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Luke Posted
As a thermostat, the temperature reading is always 3-5 degrees higher than any other thermostats and sensors in the house. In the winter, I do feel the room colder than the temperature readings. I can't believe this "Premium" product cannot even do the very basic job well. In the summer, it sometimes refuses to engage the AC, even though the desired temperature is set to much lower than the current temperature reading. I ensured the schedules and time-of-usage is not active. I had to use the "Test System" option to engage the AC manually. Very inconvenient and unreliable. The automatic Home/Away feature never worked for me. I took a trip out of town, and the second day it still haven't switched. I have to manually set it. Overall, a very stupid design and implementation. This product has not thing to do with "Smart" except the marketing. It is not even a good basic thermostat. The only good thing about this is that it looks not very ugly. But it's totally a waste of money and time to purchase, install, tweak and suffer with this product.
Posted
We’re sorry to hear the thermostat isn’t meeting your expectations. That’s definitely not the experience we aim to deliver. Our support team would be happy to help troubleshoot and make sure it’s working the way you need it to. You can give us a call at 1-877-932-6233 (or 647-428-2220 if you’re outside North America). Our team is also online Monday to Friday from 9 am to 10 pm EST, Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 9pm EST to answer your questions at https://support.ecobee.com/s/contactsupport
AppleGeek Posted
Bought this to replace an old thermostat in my shop that controls just a furnace with a 2 wire setup. I actually bought the cheaper version but it wasn’t compatible and this one had more wiring options. I also had to buy a plug in c-wire and after a little setup I can now control the furnace remotely in my shop. Very happy with it.
Chsoriano Posted
The ecobee line of thermostats is fantastic. This is my third thermostat in the ecobee product line and it is definitely the most polished a esthetically, it is the most responsive, and their service continues to be extremely reliable. My favorite feature continues to be the smart room sensors.
fitzoomer Posted
Fairly straightforward setup, decently easy to sign up for energy savings program through our energy company. A few features like connecting to wifi for the first time, and adjustments for humidity were a little finicky but overall it is worth it for the upgrade and eventually this thing pays for itself!
JulieH Posted
This thermostat has it all. User friendly. Love it.
SkyPan Posted
Seams like they keep the house more warm. There good i like them.
Veganrichy Posted
The Ecobee Premium Thermostat provides an elegant, modern, and updated look compared to its previous models. The functionality of the thermostat is fine, but the smart app and user options are what both the thermostat and app lack. Pros: Quick Set up Elegant Design Large Screen Air Quality Control and Weather Smart Sensor Cons: Strange cooling and heating periods Limited app functions Font interface on thermostat The new Ecobee Premium thermostat features a larger touch screen, with an included microphone for Siri and Alexa integration. Additionally, there is an included speaker to listen to Spotify and for the thermostat to respond to requests (such as asking Alexa to set the thermostat to 67 degrees). Although the function of the speaker for listening to music on it is a cool function to have, I found it not very good for listening to music (not the best sound quality, but why would anyone use their thermostat to listen to music?) The newer glass on the thermostat with a metal body gives this updated Ecobee a premium look and feel (as the name implies). The set up of the Ecobee was simple, as long as you know your current wire set up. I took a photo (after removing my Nest thermostat) of the wire set up prior to installing the Ecobee Premium. Additionally, the "how-to" video online was easier to follow for installing rather than the "step-by-step" instructions inside the app. I would recommend watching the installation tutorial on their websie or Youtube channel if you are concerned with the installation. Other than that, drilling the anchors and placing the thermostat on the plate was simple and quick (it took me 10 minutes). The large screen provides plenty of visual space to read the temperature along with the other included features such as viewing the current weather, date and time. One of the best functions the Ecobee features over a competitor, such as Nest, was the new "air quality control" feature. From the thermostat screen itself, the Ecobee Premium displays the air quality control in your home. The thermostat gives you a chart of your air quality in your home, and the thermostat provides an explaination of why and helpful tips on improving the air (such as opening a window to remove high carbon dioxide levels). The included smart sensor was tricky (at first) to sync with the thermostat. However, I was able to pair it successfully with the thermostat, and I believe the thermostat works better with the smart sensor. Withouth the smart sensor, I felt that the temperature fluctuation in the home was off, and the thermostat did not act accordingly. The issues I faced with the thermostat was not on set up (this was easy, and the directions were simple to follow). When I began using it to cool down the home, after the syncing period (it takes ten or so minutes for the thermostat to adjust to your current room temperature when installed), the thermostat had odd cooling techniques. I changed the temperature on the thermostat to 68 degrees in the house (for cooling) from 70 degrees. What I found was that the A/C did not turn on right away; there was a lull period before the A/C came on in the home (we also recently had the A/C serviced, and it was working fine prior to the installation of the Ecobee Premium). Although strange, I found that once I installed the smart sensor in another room (after pairing), there was no longer a "lull" period. I am not sure if the Ecobee was still trying to calibrate and learn the home, but it was odd. The Ecobee smart app is a bit buggy, and it lacks functions. For instance, I accidentally changed my time to new york time during set up. I went into the app to try and change the time, and the app told me this was not possible and to log on online. I logged into my account online, and I was able to change this setting. Also, there were strange schedule settings that I was not able to change well on the thermostat and on the app. Meaning, I was not able to delete schedules from the thermostat itself with out, again, going online via a web browser. You would think that, from the app, you could do all of this, but I had issues with this. I again changed the temperature in the home (lower than my "comfort" settings), and the app did not show that it took. Then, the app froze, and I could not click around on the menus without force closing the app itself. Lastly, the interface is elegant and modern, but the font in the menus and settings are not that eye catching. Compared to my Nest, I found that the font was dated and harsh on the eyes when scrolling through the menus. Though this is not a complete deal breaker, you would think, with the work put into the design, users would have a more premium menu to look at, too. Overall, the Ecobee Premium is an upgrade over their previous models. The premium features a large glass and metal body design that provides an elegant and modern look. Although the app is quirky and functions on the app and thermostat are limited, logging in online is your best chance to really change your schedules and make subtle changes. Although not included in the thermostat, I would like to see Ecobee incorporate a "wake on approach" feature that nest already includes in their thermostats. Meaning, when you walk up or walk past the Ecobee, the thermostat will "wake up" and display the temperature, weather, and air quality control (currently, the thermostat has an always on display). I would recommend the Ecobee Premium Thermostat, once you get past the bugs and quirks, the newer updated thermostat should outshine the Nest on the current market.
MisterTeddy Posted
Horrible. Had to replace an old Google Nest, and wanted to try something else. I had heard a lot about the ecobee thermostats. If you have had other thermostats, this does not come with a wall plate large enough to cover the foot print of the previous thermostat wall plates or even the old school cheap generics. Long story short. Cannot detect correct humidity. Cannot detect correct temperature. Tried three different thermostats. They're all junk. 20% off on humidity, temperature off 5-10 degrees. Calibration just corrects it for the moment. Customer support will tell you it's because there is a draft in the wall behind the thermostat. Ask you to fill the wire hole completely. Insulated walls. Newer construction. This doesn't fix it either. Horrible. Waste of time.
Posted
Thank you for sharing your experience. We're sorry to hear about the issues you've faced with humidity and temperature detection, as well as the compatibility with previous wall plates. We understand your frustration and appreciate your feedback. Please know that your concerns are important to us, and we are continuously working to improve our products.
MelvinS Posted
High quality product, easy installation and setup!
Daniel Posted
Air quality sensor is faulty. CO2 level is actually eCO2 base on the VOC level. Barely a month in and the sensor shows extremely high levels of VOCs and CO2 that would probably put anyone in a hospital. Wish I returned it when I could of to be honest.
Posted
That doesn't sound right. Let's take a closer look at this together, Daniel. Please reach out to our Customer Support team directly at ecobee.com/contact.
SteveC Posted
We just purchased our new home and decided to try the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium instead of moving our Nest thermostat. Unboxing: The thermostat is packaged in a completely recyclable nicely logoed paper box. Inside was the thermostat, sensor, sensor base, mounting plate, mounting screws, wire labels, a power extender, and an installation manual. Pretty much everything you need to get up and going. The thermostat really feels well built and very sturdy in hand. Installation and setup. Installation is straight forward “unless you had someone wire your thermostat not following color coding”. Be sure to take a picture of your old thermostat wiring “while attached” so you can check colors and where they are connected. The mounting plate even has a small bubble level to help make sure your installation is nice and square. The connectors where you connect the wires are all push lever connectors and no screws involved making attaching those very simple Now this is where I almost had to reverse course, or so I thought, as I took the cover off the old thermostat to check wires I noticed the “Blue” C wire was not connected or being used “luckily it was physically there though” so I had to go to the HVAC unit itself and check the wiring and thankfully the “C – Blue” wire was attached and producing 24V “phew”, but I also knew the kit had a power extender that you can attach to existing wiring to provide power to the thermostat, so don’t worry too much if your blue wire is not attached “do worry if you are missing one completely. Setting up is much easier done with the App, “we use Android”, and that was all straightforward. You do have to set up an account with Ecobee and the App to use the device properly “no problem, just another one to add to the pile”. Use: We really like this thermostat, the display is almost the same size as the Nest, “a little bigger and square”, smaller than our original Honeywell I still had laying around. The remote sensor works like a charm and includes a motion sensor “not just temp” so it knows when you’ve entered a room. You can set a temp based on physically being in a room also, not just temp sensing like the Nest’s remote sensor. I’m planning on adding more sensors since these detect motion and we can set the temp differently depending on which room we are in. I was also surprised how well the speaker works, and hearing settings using Alexa, directly from the device and not from one of our Amazon devices around the house. Conclusion: If you are looking for a “all bells and whistles” thermostat then this is the one you want. There’s more settings and control with the Ecobee Premium over the Next. The remote sensors work great but the Ecobee includes motion sensing so it will adjust by ambient temperature and if you are physically in the room itself. The Nest design is a little more “modern” and has a stainless-steel ring you use for adjustment along with the touch screen, the Ecobee only has the touch screen, but I don’t see that as a disadvantage as we use the App to adjust anything 99% of the time. We also like the data the Ecobee collects over time, and you can see a chart for temperature settings, motion and even the weather, “neat if you like lots of information”. The Ecobee website also has a page where you can check your HVAC unit’s compatibility so be sure to check that before deciding if you want to upgrade to a smart thermostat. Hopefully you have a “C” wire to hook it up or use their extender kit “which we fortunately didn’t need”.
hahanson Posted
I'm a little bit torn here, and the explanation makes this longer than my typical review, so please bear with me. Having had the previous ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium for a couple of years, I am definately a fan of the product. The build quality was very good, and it was not difficult to install, and has worked flawlessly. The latest version is more compact, while also having a larger display and sporting a new user interface (UI). It even feels more premium, if that's even possible. It also adds an air quality monitor not found in the previous version. Installing this newer thermostat was even easier as the connections were the same, although for some reason they changed the wire placement. Like the previous version, ecobee includes a secondary sensor for placement in a another room. My previous version actually came with two though. Inflation? At any rate the two I had prevously can be reset and used with the current thermostat. The extra sensors can be wall mounted with an included braket or with the cone style mount. The additinal sensor allows more granular automation of temperature control. For example, I placed a sensor in the bedroom and it helped it stay more comfortable than if I had only used a the thermostat sensors which is located in a hallway. As noted previously, one of the best on-device features of the ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium is the indoor air quality measurements. It not only tracked volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as those found in plastics, cleaners, and other products. It did so in near-real-time. When I started cleaning the house -- vaccuming, dusting, etc. the air quality meter dropped. Unfortunately, the unit does not react by turning on the HVAC fan to filter the air. Seems a bit of a shortcoming. The system’s home screen shows more than simply the temperature. It also shows the time and the current humidity, current weather and a deeper forecast available at a touch. The system directly supports Alexa and Siri, not to mention Apple HomeKit, Google Home, Samsung SmartThings, and more. And the built-in speaker sound much better than one would expect from its size. There are a wealth of features available including reminders when it’s time to change the air filters, or alerts when the system is running for unexpected periods. And it all works as well as or even perhaps even better than expected. Now comes the part I'm torn about. While installation was easy, registration was a bit of a nightmare. When you install a new ebobee, you create a new account on their website and install an app on your phone. You set your "home" and tell ecobee what type of house you have, your location, how bit it is, etc. so it can all be taken into consideration when managing the heating and/or cooling system. I removed my old thermostat from the account, then took the steps to configure my new thermostat and register it to my existing account and existing home. Everything went fine -- the thermostat connected to ecobee's server, set the configuration, then took me to app's home screen. Except it stated there were no devices. I tried the web login, and it just stuck on "loading thermostat information". Strange... I had even received an email from ecobee confirming the new registration. I reset the registration several times to no avail, then reset the entire device several time to no avail. This was not an issue with anything I did, so it was time to reach out to ecobee's tech support. Reaching someone was a challenge. After being on hold for 30 minutes with multiple attempts to use their automated call back system, I was finally able to leave my number (it won't work if you leave your area code and number -- you also have to include the '1' in front). All told it took 1 hr and 40 minutes to reach a person. As dissapointed I was in the process so far, I have to say that person was very helpful. In the end it was a server issue, and once they reset my account I was able to reset my thermostat, set the configuration, and register it to my account in about 5 minutes. All was well, but I had invested over three hours when installation and configurationshould've taken about 30 minutes at the most by someone familiar with the process. So how does that influence this review? It was certainly a terrible experince as far as the issue I encountered and the response time to get in touch with the support staff, but the actual support person was great, and once I reached him it was resolved in about 30 minutes. Once resolved, the unit works great. In every other regard, this is arguably going to be the best smart home thermostat money can buy. Had the installation been uneventful, I would easily rate the ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium with five stars -- something I rarely do as that's reserved for the best of the best. So how much should my bad experience detract from the good? I'm going to go against my nature and be a "glass half full" kind of a guy by concluding mine was an isolated experience. I'm going to give the ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium five stars based on the fantastic build quality, included room sensor, easy to follow instructions, wide integration, the added CO2 and VOC sensors, and overall funcionality of the device. The only oversight in my opinion is that low air quality doesn't turn the fan on to filter the air, but that seems like a minor oversight. Given how my previous installation went, I believe that this rating is warranted. The ecobee Smart Premuim thermostat is in my opinion the best of the best.
Josh Posted
I am very familiar with Ecobee thermostats having owned a 4th generation version prior to getting this upgraded new premium edition. I’ve always been impressed with the quality of the device and the additional room sensors are extremely helpful for my multi-story home. This new Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium takes everything my older unit did and improves upon it. From the larger, higher resolution screen, hiding the sensors so they aren’t visible from the front surface of the device, the new satin metal finish on the sides, and additional features like an air quality sensor, everything is better. Installation is a breeze, especially using the app for step-by-step instructions. It includes an optional mounting plate to cover up issues on the wall from a previous thermostat, mounting hardware, one room sensor with a wall mount and table mount, some paper materials, ID stickers for your wiring, and the wiring backplate and thermostat itself. The packaging is well thought out and uses eco-friendly materials. The app instructs you for every little detail such as how to identify your wiring, suggesting taking pictures for reference, mounting options, shutting off the HVAC system power as the first important step, and more. It took me under 30 min to get it installed and running. The new backplate is perhaps surprisingly a different shape than the one my previous generation unit had, but thankfully allows for mounting with screws either in a vertical or horizontal placement, and since the old model used vertical only and my existing wall anchors did not survive the removal, having the option to start over horizontally was welcome. Wiring it up is easy, and it snaps right onto the backplate with minimal force. Powering on the system again and continuing setup and registration via the app was also extremely easy. Even if you already had an Ecobee like I did it treats the new one as if you are starting from the beginning other than having a login already setup. Certain things will carry over to it such as time of day usage settings and other eco settings, but schedule and temperature preferences will need to be set for the new device even for existing owners. I have a full HomeKit smart home setup, and the integration with it has always been solid. This new version seems to have fewer issues syncing temperature settings than before which is great. I was also able to keep and sync my room sensor I already had from the 4th gen as it is identical to the one included with the new one and now run the two sensors which makes for an even better overall temperature in my 3-story home. It supports either Alexa natively, or now Siri integration with a HomePod somewhere else in the home to act as a hub. I really appreciate the fact that I have an additional point in the house to interact with a digital assistant without a separate device. I have used the built in Alexa on the 4th gen for a long time now and never had any issues, and that continues to be the case here. I intend to switch to Siri as an Apple and HomeKit user, but I need to pickup a HomePod to be able to do so. After a few days with this new Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium, I am very happy to see that it is seemingly able to keep my summer temperatures under better control than its previous iteration, and the inclusion of air quality reporting is very nice to have. The much bigger and better-looking screen is extremely welcome for making it feel like a truly high-end device, and the built in voice assistant works like a charm. Anyone looking to keep yourself cool efficiently while knowing if your air is clean and being able to ask Siri or Alexa about the weather should pick one up. I highly recommend this device.
Wise Posted
Excellent thermostat - I have 3 … went with the newest version that has the remote sensor which I don’t use … but wanted the large easy to read display.
KMont1234 Posted
I’ve had an ecobee 4 Thermostat since 2018 and really enjoyed its simplicity and features, but the new Premium model is such a huge upgrade in terms of technology and design. First thing was installation. Since I already had an ecobee thermostat, it was fairly straight forward to install. The new one uses a different mounting plate and the wire holes are labeled pretty much the same. It took me about 10 minutes total to get it wired and powered on. Using the ecobee app, I deleted my old thermostat and added the new one to my account. Once it was connected to my WiFi, it was ready to go. The Premium thermostat also includes a SmartSensor, which monitors temperature and motion in different rooms of your home. It can either be mounted to the wall or placed on a table with an included stand. Since I had some Room Sensors and SmartSensors from before, I also had to pair them with the new thermostat, which was fairly easy. Some of the immediate upgrades I noticed with the Premium thermostat was the build quality, with a beautiful metal body and sleek glass screen. Its a huge bump up from the full plastic of my ecobee 4. I also really like the larger display and new user interface. It’s much easier to read from across the room and more intuitive to change the temperature settings. Another thing with the ecobee Premium is the inclusion of an air-quality monitor. I can easily check to see the pollutant levels in my home. My smart home runs using Apple HomeKit, and the ecobee Premium works great with it. During the set-up process, it gives you an option to scan the HomeKit QR code to add it to your home. Not only do you get the main thermostat in HomeKit, but you also get the SmartSensors added as well (I’m having issues adding the older Room Sensors to HomeKit). You can then ask Siri what the temperature is in a specific room. Speaking of Siri, the ecobee Premium has built-in “Hey Siri”, meaning you can ask Siri questions directly on the thermostat, provided you already have a HomePod in your home. And what’s also neat with the thermostat and HomeKit is that you can make it into an AirPlay Speaker, so when you want to play music all around your home, it will also play on the thermostat as well. It is not going to be amazing quality sound, but its really cool. The ecobee Premium Thermostat is an awesome device. I really like all of the new features and its sleek, simple design. If you’re coming from any of the previous ecobee models or from any other smart thermostat, then the new Premium Thermostat will not dissapoint.
FatratiOS Posted
This is the second time buying an ecobee for heating and cooling. There is something wrong with this one as it won’t connect to WiFi. I’m pretty tech savvy and I’ve tried several different methods. It’s really to bad as I liked the first one.
Posted
Hi there, that is not the experience we'd like you to have. Give our helpful support team a call at 1-877-932-6233 or visit our Support page here https://www.ecobee.com/contact/
kwilks3 Posted
Everything about this thermostat looks and feels high quality. The actual thermostat itself feels substantial, solid, and heavy. It comes with almost everything you need to install the unit with the exceptino of tools and directions. I was unable to find a link or QR code to scan to get them on or in the packaging. I ended up on YouTube to find an install video, which ecobee actually made just for this thermostat. I found it odd there was no mention of it. The ecobee even includes an easy to install adapter for your furnace if you don't have a "C" wire. The extra large base helps hide previous thermostat installs, which is a huge plus in my situation. After the installation of the ecobee, the setup is very straight forward and easy, but you must download the ecobee app. The extra sensor detects the temperature and occupancy of the area you place it in. I was also able to connect the ecobee to my Alexa service, and it has a nice sounding speaker built into it. The thermostat has a lot of bells and whistles. It has all the normal features a modern thermostat would have, but it also detects air quality, humidity, and occupancy. Setting schedules for the week required a slight learning curve, but can be done, lol. Overall I quite impressed with the ecobee thermostat. Likes: 1.) High quality with a very modern look 2.) Alexa smart features 3.) Easy to use app Dislikes: 1.) Lack of instructions or link to them.
allib Posted
The idea of moving to a smart thermostat really appealed to us. We have many other devices in our home that are smart and felt this might be an improvement in terms of ease of use. The first thing we liked upon opening the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium is the packaging. Someone put some thought into using environmentally friendly materials that still had a great look. The thermostat itself is very sleek looking with a zinc body and amply sized touchscreen. If one has to use the plastic backplate to conceal wall holes or the like that is understandable, but cheapens the look a bit in my opinion. Our intent was to use the thermostat in our main house, but we ran into problems once we figured out that our heat pumps would require the use of the power extender kit. One then has to go to the heat pump itself (on the roof in our case) to install the power extender kit, yet we ran into our next roadblock since both our units did not have the screw and wire design, but more of wire plug design. Needless to say, outside temps were in the triple digits so we opted to defer the main house till later when an HVAC tech could install the power extender kit for us. Who wants to make their a/c inoperable in the middle of hot weather? Plan B was to replace the standard thermostat on the heat pump in our guest house which did have a C wire for power which negated the need for the power extender kit. Installation instructions via the app are pretty straight forward and the built-in bubble level on the mounting plate ensures all is level and even. We did end up having to call product support as the unit was blowing heat on the cool setting and after sharing pics of the wiring with Ecobee support it was simply a matter of moving one wire and cool air arrived. We are enjoying the convenience of how much information is available via the app, online and the thermostat display. The built-in air quality monitor is interesting, but I’m not sure we’d do anything different should we get a poor reading as it states activities like cooking may affect the air quality. Should we get a poor reading we can assess the effectiveness of app tips to improve it. Reminders of when it is time to change the air filter will be a nice convenience. It’s unlikely we’d ever use the built-in speaker to play music, though this is an option should you want it in addition to the voice assistant. Smart sensors are a pretty nice feature of this particular system as it provides a wireless option to monitor temperature in another room of your home, but we have noticed that the bedroom sensor does tend to run warmer than the main thermostat location. In terms of general comfort, we feel that the same degree temperature reading of the Ecobee has made the guest house feel warmer compared to the same degree setting of our previous, conventional thermostat. Perhaps we need to play with the settings more but it does make us wonder about the accuracy of the Ecobee reading as the main living area definitely feels warmer. In summary, make sure you look at your current wiring and a/c equipment to know exactly how complex your smart thermostat installation may be. It may be a complete DIY or it may require the help of an HVAC expert. The online account accessed via computer is full of features, but the app leaves something to be desired and speed could be better. Also, we had to change the time on the thermostat after the initial installation and there was no such ability in the app. In terms of comfort level, I think we still have to improve the comfort level of the Ecobee compared to our previous, programmable thermostat. For those that don’t work at home the radar motion may really help with energy savings if the system can minimize heating and cooling use when one is away.
TonyMSP Posted
I have been an Ecobee4 user for the last 5 years now and when I saw that they made some “significant” enhancements, I knew it was worth the test to see if it’s worth upgrading. More below. Pros: *Easy to install *Sleek design *Smart as smart gets. Works with Alexa, Siri, IFTTT Cons: *Expensive and can take time to recoup cost *Some features are buried in menus *Not a smart display or speaker replacement Some of the new changes are the larger screen, better speaker, radar sensors and air quality metrics. The installation for me was super easy as all of my thermostat wires were labeled from the prior install. I was bummed that the backing plates weren’t compatible so I had to drill new holes but it was still super easy. App setup was also easy and I'm glad that my room sensors worked with the new version. The “smartness” is among the best out there. I love the “smart follow” feature where the thermostat knows which room I’m occupying or not occupying and runs the HVAC to maximize my comfort settings. The more room sensors you get, the smarter it becomes. It does come with 1 sensor to help you get started so be prepared to shell out another $100 for 2 more sensors. The Ecobee also knows when you’re gone and will adjust your thermostat accordingly. This is far more advanced than running a regular schedule. The graphic user interface is simplistic and sometimes too simplistic. My only gripe is the software and not the actual hardware. For one, I would like the thermostat to behave more like a smart display and not “just” a thermostat. Show me customizable clock faces or the name of the song that it’s playing, etc. So much wasted screen space for just the room temp that has me longing for more content. Show me a news headline or a light hearted joke! Ecobee I hope you’re listening! In summary, I do like the larger screen and the air quality metrics but after the newness wore off, the larger screen no longer really mattered as a proper thermostat is a set-it-and-forget-it system. Air quality isn’t numerical values and it's buried in the menus to see. I would recommend the latest Smart Premium if you currently don’t have a smart thermostat and would love full app control of your heating/cooling. I would skip it if you're coming from an Ecobee4 or newer thermostat as the differences are not drastic enough to swap.
gtdad Posted
The Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium is packaged nicely with everything you will need for installation included in the box. I already had the Ecobee app installed as I have other Ecobee products in my home. In the app you click on add a device, choose the thermostat and it will provide step by step instructions which are very easy to follow. You should only need a phillips head screwdriver. Ecobbe even includes identifying stickers to attach to the wires of your old thermostat before removing them. It is very helpful when attaching the wires to the Ecobee. The entire installation just took a few minutes. I needed the included wallplate to cover a rectangular cutout in the drywall from my old thermostat. Connecting to a wifi network is done on the thermostat, and it was quick and easy. It is important to turn all power to the a/c off prior to installation. After the power was on and the wifi was connected the Ecobee just took a moment to setup and it was ready to go. It also took just a moment to add the Ecobee to my Google Home app which allows me to control the thermostat by voice. For some reason Ecobee has not built in the Google Assistant. I don’t think this is too important as I have Google speakers all over my home, and would probably never use the thermostat as a speaker. Also included is a room sensor with a stand that magnetically attaches. After pulling the battery tab, the sensor connected immediately. This is the first time I have had a room sensor with a thermostat and I wasn’t sure if I would find it helpful. But I love it. It gives you a better understanding of how the temperature varies in parts of your home which are not located next to the thermostat, and it allows the thermostat to make adjustments to better cool the entire house. Both the thermostat and the room sensor can detect when a room is occupied or vacant. The Ecobee comes pre programed with 3 schedules for Sleep, Home and Away. But you can customize your own schedules. The screen of the thermostat is big. It has white font on a black background which is generally easy to read. However, I do have couple of gripes. First, the temperature reading is nice and large but the rest of the information is in a very small font. With so much screen real estate I would think they could make the rest of the information larger so that you don’t have to put your reading glasses on to see it. Secondly, I live in a high rise condominium where the thermostat is mounted just 4 feet from the floor in order to comply with disability requirements. What I discovered is that the screen dims rather quickly when viewed from above or off center. So I find myself bending down to view it at eye level in order to read the screen. I wish there was a brightness setting. Some features that I really like are: Air Quality readings, which includes VoC and Co2 readings. Humidity Levels (I live in South Florida) and weather Notifications for High Humidity and Maintenance reminders including changing of air filters. Overall this is an excellent product, simple to install and use. It has a very premium style and would look nice in any home. The positives definitely outweigh the negatives. I would recommend the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium.