ecobee Smart Thermostat Essential

Curated from 78 real Reddit conversations

Refreshed on: March 3, 2025

ecobee Smart Thermostat Essential

Brand: ecobee
Price: $129
Snoop Score:
7.5
Sentiment
7.5
Popularity
6.3
Technical
7.9

Snoop's Take

The New 2025 ecobee Smart Thermostat Essential is a programmable Wi-Fi thermostat designed to enhance home energy efficiency while working seamlessly with major smart home systems like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant. This Energy Star Certified device promises significant savings on heating and cooling costs, making it a cost-effective choice for homeowners looking to optimize their climate control. Consumer feedback highlights the thermostat's ease of installation and use, with many noting its high customizability compared to competitors like Nest. Users have praised its effective integration with HomeKit and the ability to utilize external sensors for enhanced temperature management, stating, "it's been a great experience so far". However, some users have expressed concerns about its geofencing capabilities and customer support experience, suggesting that potential buyers should weigh these aspects carefully. Overall, based on user feedback and its advanced features, the New 2025 ecobee Smart Thermostat Essential is recommended for those seeking a reliable and efficient smart thermostat, though it may not be the best fit for everyone due to specific concerns raised by current users.

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So does this product actually suck?

Positive Feedback

The Ecobee offered nothing extra that appealed to me, and actually I didn’t like the temp range it allows between running and off.

Negative Feedback
Product
7.5
ecobee Smart Thermostat Essential
Custom Temperature Scheduling
5 / 10
Remote Access and Alerts
9 / 10
Energy Bill Savings
10 / 10
Maintenance Reminders
7 / 10
See how this compares to all Thermostats

What it does well!

Key strengths users can’t stop talking about.
Easy installation and use
So does this product actually suck?
I hate mine. It was too easy to install and use, and integrated seamlessly with Homekit.
Highly customizable compared to competitors
It's not perfect, but it's far more customizable than the Nest.
Integration with HomeKit and other smart devices
Ditto on using it with HomeKit along with ecobee's cameras and window/door sensors.
Effective use of external sensors for temperature management
The reason I went with ecobee is to use the external sensors so the temperature of the thermostat itself isn’t a factor.
Ability to connect to remote room sensors
As long as it has that I think waiting makes sense unless I am missing something.
I’d hope it also fits on the 3 lite baseplate but that’s probably too much to ask for.
Great thermostats and sensors
Do you have any experiences with the ecobee security system? If so, what are your thoughts?
ecobee offers great thermostats and sensors. By far my personal favorite.
Works well with Apple HomeKit integration
I use the ecobee thermostat system as my security system and has worked great!
Yes, the upfront on the equipment is more, but the monitoring is way less.
Good experience with the Ecobee ecosystem
it's been a great experience so far.
Room sensors significantly improve comfort and temperature management.
If you’re just switching a thermostat definitely self-source 😂
The sensor 2-pack was a huge quality of life change for me.
Effective SmartSensor for pet detection
My 50 lb dog keeps flipping the thermostat to the Smart Home mode.
I have a 90 lb dog that does not trigger Smart Home mode.
It doesn't trigger.
Works well with pets in the house
I was wondering how ecobee works with pets in the house since I will be out of the house and I don't want them to freeze or overheat.
It works fine. You set it how you want and forget it.
Good temperature sensor functionality
I’d rather not kill the batteries in a couple of days.
Ecobee makes a great temperature sensor... but as a motion sensor, not so much.
Effective use of external sensors for pet detection
Don’t know what the time out is on it, but that should work.
Technically my cat could still jump up in front of it, but she seems to have stopped jumping up to flip light switches.
Ability to use geofencing for home/away settings
I just use geofencing to tell my thermostat when I'm home or away rather than the Smart Home/Away.

Where it needs some work!

Areas to watch—feedback on possible improvements.
Ecobee features not appealing compared to Honeywell
The Ecobee offered nothing extra that appealed to me, and actually I didn’t like the temp range it allows between running and off.
My experience has also been that Honeywell is much better as a thermostat - I'd stick with them.
Laggy runtime data in ecobee app
I could not accept the super laggy runtime in Resideo.
Poor geofencing capabilities
if geofencing is important to someone who does not want to do workarounds, I might recommend they consider a different thermostat.
Preference for mature technology over new releases
I’d always take mature tech over new tech for something as critical as a thermostat.
Poor customer support experience
I don’t care for Ecobee support and good thing I’ve rarely had to use!
Limited recording time for security features
Ecobee should NOT promote themselves as a security system. The video recording on this system is garbage as a security system.
Requires cloud access for full functionality
I got burned by this a few times.
Thermostats frequently go offline during power outages
It’s shocking that if one goes offline, they all go offline with no safety net.
I guess it’s good to know it’s not the ecobee.
Connectivity issues may lead to HVAC not turning on
the problem is likely back at the AC unit itself.
Possible wiring issues causing intermittent connectivity
Intermittent copper wire contact because it was poorly terminated on the socket or theres tension due to improper wire bend insert angle on the copper solid core wire to the termination jack.
Inconsistent occupancy detection
I don't trust it and turned off the follow me feature because of this inconsistency.
SmartSensor incorrectly detects large pets
The ecobee motion time outs are i think 30 minutes.
Inconsistent occupancy detection by SmartSensor
I was hoping that maybe the sensors had some way of distinguishing animals from people.
I am seeing constant motion when I am not home.

Compare On All Talked About Dimensions

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Emerson Thermostats 1E78-140 Non-Programmable Heat Only ThermostatEmerson Thermostats 1E78-140 Non-Programmable Heat Only Thermostat$22
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Core Power Plays

The specs and strengths that make it shine.
Challenges with identifying device specifications
Kinda like how boxes don't state if something is a zigbee repeater .. why? That's a selling point, no?

Buyer’s Cheat Sheet

What to check before you click ‘Add to Cart.’
User experiences vary greatly based on understanding of the system
once you really understand how it all works, it becomes a very powerful tool for maintaining the highest level of comfort in your home.
Comparisons with SimpliSafe and its pricing
They do keep raising their rates, but that's everyone (inflation).
Users express varying needs for additional sensors based on their home's heating/cooling.
If your old system didnt have any remote sensors and you found your home heated/cooled evenly then don't bother with the extra sensors.

Cautionary Callouts

Know the pitfalls before they catch you off guard.
Integration concerns with Ecobee sensors and security systems
Ecobee would save me $400-500 in hardware, but otherwise the prices are pretty much the same.
Ecobee is still a best of breed thermostat (and I use it) but it's not the best security system.
It'd be nice if the integration allowed the pass-thru of the sensors, it sounds like it's just tstat.
IQ4 can pass it's sensors along to another device like possibly ecobee.
Recording duration for doorbell cameras
2 minutes is actually quite long for a doorbell camera to record.
Naming conventions complicate automation
Trying to create automations and scenes takes a little longer when you don’t remember which is which.
Understanding of occupancy sensors varies among users
I believe the occupancy sensor doesn’t reset for 30m.
User experiences vary with sensor positioning
preventing the thermostat from going into smart away (or staying in smart away).
Clear nail polish on the part of the lens that you want to block out works pretty well.

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