Your thermostat gives you basic control over your heating and cooling. But does it do it in a smart way? A smart thermostat can make your HVAC system more efficient, which saves you money and reduces your impact on the environment. The Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium wants to deliver energy efficiency, customized heating and cooling, and smart home integration. I installed it in my home and here’s what I found.
Setting up the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium
I was impressed with the Ecobee from the moment I opened the package. They use cardboard and paper as packaging which minimizes the plastic used. This is a part of their efforts to make the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium as ecologically friendly as possible.
Wiring
This was the most nerve-wracking part of installing the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium. I know that I took the necessary steps to make the wiring changes safe, but I have a deep psychological fear of electricity lurking in wait to lash out at me. But once I mustered my own irrational fear, the process was straightforward and easy. The Ecobee app has very clear step-by-step installation instructions, covering the various wiring scenarios you might encounter.
I only had two challenges during the wiring phase. One, I skipped the step where the app takes a photo of the existing wiring for reference. And as you might guess, I forgot where one wire was supposed to go. Don’t worry, I learned my lesson and took photos at every step like the app suggested from that point on.
The second challenge had nothing to do with the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium itself. My home is about 50 years old, and the wiring has not been replaced. And old wires get stiff and brittle. I was apprehensive about every bend I made in my old wiring, fearing that it would snap off. Of course, if that happened I would just have to strip the wire a little further down and continue along, so it wasn’t as big a deal as I made it out to be to myself.
Software configuration
In comparison to the work of wiring the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium into your HVAC system, the settings configuration is incredibly quick and easy. Your Ecobee app will walk you through a few basic settings, and you are done. I appreciated the ability to sit and make additional configuration changes from my couch, instead of standing in front of the thermostat itself. But that’s not a slight against the thermostat’s touchscreen interface. The touchscreen is large and responsive, and the system is easy to navigate.
Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium features
- Occupancy sensors: The Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium uses radar to determine the occupancy of the area around it, and adjust your house temperate accordingly. And it comes with a second remote sensor that you place in the room of your choice. That second sensor will ensure that the chosen room’s temperature is a priority.
- Smart recovery: This is a neat little feature that I am very grateful for. As the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium learns your home’s heating and cooling patterns, it starts to pre-emptively adjust the temperature. So when you wake up in the winter, it’s already warmed the house up. Or it starts cooling the house down as you get close to bedtime in summer.
- Automatic rebates: There are a growing number of incentive programs to encourage you to upgrade to a smart thermostat. And the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium makes it easy to take advantage of them. As I finished the configuration set up, the Ecobee automatically checked for an available rebate program with my local utility. It found one and walked me through the simple 2 step process to enroll. So I’ll get a rebate on my hydro bill, and reduce my overall energy usage.
- Security system upgrade option: Your smart home plans may involve a home security system, and the Ecobee can play a part in that plan. Ecobee offers a Smart Security subscription service that allows you to remotely monitor your home. By purchasing additional sensors for your doors and windows, and an Ecobee security camera, you can have full security coverage. As an added benefit, since the door sensors tell the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium when the door has been opened, it will automatically pause heating or cooling until the door is closed again.
Controlling the thermostat remotely with the Ecobee App
The Ecobee app does a very good job at giving you full control of the thermostat from the comfort of your couch or the coffee shop across town. And it will notify you when you need to replace the air filter, or if there’s a sudden change of temperature in your home. I used the app after I went for a particularly sweaty run so that the air conditioning was already blissfully cooling my home upon my return.
Air quality monitoring
Your indoor air quality varies throughout the day, and it can affect your quality of life. The Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium monitors the air quality and responds by turning on the fan and sending you a notification when the air quality lessens. Stale air is unenjoyable, so I appreciated the Ecobee maintaining a better level of air quality in my house. It will also remind you to change your air filter, which is very helpful. I usually end up with a forgotten and very dirty furnace filter.
Smart home system integration
I’m not far along in building a fully functional Smart Home system, but the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium has accelerated my implementation timeline. The Ecobee works with the leading Smart Home ecosystems. I used Amazon Alexa as my smart home ecosystem, and the Ecobee as the central hub. And I have to admit, it’s been an eye-opening experience. I can use voice commands to adjust the thermostat, add things to a grocery list, or have music played through the speaker of the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium. You can even connect external Bluetooth speakers to upgrade the sound quality, though the built-in speaker was more than good enough for my needs.
Should you get the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium?
I was immensely impressed by the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium. Quite simply, it delivered on each and every one of its promises. I was especially taken aback by the easy, guided enrolment in the available energy rebate program. That put $75 directly back into my pocket. And I was surprised at how much I am enjoying being able to have music playing through the Ecobee. As I cook and clean in the kitchen, I can tell Alexa to play some inspiring music. Overall, the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium is a valuable addition to your home and a beneficial part of your smart home ecosystem.
This can help monitor energy use
I could improve my energy usage with this
Reduce energy wastage
It would make my life easier
Better energy management
I like the auto temp control . sounds handy !
I think it would be easier to have the house stay at a steady temperature even when there’s company over.
The Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium’s smart recovery feature is designed to optimize heating and cooling cycles, resulting in significant savings on our monthly energy bill.
I like the adaptive monitoring, what a great way to save money where possible!
I think having the smart thermostat automatically make all the settings would save us a lot of time and money.
The smart thermostat will make my life easier because it monitors the air quality in the house and turns on the fan and sends a notification when the air quality lessens.
It would make living comfortably much easier by adjusting the temperature in the house to fit our needs – warm in the morning, cold during sleep – and then the ability to adjust it easily whenever you felt like it.
It will make my life easier, by automatically controlling the temperature
Having the Ecobee would make my life easier as the device could better control the temperature and save me money on my bills.
Reduces my impact on the environment
The Occupancy sensors would be terrific for us as the heat could adjust when we go to the basement to watch movies. As we have various levels we could set the second remote in our living room which would cover that area.
It could make my life easier because it measures the air quality and all the remote control features it has.
The ecobee smart thermostat would make life easier by allowing me to adjust the temperature remotely when I’m out of the house to save energy.
Having an eco smart thermostat would be great for keeping costs down when we are out. I can easily turn up thermostat before we reach home
It will make my life easier, by monitoring my energy usage & thus help me to improve it without too much thought.
Wow, the occupancy sensor technology sure saves running around from room to room, adjusting thermostats or vents!
I like the air quality monitoring feature – we have 2 pets and they contribute to our allergies.
It’ll make my life easier by doing more for me, like remembering when to change the filters.
Having a smart thermostat would make my life a little easier because I could use my phone to check on the temperature of the house or raise or lower the temperature! That would be wonderful!! I wouldn’t have to get out of bed to run to the thermostat to change it!!
I love the air quality monitoring, it would help me put my mind at ease and I’d appreciate the reminders to change the air filter!
Having a smart thermostat, I can make all adjustments on my phone app and could even bump the temperature up & down remotely!
I cannot program my current thermostat myself. I have to have someone come in. So any of these things would make my life easier. Remote, easy to progrem, phone app- literally the entire thermostat.
Having a smart thermostat–i can make all adjustments on my phone app and could even bump the temperature up a bit remotely.
I like that it will adjust to your living habits so that you don’t have to remember to turn it down when you leave the house. The fact that it checks for rebates in terms of energy savings is very helpful
A smart thermostat will make life easier by automatically adjusting the temperature
This would make my life so much easier by making it possible to change the temp remotely so we’re not wasting energy unnecessarily if we forget to adjust it before we leave!
I like how it measures the air quality and the remote control features.
The occupancy sensor would be great because people in my house come and go at different times daily. Thanks for the giveaway and the chance to win.
It will make my life easier because we won’t have to go up and down whenever we need to change the temperature.
The Remote Access, it would save me lots of trouble and time in my life
The Remote Access, it would save me from always going over to the thermostat and changing it
Wow, the occupancy sensor technology sure saves running around from room to room, adjusting thermostats or vents!
With this thermostat-i can make all adjustments on my phone app
Remote control with the Ecobee App means I can check and adjust the thermostat from anywhere.
A smart thermostat makes life easier with the room sensors so you don’t have to remember to change it when you’re leaving for a few hours. It will detect and switch to Away on its own.
A smart thermostat makes life easier with the room sensors so you don’t have to remember to change it when you’re leaving for a few hours. It will detect and switch to Away on its own.
I like the Smart Recovery feature that will warm your home in the morning and start a cooling procedure in the night when you are ready to go to bed. This is a great comfort feature to make my life easier.
It would make it easier when leaving for extended periods and not having to worry about adjusting the thermostat
it will simplify my life by automatically adjusting my heating and cooling needs the a more efficient and cost-saving level. It wil automatically watch over my needs.
A smart thermostat makes life easier with the room sensors so you don’t have to remember to change it when you’re leaving for a few hours. It will detect and switch to Away on its own.
This thermostat would make my life easier by automatically adjusting my heating and cooling needs the a more efficient and cost-saving level.
A smart thermostat would make my life easier as I can turn the temperature down at night when I got to bed and then turn it up in the morning before getting out of bed. It would also allow me to turn the temperature while out on the run for those times I forget to turn it down before going out.
A smart thermostat makes life easier with the room sensors so you don’t have to remember to change it when you’re leaving for a few hours. It will detect and switch to Away on its own.
Security system upgrade option: Your smart home plans may involve a home security system, and the Ecobee can play a part in that plan. Ecobee offers a Smart Security subscription service that allows you to remotely monitor your home. By purchasing additional sensors for your doors and windows, and an Ecobee security camera, you can have full security coverage. Great option for me.
It will make my life easier, by monitorong my energy usage & thus help me to improve it without too much thought.
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