Customer Ratings & Reviews

This Ecobee 3 Lite replaced an older wifi thermostat whose temperature sensor was starting to malfunction. In summary, the installation is quite simple (even without a C wire), the app is intuitive, and the thermostat offers some customization that is appreciated. Installation: I really don't understand why everyone is up in arms about the C wire. It's really no big deal with the Ecobee 3 Lite. The C wire provides constant 24V power from the HVAC unit to the thermostat for the display and the wifi capability. For some thermostats, you can use a battery for that constant power instead of the C wire. The Ecobee does not accommodate batteries, so you either need to have an existing C wire or use the included power extender kit (PEK) to make the unit function properly. My house has a furnace and A/C that are twenty years old. The thermostat wire does not include the fifth wire, called the C wire. This is further verified by pulling off the control panel cover on your HVAC and verifying that none of your thermostat wires are connected to the C terminal. If you have a humidifier and / or an A/C unit, there will be other wires connected to the C terminal. Just leave these where they are and make sure you don't disconnect them by accident when installing the PEK. The instruction booklet is very clear on how to install the PEK, and it also involves a slightly different wiring scheme for the thermostat. It's really no big deal. Follow the directions and you'll be done in less than 30 minutes. The one complaint I have about the unit is that the level that is included with the thermostat is not very good. There is way too much of a gap on either side of the bubble to make a good judgement on being level. Use your own level for better results. Customization: There are two customizing features I really like. The first is a calibration of the temperature sensor. Temperature sensors are accurate to +/- 2 degrees, so the one in your unit might be off. I used a laser thermometer to measure the temperature in the room at several places, and also some other thermometers I had laying around. Using the average value, my thermostat was off by about 1 degree, so I used that as the calibration adjustment. The second feature is called differential. Furnaces and A/C units are most inefficient when they first turn on, and have significantly higher efficiency once they have stabilized. Differential is the difference in temperature from the setpoint temperature that your HVAC unit will kick on and off. By default, it is set at 0.5 degrees. Although this creates a very constant temperature, your HVAC unit will cycle on and off more often. This feature is buried in the menu structure on the thermostat, but it's there under Installation Settings...Thresholds...Staging. Change the value to Manual instead of Automatic and then you can change the differential for the heat and A/C separately. I use 1.5 degrees for heat and 1.0 degrees for A/C. Your preferences are probably different. App: You can set the schedule for heating and cooling in the app, but there are only three settings for any given day--home, away, and sleep. You can add as many of these as you need into a given day's schedule and have unique schedules for every day of the week. You basically let the thermostat know what temperatures you want for each of these categories in the Comfort Settings menu, and then use the schedule menu to let the thermostat know what times you want these categories to start. For me, I have Sleep (from the previous day, then Home in the early morning, Away mid-morning to mid-afternoon, Home mid afternoon until late evening, and then Sleep. The app also lets you set the thermostat to away or home manually. The Ecobee 3 Lite does not have a geofencing feature. You need to get the non-Lite thermostat for that function. Other: I find the display of the thermostat to be pleasing to look at. The touch sensitivity of the screen is very responsive. The display changes slightly when it detects motion near it. On the main screen is the set point, the HVAC mode, the current weather, and a slider for temporary adjustments. The screen is easy to read from across the room. The Ecobee 3 Lite allows you to connect other Ecobee sensors, and also has functionality through Google Assistant and Apple Home Kit. If you have multiple properties with Ecobee products, you can manage them all from the app pretty easily. Overall, I feel the Ecobee 3 Lite is well designed. Although it is a bit more pricey that other wifi thermostats, the PEK is included (which makes it a good value for those without a C wire). I was able to apply for a rebate through my heating provider, which helped offset the cost.

I got this thermostat to replace a Honeywell smart home thermostat that stopped working. I was going back and forth on wether I should get the ecobee or the Nest. I ended up going with the ecobee and I’m glad I did. It has a nice design and works great. Setup was very easy and the app is easy to use as well. My only gripe is that it appears it currently does not work with Amazon Alexa. On the packaging it says it works with Alexa, Google Home, and HomeKit. After I set it up and installed the app, the app only had Google Home and HomeKit as supported services. I still downloaded the ecobee Alexa skill and signed into my ecobee account. All appeared well, but it kept saying it could not connect to the server. Perhaps the Alexa feature will be supported again. Overall I’m enjoying it.

I’m already seeing energy savings. Setup and installation was easy with instructions provided. Not only does it maintain indoor temperatures it provides current outdoor weather status. It’s controllable with Alexa if adjustments needed and can be controlled via WiFi from anywhere through my cell phone.

Bought this device to replace an older control that was difficult to navigate. The ecobee 3 lite does everything I was expecting and more. Changing the temp on a temporary basis is a breeze. The ability to control the settings with my iPhone and/or Mac is great. The ability to change settings when I am away on vacation is also great. The wifi connection seems to be very stable and the connection to outside weather is also very helpful. I had the device installed by an HVAC pro so that was easy for me and they were able to install the device so it doesn't need any batteries. So far, very happy with the purchase.

I bought this after my Honeywell non-smart thermostat was accidentally knocked off the wall & stopped booting up, though really that's just an excuse, since I've wanted this since seeing it at a friend's house. I was concerned about the install due to my house's lack of a C-wire, but the included connector for the HVAC's power panel was easy enough to install and helped provide more power to the wall port. For clarification, this plugs into the panel on your HVAC, likely your furnace, inside, and uses existing wiring there. It's like a dongle, just hangs off of the panel, but pushes power up to the unit via the cables already installed on your panel. I'm not an electrician so it's hard for me to explain, but it was easy enough to install! Anyway, once that part was done, the thermostat itself was easy to label & attach to the wall, and very easy to configure using my iPhone. I set it to its lowest setting: it's summer right now, and I have to set it to 65 for my upstairs to be comfortably 70 or so. I have ordered the extra sensors, so I can put them around the house (upstairs especially) to see if this helps the ecobee to run more efficiently once it sees that those rooms are sufficiently cooled as well. I love being able to access my thermostat from my Echo when home, or my iPhone when I'm out, so that if I'm out for longer than a few hours, I can up the thermostat to a higher temperature so my HVAC isn't running as much. So far, it's been a breeze to use & configure, and even keeps my house cooler than my previous thermostat. If you're looking for a smart solution, I'd definitely recommend this one for you.

Pretty easy to install after getting help from ecobee support. Paired easily with the wifi as well as Samsung smart things and alexa. You can set temperature for sleep, awake or away. Has the option to use geofencing also. The only downside so far is the only utility company listed for my area is not the one i have. And that is based on my utility doesn't offer any rebate or time of use program.

I like that even though this comes with instructions to connect it and get it going if you download the app on your phone it will walk you through it instead of dealing with the paper instructions and I suggest you take that route because it's more detailed and easier to follow. You can set it up so that when you are home it's set to your comfort levels and if you leave it stays off which helps save! So far it's working great and I had and have no issues with connecting to my wifi like some say they do.

The setup of this thermostat is incredibly easy for someone with basic handyman abilities. I picked this specific one because of the adapter for those with no c wire and it works as advertised without having to run new wires. I like the design and look of the device and it functions well. I wish there were more programming options. From what I can tell you get three choices for programming. Home, away and sleep, each with its own temperature. My old non smart thermostat had the ability to add as many temps at various times on each day as I wanted. It’s not a huge deal since I now have the ability to adjust on the fly from my home but I find myself not remembering that and just letting it run the schedule

I wanted to try a smart thermostat and did quite a bit of research before choosing the Ecobee3 lite. What made the purchase attractive at this time was a rebate from my gas company. I didn't install the thermostat right away because of a heat wave at the time and didn't want to risk not having A/C. When the weather finally provided a few days of lower heat and humidity I decided to install the thermostat. It was easy to install and didn't take very long. Initially, setting up preferences was a little confusing not really understanding what each did in regards to establishing our comfort standards. However, after a using the thermostat, reviewing the documentation and monitoring the HVAC on/off cycles we modified the settings as needed to hone in on our desired comfort. So far, it seems to be functioning adequately. We haven't received a monthly report yet, which should be available soon, so I can't comment on the information provided or usefulness of the information. Since we've only been using the thermostat for such a short time I haven't be able to establish the energy savings. My wife and I are both satisfied with the performance and comfort from using the thermostat so far and will closely monitor over the winter months.

Nice smart thermostat - it looks good on the wall and is easy to use. I use mine with Apple HomeKit and do voice commands thru Siri on my phone and HomePod. It’s easy to set vacation timers and I can adjust the house temp before I get home.

I bought the ecobee3 lite thermostat after reading other reviews. Our old manual thermostat was dying and I had just gotten an Amazon Echo, so I figured I would jump in with both feet and start my home automation project. The other reviews that I used as a basis by which to make my purchase did not lead my astray. It has excellent reviews and for good reason. The thermostat is very sleek and will complement any household. Like others, I only had a 4 wire thermostat and had to ustilize the included adapter kit for installation. This does require removing the panel from your air handler and re-wiring a few wires, but the instructions were very detailed and if you can turn a screwdriver there’s no reason you can’t install the adapter kit. Once wired up and mounted, the setup is straightforward, and after linking my ecobee account to my Amazon Echo I was up and running with voice commands. I highly recommend this thermostat for someone looking to add smart functionality to their HVAC system.

Love my ecobee! This is the second one I've purchased. The first one went in my home. This one went in the cabin so I can monitor the temperature remotely and turn the heat/air on prior to arrival. I love the design and easy it is to use. And it's super simple to install. Would definitely recommend.

My installation was a challenge but after calling the support line I was able to get things right. I like the look and the performance. It's easy to control but keep in mind this is just another smart device on your WiFi so I would suggest upgrading the router if you have more than 10 devices like I do. My smaller router was dropping devices and I wasn't able to prioritize them. That's been resolved so now with everything running well I'd say this is just as good as the other smart thermostats. It's really a brand preference at this point.

The instructions to install this thermostat were clear and easy to use. I like that it comes with a white backer in case you want to cover up anything on the wall. One of my favorite features is vacation mode. Your house can be controlled from your phone, rather having to setup an annoying and tedious schedule.

The Ecobee3 Lite is an amazing smart thermostat. Installation took less than 30 minutes. If you are replacing a larger "rectangular" thermostat I highly recommend ordering a wall plate from Amazon prior to installation. The consistency of appearance between the actual thermostat, app, and desktop view is fantastic. While the thermostat doesn't "learn" like the Nest Thermostat does, it does offer geo-fencing. In any event, we utilize a schedule and if our day isn't following the schedule then we just over-ride the schedules by asking our Google Home to set the temperature to XX degrees. Too easy! Also, if you have someone that keeps changing the thermostat when you really don't want them to, you can add a pin number to protect your temperature and your wallet. We will be looking to add a room sensor to a few rooms as we feel it will be a great addition and provide all rooms with a more consistent temperature since it averages the data. I've had the Ecobee3 lite for less than a month but it's been amazing and I look forward to seeing what kind of savings come from it. Easy to install, easy to use, and voice controlled = happy guy.

I would try a different brand next time. The ecobee does part of what I wanted it for -- I can control the thermostat remotely from my cell phone. However, the user interface of the ecobee app (and the thermostat itself) is really confusing and not very intuitive. I am very busy and often away from home for extended periods, so I also wanted the app to recognize when I am home and away. Ostensibly there is a geofencing feature which would change the settings when I am home and when I am away, but it does not seem to work properly. For example, when I left last night, the app did change the thermostat to my "away" settings, but when I came back home, it did not automatically detect that I was back home and revert to my "home" settings. This resulted in me being very chilly in the middle of the night. Previously, I just gave up on this feature and decided to try to remind myself to manually change to the away setting when I am away. I always forget. But even still, you can only change to the away setting for so long, until the schedule overrides it. And having a schedule is mandatory--there's no way to delete it. You could set the thermostat to only change when you manually change it, but then I think that causes your geofencing to not work. Currently I am trying yet another IFTTT workaround, so maybe this will work. I do like how it reminds me to change my air filter automatically.

Best thermostat ive ever had. This works very well easy to program and does what a thermostat is supposed to. Its easy for all members of the family to use and its homekit compatible which is great and it always works. It works WAY better than the nest one we had

Finally gave in and upgraded to these from 2004 thermostats. Easy install and great functionality! Connected to Apple Home and can use Siri to check temps and control AC/furnace. Now able to fully control heating and air conditioning from my iPhone. Amazing display and well worth the money.

Our old, standard thermostat was going bad and no longer recognized its built-in battery. I decided to go to a modern system and the ecobee3 lite checked all the boxes. Their website is really well made to help you determine compatibility with your system. The device itself is extremely easy to install. It comes with paper instructions, there are online tutorials and it prompts you to download the app to your phone, which has a fantastic, step-by-step guide. I had mine installed within 20 minutes and it worked flawlessly. It was super easy to set up a profile and the interface on both the device itself and on the phone app, make it child's-play to monitor and adjust your settings. On top of that, it looks much nicer than the old thermostat too. We have not had it long enough to evaluate any energy savings, but I already know this was money well spent.

I love it when a product just plain works. Installation was smooth (great documentation and smart design). Programming and use is fairly intuitive. Still learning to leverage all the features... missing a few I wish it had... but overall recommended.