Customer Ratings & Reviews

A simpler version of Ecobee, still fully functional. The screen is a bit smaller and it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles, but we needed a second thermostat that was to be installed in a low traffic area, so we paired this with the smart sensors in the higher traffic areas of that floor and it works wonderfully.

We needed a smart thermostat for our downstairs and ecobee knocked it out of the park. This unit is so easy to install, use and the mobile app is amazing.

Excellent easy to install thermostat if you are using eco mode it will really save you money

I like how easy it is to use, and I love being able to control the Ace from my phone.

The EcoBee Essential is an easy to use thermostat with a nice app, great features, and power saving options! Design I think the EcoBee Essential has a sleek, minimalistic, look that I like. It's white around the sides and has a clean, black, front face. The screen isn't the entire size of the front face, but the the size is very functional, display all that's needed very well. It's a color touch screen. There's a sheet of stickers that's included to label the wires, if needed. Ease of use I found it to be very easy to use, with a simple interface and excellent touch response - like what I expect on a smart phone. Of course you can also set schedules, mode (heat, cool, auto, and off), fan on, or amount of time the fan should run per hour (5 minute increments up to 55 minutes), and more. There are also great settings to save power. One setting, for instance, will heat and cool a bit differently than set based on the humidity, because humidity effects how hot or cold we feel. It also lets you see some of the history of the heating and cooling. Oh, another feature I love is that it can heat or cool (does by default) to get up to down to the set temperature by the time designated on a schedule when the schedule changes. Besides changing settings you can also see the current weather or the 3 day forecast. EcoBee App The app makes it easy to change the settings that exist on the thermostat and some other ones too. One thing I was glad to find was that this supports adding sensors around your house (sold separately). I think that's one of the best features of the EcoBee and I was excited to see that this model supports them without making you buy one up-front with the main unit. I'm pretty sure the app has all the settings that are on the thermostat as well as some additional ones. I was very glad to see it has the option to add sensors, for one. The main unit does offer adjustments to the display brightness. Anyway, there are lots of settings in both the main unit and the app with all the primary controls available on both. The app can also show you what equipment is actively running. The app has nice reports showing the history of how it has been running. Installation I replaced a pre-existing thermostat. The process was easy. Step one is always turn off the breaker. Once that was done I just disconnected my old thermostat and connected this one, connecting the wires the way they were in my old one and matching up colors. Thankfully my wires were color coded correctly and I could match them up with how they were connected on my old thermostat to make sure. Once installed on the wall, I flipped the breaker back on and soon was greeted with a "hi" in the middle of the screen. The back plate even has a tiny level built in which made it easy to get level on the wall. Connecting the wires is easy using levers to press down and then you just put in the wire. So it's held in by tension and you don't need to use a screw driver, other than the back plate wall mount. One issue I ran into at first was I couldn't press the front part onto the wall plate, it wouldn't stay. It took me a minute to figure out that the wires were rigid enough to push it off and I had them sticking out too far. I just pressed the wires back in towards the wall a little more and then had no issue. So really, it was a very easy and successful installation and now it's controlling my house temp with no issues! Setup Once powered on, it walked me through the setup process. You do need to install the app on your phone and create an EcoBee account - actually, that may not be required but I think it is. It asks some questions related to the wiring, does a test and displays which wires it detected and asks if that's correct. I had it right the first time and everything worked. I used a screw that was holding my previous thermostat on the top because the hole was a little bigger and I wanted/needed to use that hole for this one. I used one of the two included screws for the bottom hole (did not need the anchor). Summary The EcoBee Essential is a great thermostat that's easy to use with a very nice interface and all the features I wanted to control the temperature plus more features for convivence, like the. The smart power saving features seem great too. Please see my pictures for an idea of how the install looks and what some of the screens look like.

My home has tri-zone heating, so there is a thermostat on each floor which is great for controlling the temperature on floors not in use. On my main floor, I have an older Ecobee Smart thermostat that has the motion sensor built in and I have added Ecobee sensors that tells when a room is occupied and automatically adjusts the temperature based on occupancy. I have a preset range for both heating and cooling and with the geofence enabled so that when I leave the the temperature is set lower. In the winter, I typically keep it at 72 degrees and in the summer, it’s right around 73-74 degrees. This thermostat doesn’t quite have all of the same features, but it works great for my man cave. It does have the geofencing and I can add the sensors, but the thermostat itself doesn’t have the motion sensor built in. This is the essential model so it’s a lot less feature rich than my other unit, but it serves its purpose. I do like having the motion sensor built-in because it also acts a bit of a security system as well when integrated with HomeKit. HomeKit is my primary smart home setup, but I also use some Alexa and Google items as well. One of the reasons I ordered this is because of the integration. With the integration, I can change the temps using my iPhone or Apple Watch and I can turn it off or change from heat to A/C without having to leave my couch. I bought the trim kit that is optional and will eventually paint it to match the wall or some accent color possibly, but with it, I was able to hide the holes from the previous thermostat I had. It wasn’t expensive, but I had to order them online because it wasn’t available in-store. It’s not a necessity, but it does what I needed it to do. Installation is simple if you have ever installed one of these before and they have a compatibility checker to make sure it will work with your system. It helps you uninstall your existing thermostat and walks you through install, setup and operation of the your new Ecobee. I really liked that it prompted me to take pictures of the wires and where they were plugged into before I disconnected the old unit. I always do anyway, but it’s handy if you run into problems or if you discover it wont work with your system. All you have to do is reconnect the wires as the photo shows. After I installed it and got it up and running, I was able to connect to HomeKit right from the app with step by step instructions. I’ve installed many of these over the years, so it was pretty easy for me, but I think with the detailed guide in the app, most people with a little technical know how can do it. This thermostat is a keeper for me and I may end up adding a couple more sensors to help keep the temperature even throughout the entire basement.

Where to begin? There’s a lot to like about an Ecobee Thermostat and that’s coming from someone who had one for many years going way back to when it was “Ecobee 2”. Then I moved and I had a….we’ll call it a competitor thermostat that a bird would call home. I thought I would like that other brand even more and maybe even find it is better, but in the end, I came back to Ecobee and it’s so nice to be back. I think any issues I used to have with my much older Ecobee are all gone now. Honestly, I don’t remember what all used to annoy me, but I can definitely list the things I missed and am glad to have back; Vacation mode, room sensors, and a web interface are just a few. Probably the most annoying thing on my old, non ecobee, smart thermostat was the limits on “hold” times and NO vacation mode options. We would leave the house for days and I couldn’t simply have the thermostat hold at X temp while I’m gone and resume my schedule right before I get home. Yeah sure, they all have “smart” options that can sort of do this, if you allow them to track, log and use your presence tracking, (even ecobee does it, and I’m sure it’s great for a lot of people) but I like having more control over what settings are at what time. If you’d rather not think about it, eco+ has a lot of great automatic settings that will save you money. I also like being able to bump the temp up 2 degrees for 2 hours and have it actually go back to my schedule after those 2 hours. The aforementioned non ecobee thermostat I had prior would never end the hold on time properly which ended up costing me tons more in energy bills because my “short bump up” became a 12 hour hike up. I had had enough at that point and knew we were going back to ecobee. Room sensors. Note the Essential model does not come with room sensors, but I bought a two pack at my local hardware store and they work great. At this price point, I wouldn’t expect the thermostat to come with a sensor, but I am really glad to see ecobee didn’t remove that optional upgrade. It’s what made ecobee so unique in the beginning, and when I used to have a multistory house, the sensors were amazing. So I knew I would want them again. It is just myself and my wife in our home, so at night, I love that I can have the heat focus on our room temperature and not worry about the other rooms. This helps keep costs down in the cold winters. And when it’s time to get up and go around the rest of the house, the ecobee has already adjusted to my daytime temps and warmed the rest of the house. Room sensors help keep the house more evenly heated and can be used as presence sensors in automated modes as well. I also am so glad to be back on Ecobee and using their web interface. This is for all of those nerds like me who love the numbers and graphs as well as adding your own custom comfort settings to really dial in your schedule day by day. It is also just easier to navigate and work on your thermostat. Not that the app is bad, but the web interface gives you even more options for those days you want to get into the weeds a little. The great thing is though, if you don’t care, you don’t have to ever use it. It’s just there for those who want it, and I will always choose a company that gives you that choice. WHAT MAKES IT DIFFERENT: The new “Essential” model is the entry level thermostat, priced lower and with a few less options. But like I’ve hinted at above, all the basic things that make an Ecobee Thermostat so great are still included. Sensors, schedules, eco+, web interface, etc are all still there. Things like the Alexa built in, speaker, motion sensor, and extra wire ports in the back for more complicated systems are not included. This means if you have a very basic, standard HVAC, boiler, etc, the essential will probably work. If you have a ton of wires back there and a complicated heating and cooling system, maybe check before you buy this model. We have a very basic system with just a boiler for heat and no cooling, so I love the cheaper option but still all the fun. The Essential still connects to the smart home hubs, like google and homekit and it even has some sort of connection to my generac generator. I don’t know what that is YET, I plan to look into it more, or figure out why they would need to be connected, but my generator app said “add ecobee” which I thought was interesting. OVERALL I am really happy to be back in the Ecobee eco system and as we plan to upgrade our heating and cooling with zones and in floor heating and AC, I know I will be buying more ecobee’s for each room and will never wonder off again. The ability to schedule, set vacation holds, see the weather, set hold times, use room sensors and see stats online and so much more is worth every penny. Other smart thermostats have a lot of the same features, and I used to think they’re all basically the same so just get one, but now that I’ve used others, I know there’s a difference, and for me, I prefer Ecobee. The company is great, they care about their products and the environment, they put out good products and they listen to their customers. I’d gladly recommend Ecobee to anyone looking for a budget friendly smart thermostat so simple it’s easy to use, but loaded with extras if you feel the need to dive in more.

Ecobee gives homeowners options. It's nice that even on this basic "essentials" thermostat, they think about including the necessary functionality that just works well. It's overall a simple design with ease of use in mind. The hardest part is initial setup and installation. My system needed the Ecobee power extender kit (sold separately). They also have a trim kit you can install if you're replacing a previous system (sold separately). With that in mind, I followed the instructions straight from the app. They made it easy to follow along. I ran into an issue where they call out removing any jumper cables from the wiring that goes to the thermostat but not at the HVAC system itself, which is where I had my jumpers. Once I figured that out on my own, I was able to configure everything with the power extender kit and install the thermostat seamlessly. Using the thermostat physically is simple enough. It has a touch screen, which is not high resolution or anything but it works. For the app use, it's where it shines to be honest. You can control the temperature, view usage reports, and manage your home with other Ecobee smart things. You can also connect with Alexa and Google home which is a win for smart home integration.

I have owned several ecobee thermostats and I love them. The easy to use app, straight forward controls, service alerts/reminders, and the ability to add remote sensors make any ecobee a good choice. I am excited that they managed to make this awesome product even more affordable, with the ecobee Essential model (the last 2 ecobees I purchased were both the old ecobee3 lite models because they were the cheapest; the ecobee Essential is now my new go-to). -----Pros----- 1. Easy installation. With a helpful guide in the app, wire labels, push terminals (no small screws), and a built-in level in the wall plate. Once powered on the thermostat confirms the wires you have connected on the display and ask a few questions to finish setup. 2. Easy to read color display that is well laid out. I have an older family member who lives with me and she has hated every other "smart" thermostat we have tried. She likes the large temperature read out, the easy up/down layout of the temperature adjustment, and clear mode indicator. 3. The ecobee app is quick, reliable, and very easy to use. Commands are sent quickly and reliably to the thermostat. Most controls are replicated exactly as they are on the thermostat, meaning you don't have to learn a different set of steps when accessing the thermostat remotely in the app. You can also change or see almost every setting (except Wi-Fi and restricted access control), including the detailed comfort setting schedules and remaining time on reminders you have set. 3. Auto heat/cool mode. I live in Texas, where there are days that start off really cold and end up in the 80s by mid-afternoon. Auto mode let's you set both a heat and cool temperature and toggles between them to keep your house in that range. 4. Built-in humdity sensor that allows you to monitor indoor humdity and can also be used by the thermostat to adjust run times to control humidity to make you feel more comfortable. Being from Texas, I can tell you that humidity can make you feel hot, even when the temperatures are mild. 5. Reminders/alerts. Changing your furnace filter is pretty easy, but remembering when to change it is hard for me. I love that ecobee can track the number of run hours and send you a reminder to change based on a limit you select (letting you adjust it if you find your filter is too dirty or still clean). ecobee can also sends alerts if the temperature is too low/high, humidity gets too high (really useful in the south), or if your system is running for a long time with no change in temperature (this has alerted me to an issue with one of my outside AC units more than once). 6. Energy saving settings that let you really tailor what you want the thermostat to do. You can disable everything and just have it hold the same temperature until you change it, but there are alot of options to get your desired balance. You can set a normal schedule for different days or times for each "comfort setting" (very easy in the app). You get to choose if the schedule you set auto resumes or waits for you to turn it back on after a manual change. You can have multiple "comfort settings" which allow you to set different temperatures, fan modes, and optional remote sensors with a simple toggle or using the schedule you set. Then there is another menu called eco+ which has things to let the ecobee learn your behavior and adjust the thermostat automatically with a slider that lets you choose mild to max efficiency (this can be disabled). eco+ also allows your utility provider to change your settings to meet demand (if you give them permission), some like mine in Texas will even give you a bill credit for helping out during these periods. 7. Access control allows you to configure a passcode to change important settings, which is really useful for thermostats in public areas or in rental properties. Users can still change normal settings like mode and temperature, but can't change input limits or disable alerts. -----Things to Consider---- 1. The ecobee Essential lacks one important feature compared to the more expensive models. It does not have an occupancy sensor (think motion sensor) built-in to tell it to switch between away and home comfort settings automatically to save energy. You can buy additional smart sensors to gain this feature and also help get temperature readings in different rooms, but they add to the overall cost. If you are like me and have a few older ecobees that use the "room sensors", these don't work with this ecobee and you will need the newer "smart sensors". My thermostat is in an infrequently used hallway, so it makes senses to save the money over the more expensive model with the built-in motion sensor and use it to buy additional sensors I can place where I will actually be. 2. If you aren't comfortable with installing this yourself that does add to the cost. It can be easy, but make sure you turn the power off at the breaker or furnace service switch (tip - the furnace breaker is normally a seperate smaller breaker, not the same as the larger breaker normally labled AC). Take a picture of the old thermostat wire positions before you start; this helps if you have to reconnect the old one and also helps make sure you have the wire lables correct for each color. You also need to confirm you have a blue 'C' wire for power before you invest in any smart thermostat (if you don't you should contact ecobee support to get more info). Expect that the screws hole will probably not line up and you will need a basic drill to make some new holes. I got lucky, but if there is mismatched paint or a big hole behind your current thermostat you don't want to deal with, you might need an additional larger wall base plate that ecobee sells.

The ecobee Smart Thermostat Essential Programmable Wi-Fi Thermostat is ecobee's entry level or base model thermostat. It operates in the same way as the Enhanced and Premium versions, but the Essential model doesn't have all of the available features. That doesn't mean this is not feature packed - because it is! The installation and setup for this thermostat is fairly easy and that makes this a great DIY project. One very important thing to check first is your wiring compatibility; and if you don't have a C (common) wire, you will need an additional accessory you will have to purchase. Before removing your old thermostat, be sure to find and shut off the circuit breaker. The installation instructions are easily accessible and are given step by step within the ecobee app so be sure to download and install that. Once the thermostat is installed and you have turned your power back on, the thermostat will lead you through the basic setup on the touchscreen. You can always change the settings later, as you familiarize yourself with the available features. If you find the install didn't cover the marks or holes from your previous thermostat, you could look into the ecobee trim-kit available specifically for this model. Among the many settings available, you can set a schedule where it will automatically go to a certain temperature range at a certain time of day based on comfort modes you set up. For example, do you want to drop the temp when you go to sleep, or when you are away, or on a vacation? You can set those up and more. You can always override those settings via the touch screen or app. No matter where you are, you can adjust your HVAC via the ecobee app. There are cost-savings associated with the smart thermostat. Because it can adjust your temperature settings, your HVAC won't need to run needlessly. Also, many utility companies have rebate options available - for mine here in the Pacific Northwest, I allow my utility company to automatically adjust my temp settings on certain days where they believe there will be major power consumption. For allowing them to do this, they pay me $25 every 3 months. The app also will provide reports that will show you your energy savings, daily/monthly use, average temp indoors and out, etc. The ecobee smart thermostat is compatible with Alexa, Google and Apple Home Kit. That is a BIG convenience - "Alexa, turn the heat to 69 degrees" and it is done! And this thermostat is Energy star certified which means it means efficiency standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency. I am absolutely loving this ecobee Smart Thermostat Essential Programmable Wi-Fi Thermostat. The available features are more than enough for me and I find all of the settings are making my home life a lot more comfortable. Easy to self-install and easy to use, this is a very good smart thermostat that I would highly recommend to anyone looking for a new thermostat.

At this point I've installed more thermostats than I care to remember, each with their own caveats and issues. I've owned ecobee in the past and not been entirely thrilled with them, having had 3 of them fuse their wiring inside of them only to replace them with another brand and be entirely successful. That said, I was willing to give them another shot. Packaging: Couldnt be any more simple, small box, only contains the thermostat, mounting plate, screws, and a very small amount of literature. I appreciate this as there's nothing complicated happening here. Installation: I'll admit with my experience it took me longer to do the software piece than get it on the wall, and all told the physical installation, initial setup and app setup took a grand total of about 13 minutes. So they really have made the installation process a breeze. There's something important to consider about the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Essential though. It is just that, essential. It is missing at least 3 other conductors in the mounting plate that the higher end ecobees support, so if you have multistage heating or cooling, a built in humidifier or some other options, this one is not going to be the right one for you, so please pay attention to what you're purchasing. My system only uses C, Y, W, R and G. The thermostat only has one more spot beyond that and it's the O/B connection, so again, be aware of what you need versus what this can do. Setup: Plug it in, turn it on, it asks for wifi, goes through your temperature and schedule preferences and you're done, it doesn't even force you to install the app which I find wonderful. Finally a company that is not pushing their app on you. Now that said, if you want remote control of it, you will need the app, but it's nice to finally not be required by a company to have it. Use: Has options for Heat, Cool, Heat and Cool (auto) and of course, off. Set your temps, or range if you use Heat and Cool, and let it go, again really couldnt be any more simple. Overall: Breeze to setup, no required app installation, however limited connection availability (not a negative, this is the 'essential'). If you know what you're buying then this is probably ideal for you.

Unboxing and Installation - This thermostat should work with most furnaces, HVAC systems and can also be used to trigger powered ventilation Systems based on temperature and humidity. The thermostat is nicely boxed with a separate installable backplate for Wiring. This plate makes it simple to connect your wires, then “pop on” the thermostat itself for setup. There are no Tiny screws to deal with ( where on old gear you would have to rap part of a fragile bare wire around it ) - this is literally Plug and play. Plug in the wires per install guidelines, pop it on the wall and set it up. My installation - I installed this in a scenario that for many would be odd or considered an edge use case. I am controlling powered fans That vent a large area over a three car garage. This location is very distant from my primary wireless router and a few Low end units I have tried have difficulty maintaining a wireless connection. This ecobee had no issue at any point installed In the same spot with connectivity. I also do not have a “C” - aka power wire for the fan controls I am operating. I was able to Use a power kit ( aka - small transformer ) to supply the necessary power to the unit. Setup and Programming via the App- I downloaded the app for IOS and android. Setup took under a minute each after I created an account. My settings and information Are presented on both devices without any issue. I can make changes from either device without any errors or problems. For anyone Looking for a thermostat to run vent fans at a low or high setting based on both temperature and humidity - I highly recommend this thermostat. What I love - Moderate price for a managed smart thermostat ! EXCELLENT WIRELESS RANGE ! Modes - Can be easily customized and set for specific situations Room for improvement - Screen could be a touch larger

I had the original Ecobee in my previous home, so I’m familiar with smart thermostats. The two biggest benefits of a smart thermostat for me, is the ability to remotely change the temperature when it’s too hot or cold, as well as the ability to more easily create and change the schedule using the app instead of the thermostat interface. The Ecobee was easy to setup. I removed the wires from my old thermostat and was pleasantly surprised to discover the blue wire that wasn’t in use worked as a C wire with my Ecobee. I didn’t end up needing to use the power extender or crawl up in my attic to reach my furnace like I thought I would. As soon as I connected all the wires, including the blue wire as my C wire, the Ecobee powered up right away. I was able to pair it to my Home app on iOS using a QR code on the thermostat, which then directed me to setup the Ecobee app as well. The wall plate is large and more than covered the space where my last thermostat was, and this version of the Ecobee is slimmer than the original one I used before. I appreciated that the setup included recommended temperatures for Home, Away, and when sleeping, with the ability to quickly and easily adjust those temps. I also appreciate being able to set a minimum threshold for when to warm it up as well as a threshold to trigger the cool air instead of just choosing to have it on heat or cool. Overall, I’m very happy with the Ecobee and will likely be setting one up for some family soon.

I’ve had the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Essential for about two weeks now. It has been a bit of a struggle for me with this thermostat. Some of the issues were on my side and some is just my specific unit I think. From 10,000 feet - the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Essential is a good value for what you get. It has most features that higher end thermostats have but at a lower ($130 at time of review) price tag. You do give up a bit compared to higher priced units but really the biggest trade off is the screen. The Ecobee Smart Thermostat Essential has a decent resolution, though others are certainly higher, and the screen is much smaller than the unit makes it look, as the front has large plastic bezels that are black like the screen background. This is very minor in my opinion. I don’t gaze longingly at my thermostat like I might a phone, tablet, laptop, tv, etc. The Ecobee is fully compatible with the Ecobee app. This allows temperature control from anywhere. You can adjust the temperature, change the schedule, and much, much more from the app. It really is a full-feature thermostat at a lower price point. My house has two floors and a finished basement. So the problem I have is the thermostat is on the main floor but I work from home, on the second floor. The thermostat does not think anyone is home throughout the day and lowers the temperature until I go downstairs. Well there is a solution for that right? An additional sensor. This is where the value goes down sharply for me. Ecobee only sells the sensors in a two pack for $99.99. Now my $130 “value” thermostat is $230, pricing it with other thermostats that come with a sensor, especially since I only want one sensor - not a two pack. I also had issues getting my Ecobee Smart Thermostat Essential up and running properly. When I first installed it I noticed from time-to-time the screen would be blank. I would tap the screen multiple times and nothing would happen until minutes later after the thermostat had restarted itself. After a few days of this I reset the thermostat, reconnected it to WiFi and the app, and it seemed better for a bit. Then I had issues with the thermostat reading about 3-4 degrees higher than two other thermometers in the house, which made the house cold. I contacted customer service and was offered some troubleshooting which helped initially. I was told the blank screen & resetting could be due to the 24v system on my furnace triggering a limit switch because my furnace filter was clogged. I replaced the filter, which was less than a month old, and that helped, until it happened again. I bought a completely different brand of filter and it has been better since. As for the temperature variances, I was instructed how to go into the settings and adjust the temperature the thermostat was reading. I was not a big fan of this solution because, while it did help things read the same, I felt like it should be accurate out of the box. The next morning the temp on the Ecobee read 4 degrees colder than the other two thermometers! So I adjusted it back up. Eventually it read too warm again and I made more adjustments. It has been better the past few days but what a pain. Essentially I think it would be fine for a busier house or single story house that does not require another $100 investment in sensors. For me, the setup frustration and extra cost for sensors doesn’t make sense for me.

– OVERVIEW– The ecobee Thermostat Essential is the newest member of the ecobee lineup of thermostats; it has “Essential” in the name, so this version of their thermostat strips off features that can be found in their enhanced/premium offerings, but do not let that deter you from this very feature rich thermostat. All for a very, very attractive price point…but there are some caveats… – LOOK/FEEL – The Essential is a glass touchscreen with white plastic trim all around. When powered, only a portrait cutout of the glass is lit up; you don’t actually have a “full” touchscreen to work with. This does keep the ecobee thermostat look and feel similar to the rest of the thermostat lineup yet helps keep its price point down. – CONNECTIVITY – There’s really two types of connectivity here. First and more important is its connectivity to your HVAC. ecobee has a very useful compatibility checker (https://www.ecobee.com/en-us/compatibility/thermostat/) to see if their thermostats will work in your home. The second is Wi-Fi; ecobee smart thermostats allow you to adjust temperatures right from your own phone, whether you’re at or away from home. – SETUP – Well, this could probably go easy, or not as easy depending on your home setup. The Essential is the only thermostat in the ecobee lineup that does not include the Power Extender Kit (PEK). You’ll need this kit if you do not have a common/24V wire available from your HVAC. This kit will require you to open your HVAC, locate the control board, and install the PEK in series to your control board. The ecobee app walks you through the thermostat installation in great detail, ensuring you shut off power from your breaker as well as taking photos to record your progress. If this sounds, at all, intimidating then you can call your handyman to work this for you. Personally, I required both the PEK and a trim kit to complete my installation. I was able to successfully install the PEK to my HVAC control board without any issues. The app installation guide was very thorough, even providing sticker flags to mark each wire as you progress through the installation. These flags will ultimately guide you to where each wire will connect to (both the Essential and the control board). When I flipped the breaker back on, the Essential greeted me. – USAGE – Once set up, you can control all settings either through the ecobee app or from the thermostat itself. You’ll be able to set cool, heat, or cool/heat settings. To me, this is level 1 stuff that you’ll find on all thermostats. Then the ecobee goes a bit further with comfort settings based on being at home during the day, during sleep, and when you’re not home (Home, Away, Sleep). You’ll be able to tie these comfort settings to a time schedule. For instance, maybe during a summer day you keep your cooling temperature at 73 because for some reason or another, you can’t keep your living room cold enough. Once in bed, you change your cooling temperature to 78 because it feels like it’s way too cold in the bedroom in the evening. The Essential can handle all this for you so you’ll never have to worry, and this goes for both heating and cooling preferences. – PERFORMANCE – It’s very important to note that the performance of your HVAC itself will not change, but what will change is how well your HVAC is being utilized. Without question, the thermostat is accurate in its reading of ambient temperature, but that’s not where performance lies. Ecobee claims up to 23% in energy bill savings, but this all depends on if you’ll allow the Essential to truly manage your comfort settings. This is called eco+ and it has various settings to allow how much control it has based on external factors. Assuming you only have the thermostat as your sole ecobee device, you can increase your eco+ savings based on a set schedule, humidity, and Time Of Use (TOU). If you have ecobee door/window sensors, you can automatically switch off the HVAC when a door is detected as opened. If you have smart sensors, ecobee will determine if you’re home or away to minimize wasted energy. These extra settings will help further your savings, but the extra peripherals will increase the costs of your entire system. Lastly, ecobee will determine if you’re eligible for an energy rebate with your electric company, right from the app. After I provided my account number with my electric company into the app, my electric company emailed me about my submission approval for a rebate. Sweet!! – GOTCHAS and CONCLUSION – When using the thermostat installation guide in the app, if you allow the phone to time out (meaning that the phone turns off the screen due to inactivity), the installation guide will restart from the beginning. So there were times where I was further into the installation, connecting wires together as instructed, and my phone would time out and I’d have to start the installation guide all over again. I’d have to skip through steps to get back to where I was, and I did this a few times. In terms of purchasing an Essential, it’s price point is very good, but if you need to purchase a Power Extender Kit, you’re really closing the cost gap between the Essential and the Enhanced; the latter including a built-in SmartSensor. So really, your best bet with the Essential is if you’re able to install it without the Power Extender Kit. Otherwise, move up to the Enhanced.

What got me excited Ecobee makes a lot of technology goods, but for some odd reason their smart thermostats always piqued my interest. My house is a bit older so the C-wire necessity always scared me off trying to install one. Luckily, Best Buy helped me get the power extender kit through Ecobee. So thank you to both Best Buy and Ecobee for the extra kit. What I’m expecting I’m expecting this to be an easy install, but I’ve been horribly wrong before, so we’ll see. What’s included in the packaging? Out of the box you get the smart thermostat, wire ID stickers, the back plate, and drywall anchors and screws to mount the back plate. Let’s try it out So before I could even try anything out, I had to get my home up to code with the use of the power extender kit. (Let me say that this review is for the thermostat, but since I was provided the power extender kit, I will explain how it allowed me to use the thermostat despite not having the C-wire preinstalled in my HVAC system). First thing is first, install the app. The app is very straight forward and easy to use. You will create an account, then choose what you want to add; which in this case is the thermostat. You will be asked a series of questions to determine what you’ll need to continue. After following the prompts, it did indeed determine that I would need the power extender kit to continue. A nice feature is that it reminds you to take a photo of your existing thermostat wiring configuration as well as the main unit wiring configuration just in case you mess up somewhere and need to see where all the wires should go. So turn off your main breaker that powers the HVAC, or a switch, or whatever will keep you from catastrophe. The app reminds you as well. Once the four primary wires were removed from my main unit and installed into the power extender kit, it’s now time to install the wires from the kit onto the unit. That’s actually the hard part if you don’t have a C-wire. If you have a C-wire, lucky you, you can skip these steps. Once you mount your new thermostat where your old one used to be, it’s time to go through more steps. The thermostat will link with the app, so you don’t have to add info all over again. You simply connect the thermostat to your existing wi-fi network, after some calibrating and reboot, it’s good to go. My first impressions I like how nice and elegant it looks. It protrudes out a bit, but that’s me just nitpicking. The face is a touchscreen so you can change the temp anytime you want, check the weather, set a schedule, and other settings to your liking. I just set a schedule in preparation for the summer heat. You can also control the thermostat from the app which is the best part. You can be away for a few hours with the AC off, and then turn it on when you’re on your way back so your house isn’t an oven. What stood out that was positive The app is easily one of the standouts. It’s easy to use and navigate, doesn’t have a lot of fluff, and it isn’t a marketplace to sell you more stuff… except for the sensor. What stood out that was negative I really do wish that Ecobee included a larger back plate. My old thermostat was larger, and the backplate was a rectangle. Sure I could remove the old drywall anchors and paint over the old area… but with a larger back plate for the new shiny Ecobee thermostat, it would have saved me some time and energy. Some things I wish (What can be included in the next version and what I would take out) I really do hope they include the larger back plate as mentioned above, as well as at least one sensor so you can try it out. If people see that it works well, they’re sure to buy one for the other floors since the average temperate on each floor is slightly different. Who is this targeted at? This is targeted at anybody who has not jumped onto the smart thermostat scene or is terrified by the thought of installing something that requires a C-wire but really would like to have the benefits of having a smart thermostat. All in all This is a great unit, somewhat easy to install, much easier if you have a c-wire kit. Both the thermostat and app are easy to use and navigate.

I’ve had 3 different thermostats now and this one is the “smartest” and smallest one I have had yet. The original was just a digital display, no real smart options to it. The second one was smarter, but still fairly basic. Now this one is too smart for its own good, which made it slightly frustrating, at first. Before you get this one, it is highly recommended to use their compatibility checker on their site. It will ask you to verify your current thermostat settings, such as the wires that are connected and some other questions. The biggest thing being that this is only for heat pump units and if you need a common voltage adapter or not. With the information you get out of the compatibility check, you might need to purchase a separate power extender kit or a trim kit if you have the typical rectangular unit you want to cover up. Once you have that out of the way, you will need to set up an Ecobee account and use the smart app on your mobile device. Otherwise, you can’t really take full advantage of the system and you need it for directions on how to install. However, you can do a lot of the settings directly on the unit. Installation is fairly straightforward, power off your system at the circuit breaker, label the wires, remove them from the old system, mount and put them in the new system and turn everything back on. Putting the wires into the Ecobee system was easier than the old, because you don’t need a small screwdriver, just push them into the pressure clips. One thing I did not like though is that the Ecobee system does not snap really hard to the wall mount. My old one you really had to use some effort to pull it off the wall. The Ecobee unit can be bumped and fall off. Considering it sticks out a bit more from the wall than the typical unit, this could be an issue for some. It also does not contain any batteries like my older unit, so it has to go through a whole boot up process when you snap it back in place. The one thing I found slightly frustrating with it is that it has a default schedule for specific times of the day. Of course, this is meant to help save energy by not using the system for best comfort during the day, when you might be at work, or at night when you might not need it to be so warm. However, I don't have a normal schedule and when I noticed it was colder than usual, I bumped up the temperature. However, it then shows that the temp is set till a certain time. A time which I still do not want it to be that cold. I then tried to change the default schedule, but it kept changing. I just found it easier to delete all the schedules, as it has them for every day, and set my own, manually. I haven’t had it for over a month yet, so it doesn’t show the report of any savings, but it does show my daily runtime compared to reported local temperature and humidity compared to the actual indoor temperature and humidity. The display is color and lit, so you can see everything even in the dark. With the default brightness it is plenty to tell the current temp without having to touch anything like my older unit needed. All of the settings you can change through the app can also be changed directly on the unit itself, just no reports on the unit like in the app. Overall, once I was able to figure out and refine the schedule this little thermostat has been providing me more information than my older ones ever did. I look forward to seeing what my monthly report will look like and maybe adjust accordingly. Also, with some electric companies, I know you can also let them have some control over the settings and they provide a rebate, but personally, I prefer my comfort over that potential rebate, for now.

I've been a fan of Ecobee Thermostats for many years. I thought the Essential would be a nice update to my older unit. Overall, it's been a very reliable smart device and I would recommend it to others. Design The Ecobee Essential is a smaller thermostat, but it's got a sleek, modern design. It's all white and the body of it is made with plastic. The touchscreen is clear and easy to read and it's also very responsive. I like the fact that the screen is black while everything else is white. It's a nice contrast. Installation Ecobee makes the installation as easy as possible by including a step-by-step Installation guide in the app. The most important step of the process is to make sure your wires are labeled correctly before you remove them from your existing thermostat. I would also add that you should make sure to cut the power to your furnace before starting. You probably wouldn't have to worry about shocking yourself, but you might blow a fuse if the wires touch. I bring this up because this is what happened in my case. I neglected to turn off the breaker to the furnace before starting and as a result I was left without the use of my furnace for a night. Fortunately, my HVAC repairman was able to get things up and running again. They helped me finish getting the Ecobee installed and ensured that my furnace was operating normally. App Setup The app is very easy to navigate. Once you have the thermostat physically installed, the app gets it connected to your WiFi and your smart assistant if you want to go that route. I connected it to Apple Home with no problems. The Ecobee is a great addition to any home. It really helps to automate heating and air control in your home.

TLDR: It’s good, it is reliable. The screen seems low resolution, a bit too small, and too dim. If you raise the brightness, it ruins the illusion of it being ‘all screen’ since the backlighting makes the small display stand out from the black housing. Super easy setup, but some settings are only available on the unit itself and not the app, which I think is a poor design. Overall, super happy and 100% better than what I had! ---------------------- My house came with a smart thermostat when we bought the house, and I did not like it. But it was one of those situations where it’s fine, it works, so there’s no need to upgrade, but at the same time, I constantly hated it and I secretly kept wishing it would just break so I would have an excuse to get a new one. In comes the Ecobee and I fully admit this is my first experience with Ecobee thermostats and from a first timer's perspective, I really enjoyed the ease of installation, convenience it provides, and the integration with everything I already have; namely Google Home Hubs, and Amazon Echos. I did have an issue scanning the getting started QR code for some reason. Not sure what the deal was there, but after fiddling with it and trying to get my iPhone to focus on the tiny QR code it finally did. I’m somewhat hardware savvy so the installation was easy and I had no issues. Practically plug and play. You turn off the power, undo some wires, label them, and plug them back into the matching letters and turn everything on. The hardest part of the install for me was understanding the app. The app I gotta say, I don’t understand why the app doesn’t have all the settings from the thermostat. Why do I need to go to the thermostat itself to access some settings? Why doesn’t the app have it all? I don’t imagine needing to access these settings often, so I guess it’s not a big deal, just a weird oversight maybe? I don’t know, it’s kind of annoying still. Speaking of doing things on the screen, it’s super small, and dim. I set the brightness to 100% and it ends up causing some backlight glow and ruins the experience a little since you really can see the backlight and small screen stand out from the body. On top of that the screen seems very low resolution. The resolution is only really noticeable if you’re interacting with the unit directly and up close to it. From a reasonable distance, it’s fine. Overall though, it’s a huge upgrade from what I had, super responsive, heats my house without issue. And I’m very happy with the upgrade!

I was looking for a newer replacement for my Ecobee 4 thermostat since I have been using it for the past 3 or 4 years. This thermostat still works perfectly, and I have zero complaints, and I have invested in 5 additional smart sensors to go with it. When I had the chance to check out Ecobee’s new Smart Thermostat Essential I was excited to give it a shot. The first thing I did was inquire if my existing smart sensors were compatible and I found that they were. However, I failed to do a full check of the features that my ecobee 4 had vs the new essential thermostat. I should have known by the lower cost that it would be missing something, and I found that it doesn’t have a speaker and Alexa smart assistant is not included either. I use this feature a lot on my Ecobee 4 so this was a deal breaker for me as I didn’t want to add an additional device in my kitchen. However, the higher priced ecobee thermostats now will have Alexa built in, so this is just a cost saving measure for those who don’t want or need a speaker and just need a smart thermostat, which this REALLY excels at. With that out of the way, I really love the ecobee brand of thermostats, they are very easy to set up, you can get a mounting kit to hide imperfections in your walls, the screen is clear and bright and will even dim when it doesn’t sense motion and then light up when it does. Setting temperature via the thermostat screen is simple and intuitive. The ecobee app is great and allows you to control it from anywhere when you connect it to the 2.6gHz wireless network in your home. You can easily set up schedules and incorporate the smart sensors (both 1st and 2nd generation) to help with temperature regulation in your home. There is also an ecobee website that you can log into with your account, and it will give you a very detailed look at your usage with graphs and charts. Although I wasn’t happy with the loss of the Alexa feature on this thermostat, it’s low cost and features are great for those who don’t require Alexa or speaker functions. I am confident that this is a good fit for those who are looking for an inexpensive option to enter the smart thermostat space and provides great value for your money with a very high-quality product.