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Which Wifi thermostat? (1 Viewer)

NeverEnough

NeverEnough

Footballguy
Don't need one of the super fancy $400 jobs. Want to be able to control it from my phone and be able to set temps for certain times/days.

 
What's the difference between Ecobee 3 & 4 & do you really need the room sensors? (It's just me)
Also, how does the Ecobee compare to the Honeywell? Ecobee looks like it'd be easier to use.

 
Magic_Man said:
What's the difference between Ecobee 3 & 4 & do you really need the room sensors? (It's just me)
Also, how does the Ecobee compare to the Honeywell? Ecobee looks like it'd be easier to use.
Click to expand...
The room sensors allow you to tell the temp in different areas of the house and use those temps to adjust the temp out of your system so that the other rooms can get to the temp you wanted.

Here is an example...I have a single zone system for my two story house, with the thermostat located on the main floor. With this setup, my upstairs can get very different temperature-wise from the rest of the house. In theory, with the sensor, I should be able have the system be based on the upstairs temp and have the sensor tell the system that it is too hot or cold and have the system adjust.

I need to get one of these. With my AC shooting air upstairs, my main floor is warm and the top floor is cool (comfortable for sleeping, but I'm sure I'm burning $$$).

 
Mr. Ected said:
The room sensors allow you to tell the temp in different areas of the house and use those temps to adjust the temp out of your system so that the other rooms can get to the temp you wanted.

Here is an example...I have a single zone system for my two story house, with the thermostat located on the main floor. With this setup, my upstairs can get very different temperature-wise from the rest of the house. In theory, with the sensor, I should be able have the system be based on the upstairs temp and have the sensor tell the system that it is too hot or cold and have the system adjust.

I need to get one of these. With my AC shooting air upstairs, my main floor is warm and the top floor is cool (comfortable for sleeping, but I'm sure I'm burning $$$).
Click to expand...
So the sensor can make it so the AC turns off downstairs, but still on upstairs until the temp there matches downstairs?

 
I have the ecobee 3 and like it.  We got it free during a home energy audit.  Probably worth checking your local provider website, they’ll often offer free units or coupons for $50 off

i ended up disabling the upstairs room sensor because it seemed like our unit was constantly running trying to keep it cool up there 

 
we wanted the eco bee, but apparently our wiring was missing a certain wire within the wire group. IDK exactly which wire it was, but it was bummer after opening the thing up and getting ready to install it only to find out we couldn't use it.  

 
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:blackdot:

A week ago, we came home at 11:00 PM from a 3-week vacation to discover that our A/C had failed while we were gone.  The technician that came out at midnight said it was at least 125 in our house.  Looking for a smart thermostat that we can monitor remotely.  We have a furnace/heat pump and 2 zones controlled with dampers, plus a whole house humidifier.  Is it safe to assume that both Nest and Ecobee can handle that sort of thing, or should I call my HVAC people to double-check?

 
glvsav37 said:
we wanted the eco bee, but apparently our wiring was missing a certain wire within the wire group. IDK exactly which wire it was, but it was bummer after opening the thing up and getting ready to install it only to find out we couldn't use it.  
Click to expand...
You are probably missing a C Wire (or Constant Wire).  This brings a constant flow of electricity to the thermostat. 

I had an HVAC buddy hook one up for me.  Took him 40 minutes.  You could have an HVAC service company give you an estimate.

 
About to pull the trigger on one myself, Holding out for Prime Days next week.  

Seems like the consensus here is the ecobbee,   I was leaning towards the Nest because it "learns."   Apparently the ecobee doesn't learn and must be programmed.  

90%+ of our days are the same.  I think the ability to learn has me leaning to the Nest.  

 
Bucky86 said:
No....that would only be if he had a separate air conditioning unit for upstairs. 

The point is that the sensor will see that upstairs is occupied and make sure it is actually 73 degrees, or whatever you set it for, upstairs and not 73 in your living room while its actually 77 upstairs.
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The only downside with this is that your downstairs (where the stat is) will be a lot colder than it's set temp. The only way to truly get floor to floor accurate temps is to either electronically zone the ductwork or add a second system.

Remember, if you don't have zoning, and those sensors call for your system to be turned on, you are driving cold air to ALL rooms in the house simultaneously.

 
jb1020 said:
About to pull the trigger on one myself, Holding out for Prime Days next week.  

Seems like the consensus here is the ecobbee,   I was leaning towards the Nest because it "learns."   Apparently the ecobee doesn't learn and must be programmed.  

90%+ of our days are the same.  I think the ability to learn has me leaning to the Nest.  
Click to expand...
Eh.  The Nest is famous for outsmarting itself.  The Ecobee runs on a set schedule but adapts based on presence.  It seems to achieve this much better than Nest and Nest is tougher to override when it errs.

 
Ron Swanson said:
Eh.  The Nest is famous for outsmarting itself.  The Ecobee runs on a set schedule but adapts based on presence.  It seems to achieve this much better than Nest and Nest is tougher to override when it errs.
Click to expand...
You use the ecobee without the room sensors?  

 
I have a Nest and have no complaints whatsoever for the three years I've had it :shrug:  The Ecobee may be better, but the Nest has been just fine for me so far.

 
joker said:
I have a Nest and have no complaints whatsoever for the three years I've had it :shrug:  The Ecobee may be better, but the Nest has been just fine for me so far.
Click to expand...
Same here.

 
ChiefD said:
The only downside with this is that your downstairs (where the stat is) will be a lot colder than it's set temp. The only way to truly get floor to floor accurate temps is to either electronically zone the ductwork or add a second system.

Remember, if you don't have zoning, and those sensors call for your system to be turned on, you are driving cold air to ALL rooms in the house simultaneously.
Click to expand...
It averages the temps of all the active sensors throughout the house.   It doesnt keep going until the hottest sensored room gets down to desired temp

 
Ron Swanson said:
Eh.  The Nest is famous for outsmarting itself.  The Ecobee runs on a set schedule but adapts based on presence.  It seems to achieve this much better than Nest and Nest is tougher to override when it errs.
Click to expand...
Yep, this is actually the bigger benefit of the sensors IMO.  Helps regulate temps a bit better, but more importantly the sensors detect motion so the more you have throughout the house the better the system knows if anybody is home or not.  Even if you have your program set to be On, but sensors read that nobody is home it wont run.  As soon as it detects motion and youre home again, then program kicks back on.   Thats where the money savings comes on.  Nothing to “learn” sensors allow for reality of bodies actually needing cool/heat

 
joker said:
I have a Nest and have no complaints whatsoever for the three years I've had it :shrug:  The Ecobee may be better, but the Nest has been just fine for me so far.
Click to expand...
Same here.  Love my two nest up/downstairs.

 
jb1020 said:
You use the ecobee without the room sensors?  
Click to expand...
If you go with Ecobee, than you definitely should invest in the room sensors....it’s really what sets it apart from other systems.

I have a 2,500sq ft two-story house plus a finished basement adding another 700sq ft of living space.   I have the main Ecobee3 thermostat (which acts as one sensor) and purchased 3 addl sensors.  I have one sensor on 2nd floor in master bedroom, two sensors on main floor (the main thermostat on one side of house and one sensor between kitchen and living room on other side of house).  Fourth sensor is in basement in theatre room.

Basement is naturally cooler so removed that one from being included in temp regulating averages...i just like to be able to see what the actual temp is down there from my phone.  

Setup works well for us. 

 
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offdee said:
Yep, this is actually the bigger benefit of the sensors IMO.  Helps regulate temps a bit better, but more importantly the sensors detect motion so the more you have throughout the house the better the system knows if anybody is home or not.  Even if you have your program set to be On, but sensors read that nobody is home it wont run.  As soon as it detects motion and youre home again, then program kicks back on.   Thats where the money savings comes on.  Nothing to “learn” sensors allow for reality of bodies actually needing cool/heat
Click to expand...
Nest now has remote sensors ($39). The page says you have to have a 3rg gen or a Nest E to use them.

 
Bucky86 said:
Ecobee 4 for sure can handle this.
Click to expand...
Looked into the Ecobee 4 a little more and we may try it, however I did a chat with their customer service and our 2nd zone (Honeywell HZ322 TrueZONE controller) is wireless and Ecobee couldn't be a replacement for our 2nd thermostat because they only work with wired.  Room sensors would help, but it wouldn't be a replacement for a complete dual zone system.  The good news is that it should be relatively simply to run a thermostat wire to our 2nd zone location, since it's almost directly a floor above the existing zone controller.

I think we could also just replace our main wired thermostat with the Ecobee and just leave our 2nd zoned thermostat as is for now.  The 2nd one wouldn't be smart, but oh well.

One other tidbit for anyone looking to purchase.  I did a Google search earlier today and I can purchase an Ecobee 4 through our local utility with an automatic $50 rebate ($199 vs. $249 on Amazon) plus another $70 in bill credits.  It showed up right here for me under the Shop Now button.

 
Any appreciable difference between Ecobee 4 and the Nest Learning Thermostat? Same price point.

 
Two years with a Nest and it's been bulletproof. I just prefer Google and their and their unlimited budget for upgrading things. Ecobee is highly rated.

 
offdee said:
If you go with Ecobee, than you definitely should invest in the room sensors....it’s really what sets it apart from other systems.

I have a 2,500sq ft two-story house plus a finished basement adding another 700sq ft of living space.   I have the main Ecobee3 thermostat (which acts as one sensor) and purchased 3 addl sensors.  I have one sensor on 2nd floor in master bedroom, two sensors on main floor (the main thermostat on one side of house and one sensor between kitchen and living room on other side of house).  Fourth sensor is in basement in theatre room.

Basement is naturally cooler so removed that one from being included in temp regulating averages...i just like to be able to see what the actual temp is down there from my phone.  

Setup works well for us. 
Click to expand...
Damn, offdee is off the scale!

 
Magic_Man said:
What's the difference between Ecobee 3 & 4 & do you really need the room sensors? (It's just me)
Also, how does the Ecobee compare to the Honeywell? Ecobee looks like it'd be easier to use.
Click to expand...
The only real difference is Ecobee for has Alexa built in.  We have two of them.  One upstairs and one downstairs.  We don't use the room sensors at all.  They are in a drawer somewhere.  The kids can stream music from it upstairs if they want.  The only reason I have them is because they were on sale for $169 last Black Friday at our Home Depot.

 
You guys have talked me into the ecobee.  There are some questionable reviews on Amazon though.  

Holding out for a prime day deal.  Sound like Amazon is starting to pull away from the nest products.  They don't even offer the Nest e. 

 
Installed the Honeywell Lyric T5 last night & it wouldn't turn on. Called support & was on hold twice for over an hour total & no one ever picked up. I'll be returning this junk.

 
Magic_Man said:
I think I am going to go w/the Honeywell Lyric T5
Click to expand...


Magic_Man said:
Installed the Honeywell Lyric T5 last night & it wouldn't turn on. Called support & was on hold twice for over an hour total & no one ever picked up. I'll be returning this junk.
Click to expand...
:lol:   Not laughing at you....feel your pain.  I was shocked at how simple the install was for ecobee....my only problem during my install was the "yellow" wire breaking off in my hand and having only an inch or so of wire to work with coming out of the wall.  

 
My experience was the same.  I kept trying cheaper brands (two other brands) and had very frustrating experiences with both.  Dropping off the network, not responding to remote commands, difficult to program, etc.  I finally bit the bullet and put in Ecobee's a few months ago and I'm absolutely ecstatic over how simply they installed and how well they work.  They really do hit that sweet spot of intelligent, semi-autonomous automation without being invasive or presumptive.  And they just work.

 
No experience with the Ecobee, but I've been happy with my Nest.  I found installation and customer service pretty good.  I sent them a picture of the wiring for my existing thermostat, and they e-mailed me a diagram of how to connect the wires.

 
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