While I generally prefer my ecobee3 smart thermostat (upstairs) to my Nest (downstairs), the company appears to have suffered something of a manufacturing quality control issue that significantly reduces its key remote sensor benefit. Namely, a number of recently shipped devices feature misaligned ecobee sensor component to sensor window. Indeed, I had set up a sensor in my soon-to-arrive baby’s room … but it rarely showed the room as Occupied – a requirement for ecobee’s “Smart Away” and “Follow Me” features.
I’m sure ecobee Support would gladly swap defective devices, but it turns out the fix is pretty easy and I took care of it myself. Basically, pry apart the top and bottom portions of a sensor and rotate them so that the eye sits behind the window. In my case, I was able to open the module with my fingernails (versus Chris’ screwdriver approach), rotate the top 90 degrees, and snap the pieces back together in short order.
What makes the Ecobee better than Nest?
Been meaning to write up a post. The gist of it is this:
1) Nest hardware is far more elegant, but at the expense of usability. I prefer ecobee’s plasticy touchscreen to Nest’s luxurious rotating bezel — it’s way easier to get things done.
2) Nest tries to learn your patterns, but I find *our* patterns are unpredictable. I often fight both the Nest and my wife. Auto-away has also never been very good for me. Whereas ecobee, you set three basic scenarios: The temp when you’re home, the temp when you’re out, and the temp when you’re sleeping (a time you define). This has worked out much better for us. You can make adjustments on the fly and when you do, it asks if you want them in play until you change it, until the next scheduled change, or for a set period like 2 hours.
3) Ecobee’s Remote sensors. The system better knows when there is occupancy (for the home vs away temps) and each sensor also reads the temp, so you have a much better understanding of the temp across your house (and how to adjust things) vs the one spot on the wall where the thermostat is.
Other things – I like tapping the ecobee screen in the AM to see the upcoming weather. More efficient than my smart phone and a nice-to-have feature I didn’t know I’d want or use. Also the usage data on ecobee’s site from our install is deep and fascinating. Doubt I’ll look at it often, but I like that it’s there.
They had me at remote sensors.
Thanks, I’ll try this. I was having the same problem with only one of my sensors. Frustrating since it said it was working.
With the ecobee you can also have more than 3 basic settings. We have different temperatures for early morning, daytime (away), early evening, late evening, and nighttime. Also different ones for weekends too.
Yah – my point mainly was it’s a different sort of paradigm than the one Nest employs. Makes me crazy if I slightly adjust the temp and then Nest overrides me just a few minutes later based on some pattern clearly not at play at that very moment. For us, the three default modes are sufficient since my wife will be a stay at home mom for awhile and the second floor will suddenly get more usage during the day once the baby arrives. Had thought about ecobee’s Black Friday promo to replace the downstairs Nest, but figured I’ll leave things be for now – only so much time and energy. Maybe there’ll be an ecobee4 next year.
Speaking of, another selling point for some will be ecobee’s HomeKit integration. I’ve yet to set that up.
I have perhaps the leading edge in thermostat reliability, ease of use, and economical price.
It is a round device with a pointer that you set to the desired temperature. It also has a thermometer showing the current temperature. No smart phone, web site, or computer needed. No batteries to replace.
“It is a round device with a pointer that you set to the desired temperature. It also has a thermometer showing the current temperature.”
Obviously the best thing to do is put a chip in it.
Bud, I’m sure your thermostat goes real well with your 8-track and Betamax players. ;)
There is a large degree of ridiculousness in this space. But many elements bring some practical benefits – in theory, a smarter thermostat will save you money over the long haul, given things like auto-away or Nest’s Airwave algorithm, and firing up the furnace from the airport as you’re heading home after a trip is a nice perk.
Also, for the same cost it’d have run me to get a contractor to move a three-gang switch the builder inconveniently located behind the open bedroom door, I was able to “upgrade” to connected lighting and add a new wall switch.
Dave,
THANK YOU. I was going nuts trying to figure out why my three sensors never picked up which room I was in. I was about the open a case with Ecobee when I ran across your post. Sure enough, all three of mine were misaligned. We shall see how it works now.
I have both Nest and ecobee thermostats. While I find the Nest frustrating at times (it thinks it knows what I want more than I do), I have had nothing but trouble with my ecobee thermostats. They routinely lose their internet connection and the temperature sensor has such a lag that the AC often runs until it is ultimately 6 or more degrees below the setpoint. It even gets so cold that it triggers the heat.
Most frustrating is their customer service. They keep trying to blame my router even though I have had zero issues with my other wireless devices and they actually told me to stop using the “Auto” mode to avoid having the heat triggered when the AC is running. In other words, they are telling me not to use the device in the way that it was intended to be used. Can’t wait to replace these pieces of junk.