Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Advice on thermostats - Nest vs Ecobee
- Thread starter oneMadRssn
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
"Hi sweetie, please raise the temperature a bit but not too much, I wouldn't you to have a high gas bill, but I am a bit chilly. Maybe I should make some tea. Where are my glasses? Why don't you call us anymore?"
Instead of mocking you could try being helpful.
Look, Siri’s problems are well documented. My wife is not old, nor tech-illiterate, but she has little patience for times when Siri pulls garbage like this. And even if Siri is better with HomeKit requests, when it falls flat on its face other times it makes her want to never use it.
Ecobee just because the other one is from a company that I can’t trust anymore. But the biggest reason is that Google Nest doesn’t support HomeKit. Which is more secure than the offerings from the liked of Google and Amazon.
I’ve had the ecobee 3 for 3 years now, on a closed loop geothermal system with aux heat and a steam humidifier.
It handles everything perfect and I can tweak so many geothermal parameters , A+ job
Recently added Lutron caseta lights, so I have the harmony hub. Thru that I use apple HomeKit for lights and the ecobee.
Siri controls both.
I should add I’m 300 miles from home now, at a funeral, and I can adjust the ecobee anywhere worldwide ...
It handles everything perfect and I can tweak so many geothermal parameters , A+ job
Recently added Lutron caseta lights, so I have the harmony hub. Thru that I use apple HomeKit for lights and the ecobee.
Siri controls both.
I should add I’m 300 miles from home now, at a funeral, and I can adjust the ecobee anywhere worldwide ...
I have both Nest and Ecobee 3. They are different animals. The Best is a learning thermostat that adjusts itself, if you want it to do that. The Ecobee has additional sensors in other rooms to set comfort level based upon where you are actually at in the house.
Ecobee has comparison reporting. I’m in the top 9% of households this month for energy savings.
Ecobee has comparison reporting. I’m in the top 9% of households this month for energy savings.
I'm interested in getting an Ecobee4 for my home, but I would need 2, since we have a 2 story home. However I'll start with 1 first. But a few questions and concerns, how exactly does one save money by using a smart thermostat? I have an old school honeywell thermostat from 2007 and i programmed it to hold the temp at around 78-80F during the summer, and to hold the temp at around 70F during the winters. My guess is that with the Ecobee it would do the same, so what special features am I missing here that will magically reduce my energy bill?
Second question is, if you place the temperature sensors in certain rooms, how can you make those rooms a specific temperature from others? We have central air units here, so the temperature would be the same throughout the entire house. How can set a particular room to be a certain temperature unless each room has its own AC/Heating unit.
Second question is, if you place the temperature sensors in certain rooms, how can you make those rooms a specific temperature from others? We have central air units here, so the temperature would be the same throughout the entire house. How can set a particular room to be a certain temperature unless each room has its own AC/Heating unit.
Short answer: By knowing when nobody is home it can save energy by not heating/cooling at those times.
Basically, there are 3 classes of thermostats:
Basic - Set the temperature whenever. It wastes energy whenever nobody is home, when they forget to set it higher/lower as needed before they leave.
Programmable - Program in a schedule. It wasted energy whenever people go off-schedule. For example, if programmed for the AC to be at a nice and economical 85 during the day and then down to 72 at 6pm when people get home from work, it will still kick on to 72 even if the people are away on vacation or decided to go out for drinks with friends after work.
Smart - Programmable, but also senses occupancy. So it knows that if nobody is home to just use the economical settings regardless of what the schedule is.
The sensors aren't for setting particular room temperatures. If you set your thermostat to 72, that doesn't mean all the rooms are at 72. Some rooms have more or less windows, some rooms have better or worse insulation, some rooms are above the garage or below the attic. In other words, when the thermostat is set to 72, the area directly next your thermostat will be 72 but the other rooms can be anywhere between 68 and 74 or so. Some people will find 68 too chilly. Some people will find 74 to be too sweaty. Your thermostat alone cannot know what the temperature is in the other rooms. That's where the sensors come in. They know the temperature of the other rooms and whether there are people in that room. So if the thermostat is set to 72, it will work to keep the rooms where people actually are at 72. This might mean the room where the thermostat actually is actually at 68 or at 74, but it doesn't matter. What matters is the room where people are that moment.
I see, but the thing is, at my house there's always somebody home. So I can't set it 85 or above.
What do you guys normally set your temperature to when nobody's home during the summer and winter in order to save on your energy bills? I'm curious. There was one time when I use to live alone and had gone for vacation for a week, I shut off my thermostat and when I came back I noticed there were bugs growing inside the flour and rice in my kitchen pantry. Which is why I'm kind of scared to set the thermostat too low for long periods of time. How do you guys get around that?
What do you guys normally set your temperature to when nobody's home during the summer and winter in order to save on your energy bills? I'm curious. There was one time when I use to live alone and had gone for vacation for a week, I shut off my thermostat and when I came back I noticed there were bugs growing inside the flour and rice in my kitchen pantry. Which is why I'm kind of scared to set the thermostat too low for long periods of time. How do you guys get around that?
Get the 3. Same thing, Cheaper, and you won't have the Government Spy OP Alexa in your home.
My eco settings (meaning, when not home) are no upper limit and no lower than 55. If I leave for a while during a hot month, I'll open a bunch of windows an inch to make sure it doesn't get too stuffy in the house.
Besides the built-in Alexa in Ecobee4, are there any other differences between Ecobee3 and 4? You can disable Alexa in Ecboee4 though if you don't use it. I only use Siri and HomeKit.
No differences. I even did some digging into them both to see if there were "upgrades" to the 4. They just slapped Alexa on there. And no, it doesn't "turn off" if you turn it off. It TELLS YOU it does.
I have free access to most thermostats as long as they are sold through contractors supply houses through my profession.
I've pretty much used them all from thermostats with generic control like Ecobee, Nest, Honeywell 9000, Honeywell IAQ Prestige, etc to proprietary communicating controls with specific equipment like Lennox iComfort Wifi, Lennox S30, Rheem EcoNet, Mitsubishi Kumo Cloud, etc.
Typically for a generic thermostat that works on any system I prefer Honeywell. However I ended going back to the EcoBee with 2 room sensors mostly because I like the way it operated with HomeKit.
For actual room comfort and equipment control I would go with a manufacturers communicating control. The Lennox S30 supports Alexa, Google and HomeKit as well.
I noticed if the first post it was mentioned you can't resume the schedule with HomeKit however that isn't accurate. Just make a resume schedule scene for Siri or automated use. I use a resume schedule scene as my "Arrive" scene for the thermostat because if I come home in the middle of the day for 2 minutes I don't want the equipment to come on however when I come home on time it will resume my schedule.
Due to finger prints I never touch the thermostat. Its probably been months, since I have a HomePod "hey siri" control is always easier.
I've pretty much used them all from thermostats with generic control like Ecobee, Nest, Honeywell 9000, Honeywell IAQ Prestige, etc to proprietary communicating controls with specific equipment like Lennox iComfort Wifi, Lennox S30, Rheem EcoNet, Mitsubishi Kumo Cloud, etc.
Typically for a generic thermostat that works on any system I prefer Honeywell. However I ended going back to the EcoBee with 2 room sensors mostly because I like the way it operated with HomeKit.
For actual room comfort and equipment control I would go with a manufacturers communicating control. The Lennox S30 supports Alexa, Google and HomeKit as well.
I noticed if the first post it was mentioned you can't resume the schedule with HomeKit however that isn't accurate. Just make a resume schedule scene for Siri or automated use. I use a resume schedule scene as my "Arrive" scene for the thermostat because if I come home in the middle of the day for 2 minutes I don't want the equipment to come on however when I come home on time it will resume my schedule.
Due to finger prints I never touch the thermostat. Its probably been months, since I have a HomePod "hey siri" control is always easier.
I have Nest and Ecobee 3 in my homes. However, if you are looking for an inexpensive option, look at Honeywell’s FocusPro. One of our facilities has 16 thermostats. At around a hundred bucks each, these are a great solution. Yes, they are controllable by Alexa or from the iOS app.
That looks like the one I have! How is it possible to control it via an iOS app when that Honeywell thermostat came out ~2007?
Apparently, they updated the internals of them because we have a bunch of them and they all can be controlled by the iOS app or by Alexa.
Just converted from a couple of 1st gen Nests to a couple of ecobee 3 lites. Wish I'd done it sooner. Homekit/Siri compatibility is nice.
One thing I didn't realize is that for the "3 lite" model of the thermostat I had to also buy a couple of room occupancy sensors - $80 for two - for the ecobees to do the "save power when nobody's home" thing that the old Nests had been doing since 2011/2012.
Can't complain. Still worked out cheaper than the original Nests. And I can put the sensors anywhere or add more if I want.
One thing I didn't realize is that for the "3 lite" model of the thermostat I had to also buy a couple of room occupancy sensors - $80 for two - for the ecobees to do the "save power when nobody's home" thing that the old Nests had been doing since 2011/2012.
Can't complain. Still worked out cheaper than the original Nests. And I can put the sensors anywhere or add more if I want.
If you are buying a smart thermostat buy one that fits your smart ecosystem.
You overlooked comfort and efficiency though, kind of important function when dealing with a thermostat.
Neither Nest nor Ecobee (my preference between the two) offer the fine tuning that even a basic Honeywell (pro line) offer when it comes to settings like cycles per hour to get the most efficiency and comfort out of your specific HVAC system.
Many won't notice but there is difference even in how a standard 80% efficiency furnace should operate vs higher 90%+ furnace. If using water/steam I would likely forgo Nest and Ecobee depending on the radiators used all together. Using an Ecobee 3 over the last winter and I could feel temp swings from on and off even with a 2 stage furnace.
Honeywell T series offers HomeKit and other smart functions while maintaining HVAC equipment control as the priority. Although I can't fault someone for passing on it due to its appearance alone compared to the Nest and Ecobee.
You overlooked comfort and efficiency though, kind of important function when dealing with a thermostat.
Neither Nest nor Ecobee (my preference between the two) offer the fine tuning that even a basic Honeywell (pro line) offer when it comes to settings like cycles per hour to get the most efficiency and comfort out of your specific HVAC system.
Many won't notice but there is difference even in how a standard 80% efficiency furnace should operate vs higher 90%+ furnace. If using water/steam I would likely forgo Nest and Ecobee depending on the radiators used all together. Using an Ecobee 3 over the last winter and I could feel temp swings from on and off even with a 2 stage furnace.
Honeywell T series offers HomeKit and other smart functions while maintaining HVAC equipment control as the priority. Although I can't fault someone for passing on it due to its appearance alone compared to the Nest and Ecobee.