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.