Ecobee3 Smart Thermostat Update Adds HomeKit Support for Remote Sensors

Wow I have not had the issues you've had. They did fix a bug I brought to their attention about the Notification Centre widget not updating.

Otherwise, I wish their app had a native feel but I see what they're trying to do by mimicking the UI on the Ecobee itself. I don't use the app much because everything is scheduled and I use IFTTT DO Button to manually set Home/Away.

I agree I have not found value in the reports.

I have not had nearly the issues that he has had either. Overall it's been a good experience. My biggest complaint, (and this type of issue seems to be common for many smart home devices), is that the geofence feature built into Ecobee is only useful for bachelors who live alone. It doesn't work with two or more person households. This means I have to use a work around geofence using IFTTT integration and the life360 app. I don't understand why these some of these device manufacturers don't design these features to work for more than one person households, since I suspect most people live with at least one other person. Especially the core market for stuff like this, homeowners.

I love my ecobee. I've never had any significant bugs, except it very occasionally drops the wifi connection, though it does usually reconnect by itself. It's been installed for a year and a half now, and I'm saving a ridiculous 37% on my entire electric bill (about $70 savings a month, down from $190 to $120). I really didn't expect that much savings. Maybe my old thermostat had a problem or something.

At first I bought it because of the option for extra sensors. However I didn't really end up using the one that came with it anyway. It eats batteries about every 6 months and I just stopped using it. I may have to break it back out now with the ability to add it to homekit.

Awesome news. However, since December I haven't been able to use my Ecobee3 with home kit. Happened after an update at one point. Still doesn't work with the newest firmware update yesterday, unfortunately.

Ecobee is an absolutely horribly bug-ridden device, and unfortunately the developers don't seem to be spending much time fixing issues and making it stable, just rolling out new functionality that most of us don't need.

Both on the iOS app and the web app it is impossible to change the temperature because it: (1) either springs back to another value than the one you set, (2) refuses to adjust in more than 4-5 degree increments, or (3) sets the cool point as the hot point, or vice versa. There are dozens of App Store reviews mentioning this issue, yet after several updates over the past six months it's still unresolved.

It is impossible to manually update the firmware, and many Ecobees are either months behind or forever stuck on earlier firmware. It takes a call to Ecobee to get a firmware update pushed.

The web app is not fully compatible with Safari despite the fact that this device works only with iOS devices. To create an Ecobee account I had to install Chrome, then switch back to Safari.

The reports are a joke. Most are nonsensical and provide nothing in the way of context to determine what they mean. Simply "you're in the 45% of homes" without clarifying whether that's the top 45% or bottom 45% (or even whether your home IS the 45th percentile or somewhere between 0 and 45).

I've also had the same HomeKit issue. Eventually it mysteriously began working, but then began a constant battle between HomeKit and Ecobee about who controlled the temperature in my home. The heat or AC would turn on seemingly at random depending on who won the power struggle. I decided to get rid of the HomeKit integration.

Unfortunately it did not want to remove HomeKit integration without a reset, which led to the next major problem. If for some reason there is an issue that requires resetting Ecobee, it also destroys your Ecobee account and all settings and prior reports, meaning you start from scratch. You can't simply log back on and restore your settings.

The only issue Ecobee has fixed in the one year I owned it is the login and TouchID, where the app was constantly logging you off even if you had used the app in the last few ours, and worse would not accept TouchID. But that took far too long, especially in light of the high percentage of users who had the issue.

Help me understand. I've never grasped the concept of how the sensors actually save you money.

I'm guessing most people have one furnace and multiple ducts. If one room requires additional heat (because the sensor in that room is set differently), doesn't the furnace come on heating the whole home? It's not as if each room is separately heated/cooled.

The sensors are mostly for comfort. The savings come from the thermostat being automatically being set back when you leave. There are different ways for that to happen though, one of them being using the sensors to detect occupancy.

That's a huge savings. I'm curious as to anything else that might have changed when you got your Ecobee. Did you have a very old thermostat before that? Was it programmable - did you have it programmed, or just maintain the same temp at all times? How is the new one set up - do you have a set program, or is it 'slowing down' when it knows you're not home? Thanks.

Old thermostat was not programmable at all. Usually kept around 72 in the summer and 69 in the winter (wife doesn't like it too cold :D).

Ecobee is now usually set to auto with the same 3-degree range when we're home (69-72). When we're away I allow it to range between 60 and 78. Same limits whether we're on vacation for a week or just out for a regular workday. M-F workdays are scheduled times (leaving at 7:30, returning at 5:30) and weekends are a toss-up, so I just leave those to the sensor(s).

I did change out a few light bulbs to LED over the past year but honestly I can't see that making very much difference on the energy bill. I also seem to recall last winter being colder than this winter, so the numbers may be skewed a little. I wish I could control more variables here, haha!
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Oh wow! I've had six remote sensors going on about 1.5 years and have only had to change one battery so far.

I must have gotten an old batch of button cells... o_O

Yep.... I can't really see that Ecobee is giving me a real cost savings on my bills. But we have 6 people living in our home including my mom's mom, who is almost always home. Just don't ever get a break on bills with "Away" time when it decides nobody is home and can let the temperature slip a bit.

The ability to remote control the thermostats right from my iPad or phone is the best feature for us.

I *really* look forward to smart register options. THAT is something we could really use, especially as we already have problems in that area where certain upstairs rooms tend to get really hot (or cold) if you don't open their vents in the winter and shut them in the summer. It's kind of a seasonal ritual to get out the step ladder and mess with them, since they're all round shaped vents on the ceiling of the rooms.

Yeah, Ecobee (alone) can't equal out the temperatures in a house. But at least it gives you some ability to control the temperature of occupied rooms without having to constantly run back and forth to the thermostat.

There are two startup companies making "smart" air registers. IIRC, one company has said they will work with Ecobee. That would actually help control which rooms get the air when the HVAC runs, which could help equal out the temperatures. But it'll be first-gen, so who knows.

The upstairs unit should start pulling its load during the summer when it bears the main brunt of A/C (and the downstairs gets somewhat of a break). :)