Ecobee's New Lower-Priced HomeKit Smart Thermostat Now Available

[MacRumors]

The smart home thermostat company Ecobee today announced that its new Smart Thermostat Essential is now available to order on its website, and at select retailers in the U.S. and Canada. The thermostat was unveiled at CES 2025 in January.

In the U.S., the Smart Thermostat Essential is priced at $129.99, making it Ecobee's most affordable smart thermostat.

Ecobee's smart thermostat can help you save money by intelligently optimizing your home's temperature. For example, the thermostat can reduce energy usage while you are away from home. When paired with Ecobee's SmartSensors, the thermostat can detect occupancy and optimize comfort in certain rooms throughout the home.

Ecobee claims the thermostat can pay for itself by helping you spend up to 23% less on annual heating and cooling costs.

The thermostat supports Apple's smart home platform HomeKit, and it can be controlled with Ecobee's app on the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. It also works with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Samsung SmartThings, and more.

Compared to Ecobee's highest-end Smart Thermostat Premium, priced at $249.99 in the U.S., the lower-priced Essential model lacks features such as a built-in occupancy sensor, dual-band Wi-Fi, a built-in indoor air quality monitor, hands-free calling and intercom functionality, built-in Siri voice control, and a few other things.

Article Link: Ecobee's New Lower-Priced HomeKit Smart Thermostat Now Available

 

[JensenKA]

Well this sounds great, because the intercom and calling system and all those other doodads are things I’d never use.

I wonder if it’s more accurate now. I bought an Ecobee in the past and ended up having to return it because it was showing the temperature in the house as like 10 degrees off what it actually was.

 

[Le Big Mac]

Well this sounds great, because the intercom and calling system and all those other doodads are things I’d never use.

I wonder if it’s more accurate now. I bought an Ecobee in the past and ended up having to return it because it was showing the temperature in the house as like 10 degrees off what it actually was.

I haven’t had that problem with them, and have found them rock solid.

Biggest disappointment is all the HVAC cos making systems that work only wit their proprietary thermostats, which generally are overpriced and suck from a functionality standpoint. (Lennox dropped HomeKit support from its newest ‘stat).

 

[thefrost]

Sounds interesting.

 

[QuarterSwede]

I’ve had an ecobee before in a previous house. In our new one I went with the cheaper Amazon thermostat and, aside from its “okay” app functionality, it works well. I really like that it blends in with the wall since it’s all white, even the face, and only shows the temperature in white. Once we set the program to follow I literally haven’t touched it since. I’ve seen no reason to upgrade.

 

[DocerZ]

The smart home thermostat company Ecobee today announced that its new Smart Thermostat Essential is now available to order on its website, and at select retailers in the U.S. and Canada. The thermostat was unveiled at CES 2025 in January.

In the U.S., the Smart Thermostat Essential is priced at $129.99, making it Ecobee's most affordable smart thermostat.

Ecobee's smart thermostat can help you save money by intelligently optimizing your home's temperature. For example, the thermostat can reduce energy usage while you are away from home. When paired with Ecobee's SmartSensors, the thermostat can detect occupancy and optimize comfort in certain rooms throughout the home.

Ecobee claims the thermostat can pay for itself by helping you spend up to 23% less on annual heating and cooling costs.

The thermostat supports Apple's smart home platform HomeKit, and it can be controlled with Ecobee's app on the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. It also works with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Samsung SmartThings, and more.

Compared to Ecobee's highest-end Smart Thermostat Premium, priced at $249.99 in the U.S., the lower-priced Essential model lacks features such as a built-in occupancy sensor, dual-band Wi-Fi, a built-in indoor air quality monitor, hands-free calling and intercom functionality, built-in Siri voice control, and a few other things.

Article Link: Ecobee's New Lower-Priced HomeKit Smart Thermostat Now Available

My 2 Ecobees are solid...it's great to be able to adjust the temp from anywhere in the world. Advantagious when traveling.

 

[techmuscle]

We just had our furnace replaced so took the opportunity to also update our 25 yo thermostat. The ecobee Enhanced has been great so far and the temp seems accurate. We only have heat, no AC and a simple single stage gas furnace. The best part is being able to have different schedules each day. If I set the temp for 67 degrees at 5AM, it will fire up the furnace before that time to have the house at the correct temp when I get up. With the old thermostat, I had to set it to start 15 minutes or so prior to wake up time and it only had two schedules for M-F and Sat-Sun. Being able to control from my phone is nice and may come in handy. It is on Wi-Fi but on our IoT network so I can't use HomeKit. Still debating putting it on the same network as our AppleTV. Thoughts?

 

[QuarterSwede]

We just had our furnace replaced so took the opportunity to also update our 25 yo thermostat. The ecobee Enhanced has been great so far and the temp seems accurate. We only have heat, no AC and a simple single stage gas furnace. The best part is being able to have different schedules each day. If I set the temp for 67 degrees at 5AM, it will fire up the furnace before that time to have the house at the correct temp when I get up. With the old thermostat, I had to set it to start 15 minutes or so prior to wake up time and it only had two schedules for M-F and Sat-Sun. Being able to control from my phone is nice and may come in handy. It is on Wi-Fi but on our IoT network so I can't use HomeKit. Still debating putting it on the same network as our AppleTV. Thoughts?

When I had my thermostat on HomeKit I never adjusted it. If you find that you want to adjust manually from time to time then it might be worth it.

 

[Xavier]

I have an older ecobee and love it. Might be worth the upgrade

 

[Rychiar]

paying full price for a thermostat is crazy. I got the premium Ecobee for under $100 from my power company

 

[Nikhil72]

Very happy with the ecobeee we recently had installed

 

[Timpetus]

We have the high end model because our HVAC company let us pick which thermostat we wanted when we upgraded to central air. I like that it's not phoning home. All our smart home devices are from Apple, Ubiquiti, or companies like them who take privacy seriously and keep our data safe.

 

[Le Big Mac]

I wonder if it’s more accurate now. I bought an Ecobee in the past and ended up having to return it because it was showing the temperature in the house as like 10 degrees off what it actually was.

FWIW, you can adjust the temperature calibration

Help Centre

support.ecobee.com

 

[Le Big Mac]

It is on Wi-Fi but on our IoT network so I can't use HomeKit. Still debating putting it on the same network as our AppleTV. Thoughts?

Similar position - on the one hand, the app does what I need so not sure what HomeKit would add. On the other hand, not sure how large a risk running through HomeKit is (vs. other devices with more questionable origins I put on IoT).

 

[August West]

Well this sounds great, because the intercom and calling system and all those other doodads are things I’d never use.

I wonder if it’s more accurate now. I bought an Ecobee in the past and ended up having to return it because it was showing the temperature in the house as like 10 degrees off what it actually was.

I agree with the extra features. My Ecobee 4 is six years old now and I never use any of its advanced features but love the basic functionality of it provides. And I'd never use the further advanced features of their new top of the line model. I'd have a hard time going back to a non-networked thermostat. Mine has been rock solid with the pretty rare exception of it losing connection with the Ecobee servers.

Before that I had a Nest which sucked since they never updated the firmware after they released it. Very limited in several areas then Google purchased Nest so I pitched and got the Ecobee. And my temps are spot on, even the remote senors.

 

[jetsam]

We just had our furnace replaced so took the opportunity to also update our 25 yo thermostat. The ecobee Enhanced has been great so far and the temp seems accurate. We only have heat, no AC and a simple single stage gas furnace. The best part is being able to have different schedules each day. If I set the temp for 67 degrees at 5AM, it will fire up the furnace before that time to have the house at the correct temp when I get up. With the old thermostat, I had to set it to start 15 minutes or so prior to wake up time and it only had two schedules for M-F and Sat-Sun. Being able to control from my phone is nice and may come in handy. It is on Wi-Fi but on our IoT network so I can't use HomeKit. Still debating putting it on the same network as our AppleTV. Thoughts?

I've had my two ecobees on HomeKit since 2017 - no issues. I trust ecobee.

 

[jetsam]

Similar position - on the one hand, the app does what I need so not sure what HomeKit would add. On the other hand, not sure how large a risk running through HomeKit is (vs. other devices with more questionable origins I put on IoT).

As per my previous reply, I've been using ecobee with HomeKit for years.

The advantage of having ecobee on HomeKit is that when the ecobee servers go down, the app stops working. And they go down all too often. If your thermostats are on HomeKit, you can still control them remotely.

And, being a worry wort, I like the reassurance that my house is staying warm while I'm on vacation, even if I don't need to make any changes to the settings.

 

[xmach]

I see this and other ecobee thermostats use Wi-Fi. Seems like overkill in terms of bandwidth and power requirements. Are there any thermostats that use Thread instead? Wouldn't this at least be much more power-efficient and potentially more reliable?

 

[Lucky736]

Found the EcoBee to be much better than my Nest however the installation of the C-Wire adapter was no fun in my other home. In my current home decided against it and went with a Nest. Wish they'd find a way around it like nest has. Usability, software, sensor accuracy were all better than any Nest I have had sadly.

Also, along these lines, noticed the trim kit and C-Wire adapter are no longer included, making the price more attractive on paper but not if either of these are needed. Add another 40-45 if so, bringing it not much further from the nicer model which includes it all, and an external room sensor.

 

[onenorth]

paying full price for a thermostat is crazy. I got the premium Ecobee for under $100 from my power company

Yes I've seen it for as little as $15 with rebates from the utilities. I got my ecobee3 lite (essentially the same thing as this renamed one) for $40 each under the rebate deal at the time, still not bad.

 

[techmuscle]

Yes I've seen it for as little as $15 with rebates from the utilities. I got my ecobee3 lite (essentially the same thing as this renamed one) for $40 each under the rebate deal at the time, still not bad.

Unfortunately with PG&E, you have to have both heating and AC to qualify for a rebate for a smart thermostat.

 

[Le Big Mac]

I see this and other ecobee thermostats use Wi-Fi. Seems like overkill in terms of bandwidth and power requirements. Are there any thermostats that use Thread instead? Wouldn't this at least be much more power-efficient and potentially more reliable?

I haven't had wifi reliability issue. It's probably overkill in some sense, but the bandwidth usage is pretty low. It shows about 2MB/day usage for me. The power comes off the HVAC, so pretty small potatoes compared to that.

 

[zapmymac]

Had the Ecobee “3” in my home
From 2017-2024. Paid outright before my utility had a rebate problem 🤷‍♂️.

Without it’s satellite temp modules (coin battery operated) I had to do a +8° offset, as the thermostat was right next to the return air and always was too cold.

The moveable modules was set as the default area to read and from then on the system as a whole, just worked.

I’d say about 90% of the time we set it at 76-78 and went about life…

 

[ebika]

I had to replace my furnace a couple weeks ago and my Nest Learning gen 2 freaked out so I got an Ecobee Premium. After utility rebates, it was $125. Other than the snazzy brushed metal housing, the rest of the advertised features are mostly gimmicks I could live without. The occupancy sensing would be great if it worked well (it doesn't for me because I don't walk by my thermostat frequently enough to keep it from going into "away" mode and the whole point of the remote sensor for me is to have it read temps on the other side of the house). You can rig up geofence occupancy through Ecobee + HomeKit that works much better, and should work with this Ecobee Essential too.

All said, I do like my Ecobee though. I'd prefer if it had an OLED screen, but that's a minor point.

 

[Juicy Box]

I use two Ecobees in my home, one for my HVAC and one for my pellet stove.

I like them, but some of the features seem gimmicky. HomeKit support for the thermostat works well enough, but when asking Siri information about the external room sensors doesn't work for me.