two exterior walls with a "potato room" below it (a fortified room with no foundation, only ground, for growing winter vegetables in the winter). So her room is like 10° colder than the rest of the house most of the time in winter. With Ecobee, her room's temp is now averaged in with all of the rest of the rooms keeping her room at a reasonable temp for the first time in like 15 years.

 

[gcubed]

Have had an Ecobee installed for about 5 months now.

Pro - Best Thermostat setup on the market
Con - Expensive (for the best setup)

The sensors outweigh every "learning" feature on all other thermostats. Being able to have the furnace work to heat/cool based on the rooms you are in, auto sensing whether you are home or away, etc.. Most of the reviews I read prior to deciding on Ecobee agreed.. Nest was first, Ecobee is better, EXCEPT...

You need sensors. The retail package comes with one sensor, and you can get a bundle (that is basically MSRP) for three sensors and the thermostat. At minimum you will want all bedrooms and your primary living rooms (i.e. the rooms you are in the vast majority of the time). The good news is that the thermostat itself is a sensor.. So as long as it is placed well (i.e. not in direct sunlight, at least 6ft off of an outside wall, motion sensor facing a regular walking area) it reduces the number of sensors you need by 1. Sadly my wire was run to a poor place, and it was just less hassle for me to disable the thermostat sensor and use solely remote ones.

So for me I have four sensors. Three bedrooms and one main living area. So I had to buy two sensor packs for like $60 each bringing my total to ~$370.

Beyond that, Ecobee does a lot of cool things. It keeps records of how efficiently your home heats and cools, and works to pre-heat/cool based on that efficiency. So if it takes 12 minutes to heat your house to temperature when it is 29° outside, it knows this and starts the heating program 12 minutes before the schedule takes effect. The auto-home/away feature is awesome. I've never had to touch the thermostat. Ever. If I come home in the middle of the day (right now) the heat is guaranteed to kick in within a few minutes. I'm guessing the summer will be the same.

Also the reports you get on the web portal are incredible. Basically a running log of everything your thermostat has done, along with the outside temps, efficiency ratings, etc.

If you can afford it, Ecobee is better in every way. And if your a home owner, honestly it is probably one of the biggest bang for your buck improvements you can make.

I mean, all of that is on the nest except for the remote sensors

 

[infinitys_7th]

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.

What do the savings look like, in practice?

I'm renting an apartment (really duplex) now, but the ceilings are high and it seems poorly insulated. I'm naturally hot-natured, so I keep the temperature around 62-66 in winter, but my bills have been higher than expected.

Some incandescents burned out and my landlord is a pain to deal so I tried LED bulbs and really liked them. I just replaced everything (about 16 bulbs) and should see a year payback. Nests seem easy to install (and to take with me when I move elsewhere) so I have been thinking about getting one.

 

[zephervack]

I have been using NEST for 5 years and while Its been good and way way better than the dinosaur thermostat we had before, Im starting to save to switch to the eco-bee.

Mainly because my daughters rooms are always too hot or too cold during the night, NEST has no idea what the temperature is like in their rooms, I still havent found a sweet spot so I will let ecobee handle it by putting a couple of sensors in their rooms.

 

[mrklaw]

I have been using NEST for 5 years and while Its been good and way way better than the dinosaur thermostat we had before, Im starting to save to switch to the eco-bee.

Mainly because my daughters rooms are always too hot or too cold during the night, NEST has no idea what the temperature is like in their rooms, I still havent found a sweet spot so I will let ecobee handle it by putting a couple of sensors in their rooms.

If you have a central heating system though would this make a difference? You should be able to balance your system and get all rooms warmed enough

 

[zephervack]

If you have a central heating system though would this make a difference? You should be able to balance your system and get all rooms warmed enough

I do have a central system but problem is that, the heating barely makes it to the second floor, so while the first floor feels a bit warm, the second floor rooms will be freezing, and some other nights, when the temperature rises, the NEST will continue to heat up the first floor but the second floor will be too hot.

I really havent looked too much into it, but Im hoping you can tell ecobee to ignore the first floor temperature at certain times of day and try to achieve a certain temp in the second floor.

 

[TheCochese]

If you have a central heating system though would this make a difference? You should be able to balance your system and get all rooms warmed enough

If you have but one thermostat sensor, it only cares what the temperature is at right there.

 

[BriGuy]

I don't know what the hell I have because it came part and parcel with my home security system. I can control it and set schedules with my phone and it works with Alexa, so I guess it does everything I need it to. It's great for when you're out of town but forgot to adjust the thermostat.

 

[borghe]

I mean, all of that is on the nest except for the remote sensors

well right. My pitch was the sensors, which puts it well beyond the Nest. The rest was just "and it does this stuff". But you are right.. you buy Ecobee because of the expandability through the sensors. That alone puts it well past every other thermostat on the market.

If you have a central heating system though would this make a difference? You should be able to balance your system and get all rooms warmed enough

1) my thermostat (in a move of PURE genius) is placed about 18 inches from an exterior wall, and at a height where for a period after noon it has sunlight shining directly on it through a window. The result? In the winter, it routinely reads about 6°F colder than the sensor in THE SAME room, while for the period after noon it reads up to 12°F warmer than the sensor in the same room. I could move it but that would require a) rerunning the thermostat cable and b) patching the massive hole where the wire was coming through.. The end result is that the rest of the house is always the "wrong" temperature.

2) as mentioned above, my daughter's room is WAY colder than the rest of the house. Moving the thermostat won't fix/change this. We could use a space heater.. but honestly this is a better solution in every way, especially during the night (where we don't have to have a space heater running when her room gets under 60°, seriously)

 

[Marty Chinn]

This is the biggest thing pulling me towards the Ecobee. The AC/Furnace is close to my living room and kitchen but my bedrooms are always colder or hotter than the living/kitchen area.

We really only have the problem at night so we just make sure we raise the temp up by a couple degrees. It's since learned this since we kept adjusting it at night, so it's not a huge deal for our house. I know you live in SoCal, so the temp doesn't vary as much as some other states, so it might be okay too.

Edit:
Can someone explain this video to me: https://youtu.be/z7v_lLNmYvg

So he asks Alexa to set the temperature to 67 degrees, but supposedly, the Nest doesn't do anything? Is that because of the warming/cooling gap that others mentioned in this thread? Or is it failing to register the voice command to the Nest?

In reality, I only use AC/heating when it's really cold or really hot out. So for my family and I, the scenario in the video would not occur (raise temperature 2 degrees).

Well the problem is he's wrong. You can tell it to go up or down by a specific amount of degrees and it works. It specifically states that here:

Raise or lower the target temperature

Alexa, lower the "thermostat name" temperature by 4 degrees.
Alexa, cool down my ”thermostat name" by 4 degrees.
Alexa, raise the ”thermostat name" by 4 degrees.
Alexa, make my ”thermostat name" warmer by 4 degrees.
Alexa, increase the ”thermostat name" temperature by 4 degrees.

If you ask Alexa to change the temperature without specifying by how much, it will change the temperature by two degrees.

https://nest.com/support/article/Le...rmostat-with-Amazon-Alexa-on-Echo-and-Fire-TV

Cheers - was looking for something like this. Mainly what the current temp indoors is.

Edit: not available in the UK :/

Oh wow, I didn't realize skills were region based. That sucks since it's a really nice skill that fills out the holes I have with the regular integration.

 

[gcubed]

well right. My pitch was the sensors, which puts it well beyond the Nest. The rest was just "and it does this stuff". But you are right.. you buy Ecobee because of the expandability through the sensors. That alone puts it well past every other thermostat on the market.



1) my thermostat (in a move of PURE genius) is placed about 18 inches from an exterior wall, and at a height where for a period after noon it has sunlight shining directly on it through a window. The result? In the winter, it routinely reads about 6°F colder than the sensor in THE SAME room, while for the period after noon it reads up to 12°F warmer than the sensor in the same room. I could move it but that would require a) rerunning the thermostat cable and b) patching the massive hole where the wire was coming through.. The end result is that the rest of the house is always the "wrong" temperature.

2) as mentioned above, my daughter's room is WAY colder than the rest of the house. Moving the thermostat won't fix/change this. We could use a space heater.. but honestly this is a better solution in every way, especially during the night (where we don't have to have a space heater running when her room gets under 60°, seriously)

Yea, my fear with nest is that they are organizationally dysfunctional because they have weave and should have no problem copying remote sensors and integrating them into the thermostat after the fact but there is no rumors or movement. They've produced no new products (an enclosure for a cam doesn't count) and their one integrated product, a lock, is almost a year late

 

[borghe]

Yea, my fear with nest is that they are organizationally dysfunctional because they have weave and should have no problem copying remote sensors and integrating them into the thermostat after the fact but there is no rumors or movement. They've produced no new products (an enclosure for a cam doesn't count) and their one integrated product, a lock, is almost a year late

there is lots of fear over nest right now (and I have zero problem with nest). Basically the whole concept of Google Home has people saying "ummmmmm...... yeah so google... remember when you bought the nest brand/platform???"

I agree. Google Home was a pretty massive curve when they already have a mature home automation platform at a pretty popular level (both sales and recognition).

 

[gcubed]

there is lots of fear over nest right now (and I have zero problem with nest). Basically the whole concept of Google Home has people saying "ummmmmm...... yeah so google... remember when you bought the nest brand/platform???"

I agree. Google Home was a pretty massive curve when they already have a mature home automation platform at a pretty popular level (both sales and recognition).

Google home only really talks weave and nest has no real product line or hub. Google needs to integrate to become competitive and not just deal with nest. Nest has until June to show me they are doing something at all

 

[pdog128]

We just bought an Echo Dot and a few Phillips Hue bulbs, this is the next on my list. I've been comparing Nest and ecobee over the past few weeks.

I think I've about decided on the ecobee3 lite. It's essentially the same as the regular ecobee3, but without the remote sensors (at a much reduced price).

My biggest question is if the ecobee3 actually saves you money? I mean, if your remote sensor says the spare room is too hot/cold, the unit will run until it's at the right temperature. But that means the other rooms will potentially get too hot/cold, right? It seems like it's good for making sure the distant parts of your home are the correct temperature, but bad because your unit runs more often.

I'm planning on starting out with the lite, and later moving it upstairs (separate, smaller unit) and getting either another lite or the regular one (if something changes my mind).

 

[borghe]

We just bought an Echo Dot and a few Phillips Hue bulbs, this is the next on my list. I've been comparing Nest and ecobee over the past few weeks.

I think I've about decided on the ecobee3 lite. It's essentially the same as the regular ecobee3, but without the remote sensors (at a much reduced price).

My biggest question is if the ecobee3 actually saves you money? I mean, if your remote sensor says the spare room is too hot/cold, the unit will run until it's at the right temperature. But that means the other rooms will potentially get too hot/cold, right? It seems like it's good for making sure the distant parts of your home are the correct temperature, but bad because your unit runs more often.

I'm planning on starting out with the lite, and later moving it upstairs (separate, smaller unit) and getting either another lite or the regular one (if something changes my mind).

the lite is... a little odd. Yes it is as capable as all of the other smart thermostats, AND you do get the one extra sensor (again, the unit itself is a sensor). So how it would work is you ideally would have the unit in a GOOD position (see my post above). One that is in a pretty normalized temperature area with a good view of a main walkway.. you would then put the remote sensor in a frequently occupied cold spot (basement, room with two exterior walls, non-insulated room, etc..) or on a different floor from the main unit.at least then you could still get benefits of the temperature averaging, follow me feature, smart away/home feature, etc.

I was originally pretty down on the lite (having like every room with a sensor is the major advantage of Ecobee). However, with SMART placement of the thermostat itself along with solid placement of the remote sensor, it still will hold a number of advantages over the Nest still.

The biggest savings come from the thermostat and web portal knowing how efficient your house is, better knowledge when to kick in stage 1 or stage 2, and smart away (so if it doesn't register occupancy for two hours it sets to away). I'd also argue that there are very very small savings in no batteries and no having to mess with the thermostat ever (daylight savings time, vacations, switching between warm and cool programs, etc)

 

[kendrid]

I've used an Ecobee for just about a year now. The entire reason I bought it was the remote sensors and it is worth the price for that feature alone if you have a home where some areas are substantially hotter or colder than other areas.

I also like that it controls our whole house humidifier.

In my area I had electric and natural gas rebates so the total cost was $60. If you are looking into an Ecobee or Nest check your local utilities for rebates.

 

[AstroNut325]

Can you turn off/turn on the Ecobee with Echo Dot?

 

[TheCochese]

the lite is... a little odd. Yes it is as capable as all of the other smart thermostats, AND you do get the one extra sensor (again, the unit itself is a sensor). So how it would work is you ideally would have the unit in a GOOD position (see my post above). One that is in a pretty normalized temperature area with a good view of a main walkway.. you would then put the remote sensor in a frequently occupied cold spot (basement, room with two exterior walls, non-insulated room, etc..) or on a different floor from the main unit.at least then you could still get benefits of the temperature averaging, follow me feature, smart away/home feature, etc.

I was originally pretty down on the lite (having like every room with a sensor is the major advantage of Ecobee). However, with SMART placement of the thermostat itself along with solid placement of the remote sensor, it still will hold a number of advantages over the Nest still.

The biggest savings come from the thermostat and web portal knowing how efficient your house is, better knowledge when to kick in stage 1 or stage 2, and smart away (so if it doesn't register occupancy for two hours it sets to away). I'd also argue that there are very very small savings in no batteries and no having to mess with the thermostat ever (daylight savings time, vacations, switching between warm and cool programs, etc)

The Lite does not come with a sensor because it is not compatible with them. You also lose some other features like being able to hook up a dehumidifier, etc.

Can you turn off/turn on the Ecobee with Echo Dot?

I'll assume you don't mean turn the thermostat itself off. You should be able to turn off heating/cooling via IFTTT, but I've never had the need to.

 

[DJ_Lae]

The thing I still don't understand about the Ecobee sensors is how they help the house as a whole. Sure, putting a sensor in a room that doesn't heat up as quickly or bleeds heat will result in the system staying on until you reach temperature there...but you're still only controlling one furnace. So while it's blasting heat to warm that cold room, there's still hot air going everywhere else and when your cold room isn't cold any more, it'll be unpleasantly warm in the other rooms (and you'll have burned a bunch of extra natural gas).

I would think it would be more efficient to pair any smart thermostat with some manual tweaks to vents to help distribute heat more evenly around the house. I mean, I've bumped up our Nest by an extra degree to help account for the two colder rooms at the back of the house, but the side effect of this is that the front rooms get too warm, and no amount of extra sensors is going to fix that.

 

[AstroNut325]

I'll assume you don't mean turn the thermostat itself off. You should be able to turn off heating/cooling via IFTTT, but I've never had the need to.

Yes. Basically set the thermostat to a state where it isn't hearing or cooling.

 

[Ace Harding]

I am thinking about getting the Ecobee. I'm getting fed up with constantly trying to adjust the thermostat (which is downstairs) to maintain the correct temperature in my baby's room (which is upstairs). The temp difference between those two areas can be +5, 0, or -5 depending on the weather outside. I'd probably get three sensors - one for the downstairs, one for the baby's room and one for our room. I'm probably a prime candidate - I don't know why I haven't pulled the trigger yet.

Is installation super easy or do I need to call someone? I have replaced light fixtures and outlets so while I'm no expert I'm comfortable with very basic wiring.

The thing I still don't understand about the Ecobee sensors is how they help the house as a whole. Sure, putting a sensor in a room that doesn't heat up as quickly or bleeds heat will result in the system staying on until you reach temperature there...but you're still only controlling one furnace. So while it's blasting heat to warm that cold room, there's still hot air going everywhere else and when your cold room isn't cold any more, it'll be unpleasantly warm in the other rooms (and you'll have burned a bunch of extra natural gas).

I would think it would be more efficient to pair any smart thermostat with some manual tweaks to vents to help distribute heat more evenly around the house. I mean, I've bumped up our Nest by an extra degree to help account for the two colder rooms at the back of the house, but the side effect of this is that the front rooms get too warm, and no amount of extra sensors is going to fix that.

Read my scenario above. If I want my baby's room to be 68 degrees at the coldest point, I usually need to set my thermostat to 71 downstairs. This means that during the day the baby's room is probably 70-71, gradually getting colder to hit 68 in the middle of the night. Because I want that room to get no colder than 68, I set it to 71. I'm setting the thermostat for an entire house to make sure the temperature in one very important room doesn't go below a certain threshold.

If I had a sensor in that room that heated the whole house to keep the temp in the baby's room at 68, it would be heating the rest of the house less. It would be the equivalent of programming my thermostat to start at 68 and slowly increase through the night.

BUT, sometimes the baby isn't up there and I don't really care what the temp is in that room, so I can go with 68 degrees on the thermostat. If I had remote sensors and I could tell the thermostat which room to base its setting on at different times of the day, that would be most efficient.

 

[pdog128]

The thing I still don't understand about the Ecobee sensors is how they help the house as a whole. Sure, putting a sensor in a room that doesn't heat up as quickly or bleeds heat will result in the system staying on until you reach temperature there...but you're still only controlling one furnace. So while it's blasting heat to warm that cold room, there's still hot air going everywhere else and when your cold room isn't cold any more, it'll be unpleasantly warm in the other rooms (and you'll have burned a bunch of extra natural gas).

I would think it would be more efficient to pair any smart thermostat with some manual tweaks to vents to help distribute heat more evenly around the house. I mean, I've bumped up our Nest by an extra degree to help account for the two colder rooms at the back of the house, but the side effect of this is that the front rooms get too warm, and no amount of extra sensors is going to fix that.

Right, that's what I'm thinking. That's why I'm looking at the lite, mainly for the programming/smart home connections.