Ecobee Thermostats Review

Ecobee thermostats are some of the most feature-rich and user-friendly smart thermostats on the market, offering energy cost savings through eco+ software. We especially love the new Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium, which doubles as a voice assistant, air quality monitor, and home security panel. 

All Ecobee thermostats retail for under $250 and share the following features:

• Intuitive touchscreen interface and app control
• Wi-Fi and 2G compatibility
• Built-in temperature, humidity, and proximity sensors
• Energy Star certification
• 3-year warranty
• WPA, WPA2, and 168-bit SSL encryption
• Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple HomeKit, IFTTT, and Samsung SmartThings compatibility
• C-wire option
• No backup battery
• Low-voltage system compatibility only
• Air filter maintenance reminders
• Temp drop and humidity alerts
• Energy reports
• Support up to 32 Ecobee SmartSensors
• eco+ energy-saving software
• Home and Away mode-switching based on occupancy or geofencing
• Home security features with a Smart Security subscription and an Ecobee door/window sensor

The Smart Thermostat Premium is also the only Ecobee thermostat with an air quality monitor, forecast display, and whole-home humidifier and ventilator terminals. 

It has extra WPA3 encryption, dual-band Wi-Fi, a built-in occupancy sensor, and a built-in smoke alarm listener—all of which are also found in the Smart Thermostat Enhanced but not in the Ecobee 3 Lite. 

Learn more in our full Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium review.

The Ecobee Smart Thermostat Enhanced isn't a learning thermostat, so you'll need to manually program some schedules. It's still a very clever thermostat, though, and knows when you're around thanks to a built-in occupancy sensor and optional remote sensors. 

Here's another way to think about it: the learning AI in the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium allows it to predict your heating and cooling needs, whereas the Smart Themostat Enhanced can only react to your presence or programs.

And with Ecobee's Smart Home and Away feature—which turns on the HVAC system so that the programmed temperature is reached exactly when the Home or Away setting is scheduled to begin—the difference is borderline microscopic. Expect a slightly better experience with the Smart Thermostat Premium, especially if your schedule is hard to pin down. 

Ecobee offers two optional subscriptions that help you get the most out of its thermostats. Neither is required for the thermostats to work.

Ecobee's air filter delivery plan ticks one more chore off your to-do list. You still have to do the actual replacement part yourself, but at least you don’t have to go to the store. Your Ecobee thermostat tells you when to change the filter, so don’t even worry about scheduling it. 

You don't even need an Ecobee thermostat to sign up.

Prices range from $13 to $21 per filter. Ecobee ships to the US and Canada.

An Ecobee Smart Security subscription (formerly known as Ecobee Haven) enables the smoke alarm listener and siren in the Smart Thermostat Enhanced and Smart Thermostat Premium. Ecobee also sells contact sensors and a camera for a traditional security experience. 

While it’s still pretty basic compared to the other home security systems we review, Ecobee’s system detects intruders, collects video evidence, and—with the Complete Plan—quickly delivers data to 911 with RapidSOS technology. It's a decent starter security kit for indoor surveillance. 

The self-monitored Standard plan costs $5/mo. and stores footage from one camera. The professionally-monitored Complete plan costs $10/mo. and stores footage from unlimited cameras.

Here’s where the Ecobee Smart Thermostats go from average to genius: smart heat/cool recovery mode and Smart Home and Away mode.

Other programmable or smart thermostats typically use schedules as a cue to turn on the HVAC system. You’d need to set the thermostat to “Home” about an hour earlier than your actual arrival time to avoid entering a cold house.

Forget about all that guesswork with the Ecobee. With the smart heat recovery or smart cool recovery modes enabled, the Ecobee automatically calculates when it needs to turn on the system so that your home reaches the desired temperature exactly when your Home, Away, or Sleep mode begins.

That means you come home to a perfectly comfortable temperature every single time.

Don’t worry if you deviate from your typical home/away schedule. The occupancy sensor detects whether you’re home or not. Note that the Ecobee3 Lite doesn't have a built-in occupancy sensor, so you'll need to buy a separate Ecobee Smart Sensor for this feature or set up geofencing.

• If the Ecobee detects your presence while it’s set to Away, it will automatically switch to Home mode.
• If the Ecobee senses that no one is home while it’s set to Home, it will automatically switch to Away mode.

You can enable or disable this feature by tapping Menu and Sensors.

Or quickly switch modes by tapping Settings and then Home for now or Away for now.

Eco+ is a free software upgrade that recommends personalized energy-saving settings for your thermostat. It analyzes local weather forecasts, humidity levels, and fluctuations in the cost of electricity. Eco+ also pulls in data from the SmartThermostat’s occupancy sensor and the SmartSensor’s motion sensor.

• Adjust temperature for humidity: Ecobee focuses on your home’s “feels like” temperature, allowing it to run up to several degrees warmer or cooler than the regular temperature setting.
• Time of use: If your electricity costs less at certain times of the day, Ecobee preheats or precools your home during these times. This feature doesn’t work if you pay a fixed rate for your electricity.
• Community energy savings: If your local power grid experiences a spike in use, Ecobee adjusts the temperature of your home to use less energy. This program helps your community avoid tapping into dirtier power reserves, like coal-based energy.
• Schedule assistant: Ecobee recommends a new schedule if your home-and-away habits routinely differ from the existing schedule. This is similar to the Nest Learning Thermostat’s flagship feature but requires your approval.
• Smart Home and Away: This feature relies on the SmartThermostat occupancy sensor or SmartSensor motion sensor. It overrides the thermostat schedule if it senses you’re home during the “away” period and vice versa. Smart Home and Away isn’t unique to eco+, but it appears in the eco+ menu.)

Eco+ also emails you monthly energy reports.  

Ecobee thermostats pair with other smart home products and apps for extra automation and control:

• Abode Home Security
• ADT Self Setup
• Brilliant Smart Home Control
• Flair smart vents
• Keen smart vents
•  Alarm.com
• Microsoft Cortana
• Control4
• SmartHours
• ComEd

Before you buy an Ecobee, make sure you don’t have an incompatible system:

• Millivolt system, such as a gas fireplace
• DC voltage system, often found in RVs
• Line or high voltage systems, such as electric baseboard heaters or forced fan heaters
• Radiator heating

In addition, using an Ecobee thermostat with a “communicating” HVAC system turns it into a “non-communicating” system, which means it disables built-in efficiencies. Communicating HVAC system brands include Infinity, Affinity, iComfort, Evolution, and ComfortNet.

Ecobee's biggest rival is the Google Nest Learning Thermostat, which offers more critical system maintenance alerts and has a backup battery for saving the time and date during a power outage. 

If you want your thermostat to do a little bit of everything, there's no competition—no other thermostat includes an air quality monitor or built-in voice controls like the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium.

Compatibility with a pre-existing home security system could be a problem, though. If you have Vivint or ADT, you'll get a better experience with a Nest thermostat. And if you have a Ring home security system, we recommend the Honeywell T9.

Ecobee thermostats definitely work with Blue by ADT and Abode, but you can check additional compatibility through the IFTTT app. Getting a thermostat that works with your home security system gives you way more smart home automation options and even lets you shut down the HVAC system if smoke or carbon monoxide is detected. 

Ecobee thermostats have a lot to offer energy-conscious homeowners. There’s hardly anything bad to say about the Ecobee that can’t be said about other smart thermostats, such as some line-voltage compatibility limitations and the potential need for professional installation.

We recommend the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium over the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Enhanced and the Ecobee 3 Lite because the learning AI, built-in voice control, and included SmartSensor are just too good to pass up.

Ecobee thermostats are hardwired to your HVAC system. The thermostat’s built-in temperature sensors signal the HVAC unit to turn on and off. This is true for all thermostats, whether “smart” or not.

The Ecobee’s smart features rely on additional sensors that detect motion and humidity. Ecobee thermostats also connect to Wi-Fi, giving them access to local data like weather and electricity costs. All of this information is used to calculate an ideal temperature setting.

Learn more about how smart thermostats work.

There’s no monthly fee for using the Ecobee thermostat. If you want to sign up for Ecobee Smart Security, costs range from $5 to $10 per month. 

• Ecobee vs. Nest
• Original Nest Thermostat and the Smart Home Revolution
• Vivint Smart Thermostat Review
• Wyze Smart Thermostat Review
• How Can I Save Energy With Home Automation?
• How Can I Make My Home More Energy Efficient?