I'm team I have no thermostat because I didn't have enough money saved yet to buy airco / heating for my house. I am sure there will be some open source something once I do.
Team gen 3 Nest. No need to upgrade and it just works. Thank you, Reed for your informative, well paced information. Hardware is only as good as its software
@@thechanacy Same here. The gen 3 works (until Google rolls out an update that "accidentally" kills it), and is an elegant piece of kit. It also has native matter support, regardless of the fact that Google "forgot" to enable it.
I was all set to buy the Nest, but after watching this video and learning (no pun intended) so much more about them both, I think I'm switching to the Ecobee! Thank you for pointing out the pros and cons. VERY helpful video.
Well, they got bought by Google and then all productivity was completely obliterated. Won't be long before Google kills them off and does something else.
Had they not been bought and killed by Google, I believe that we would have seen some innovation. On the other hand, how much can you innovate on a thermostat? The Nest Gen3 is still one of the best thermostats out there, regardless of the decade that has almost passed since its roll out.
@@michailangelopoulos5602 Make it more than a thermostat. There’s no reason it can’t also be a smoke detector, air quality sensor, and fire alarm all in one box
@@thechanacy Exactly. It's been a loooong time since Google actually developed something good themselves. Nowadays they're specialists at enshittifying existing products. Imo it's best to avoid anything by Google as much as possible.
Had an original Nest thermostat used it in 2 houses. One with hot water radiator heat only and another with forced air heat and AC. Immediately disabled all “Learning” of the schedules as it was wonky and unpredictable. Tried auto away and also disabled that as it was also unreliable due to thermostat placement in an area with low foot traffic. Moved again and switched to the higher end Ecobee model with a remote sensor. Much happier with the ecobee for the air quality monitoring, better circulation fan controls, and easier to configure schedules. Humidity monitoring and easy to read charts help me understand what my thermostat is doing instead of the very dumbed down summary on Nest.
Glad I went with the ecoBee Premium thermostat. The only thing I do not like about it is if you use the ecoBee contact sensors for doors and windows to tell your thermostat to turn off when one of them is open, that feature is behind a pay wall. So I will not be using that feature but will instead do it manually with Home automations using other vendor's contact sensors; like Aqara door and window contact sensors.
Very timely video. The Ecobee premium I ordered is scheduled to be delivered today! Replacing an old nest where the temperature is off and the humidity stopped working completely.
So glad you talked about the temperature swing. That was the primary reason I switched to ecobee from nest, it’s not an exaggeration to say it was driving me insane how much it was triggering the AC to only have a 1 degree differential (I actually recall it as a .5 differential which maybe they’ve adjusted now). That and the ability to use specific sensors as part of a schedule has made a huge difference, glad nest has caught up on that at least!
Ecobee thermostats don't require a C wire either if you have a four wire system. They come with a PEK adapter that is simple to install in your heating and cooling system, no tools required, just plug in the wires. With this, you can use your existing four wire system with an any Ecobee that uses five wires. Takes less than five minutes to install if you know which wire is which and can read the labels on your HVAC control board.
I just installed my Nest 4th Gen. I have several Google smart devices but this is my first time using a smart thermostat. I agree the screen is very dim, I saw an article that they're working on a software update to fix this.
@@Its_Mik3 there were good instructions. Just don’t be like me and try to skip steps. I wired it wrong originally. Then we decided to read the directions and follow them! Amazing how that works! It was easy then.
But you still need four wires to do this. The power extender kit will not work with the old school two wire boiler heat systems. Nest is the only option.
Nest was looking reasonable until the smart home integration. I am sorry, but Matter is meant to be platform agnostic and to work totally locally. Google is part of the connectivity alliance and they are abusing the Matter protocols. This alone would make me choose Ecobee.
You said if you don’t have a C wire you can’t use the ecobee but I think the ecobee comes with an adapter that takes the Y, R, etc and makes enough power to not need the C wire I think.
It does, but you still need 4 wires. I did so much research and digging to figure this out but the only smart thermostat that can support a true two-wire system is the Nest.
Great video. I put off buying the Nest during home construction in hopes of a new model but that never happened. I had a second gen Nest in my previous residence and loved it. Went with two Ecobee Premiums in my new home and have never looked back. One tip is to check the marketplace for your Utility Company. You can often get significant discounts. When the current Ecobee Premiums were released I bought them for $140 each which even today is ultra cheap. Keep up the great work!
I have a dual zone setup and am looking to transition to smart thermostats. Just curious if your two thermostats are integrated in the app or are they two separate systems.
@@waymor2460You can see and control all thermostats individually in the app. If I’m understanding the question. Even the two completely separate systems I have in first and second floors. Cheers!
Great video and timely. This channel has to be one of the best Smart Home content channels available - I love it. Question - can someone direct me as to how to integrate my Ecobee with Home Assistant?
Great review - I appreciate all the details. Stands out from the other vanilla type reviews with just generalities, and all thermostats are a tie usually.
Thanks for this trying to decide between these two. Mostly Apple household with home assistant. Currently no central hvac but will be going heat pump in next year or so.
I had a Nest 3rd gen in my previous house and I liked it. Made it easy to use for my basic operations. I moved last year and changed to the ecobee premium with the sensor. My goodness is it horrible. The app is laggy, when you open it the temperatures will show the last known temperature but will take a good 20-30 seconds to update to the current readings but the app won't say the numbers are "old" making you think it's either too warm or too cold. Adjusting the temperatures in the comfort settings is also horrendous. I made a change, saved it and sometimes it times out other times it "works" but then I look at it again and the temperature is the previous setting. Starting to regret the ecobee but the home assistant integration is much better. If Ecobee could find some of these issues, I'd be fine to stick with them but it's not a new product so not sure what gives.
Yeah but Nest is missing some key features. We had a Nest and I really wanted to go back to Nest because we are in an almost all Google ecosystem at this point... But nope. Stuff like not having finer configuration of 2 stage HVAC, or making an adjustment only last 2-4 hours, etc.
I had a Gen 2 Nest for probably 5 years and “upgraded” to Ecobee for HomeKit compatibility. But my wife absolutely hates it. She misses how easy it was to program the Nest. It just seems much more intuitive. I also don’t feel like my Ecobee ever goes into away mode when we aren’t home.
I used to be team Nest, but my Nest integration in Home Assistant continuously gives me errors due to exceeding the number of requests. In a matter of speaking, using my cameras and the thermostat frequently causes my cameras to stop showing the stream. This becomes a deal breaker for me, as I use my cameras in my integrations. I don't even use the thermostat in automations any more cause of that.
Tesm ecobee since 2017. First one still working. Their tech support is awesome. A lightning strike killed my stage 1 input. I called tech support and instead of telling me to buy a new one they walked me through wiring it up for stage 2.
One reason I use nest is I also use Nest Protect smoke and CO detectors. If one of them detects smoke or CO the automatically tell the nest thermostat to shut down my HVAC system so neither is sucked in and distributed to other parts of the house!
@@MitchellGreenI don't have Home Assistant set up yet, but I have this feature set up with simple automation in my Abode Home Security system... Just added the thermostat + z-wave smoke/CO detectors to it (linked). 1. When smoke alarm goes off 2. Turn off HVAC so it doesn't circulate smoke 3. Turn off home alarm so there's less chaos trying to get pets out safe if we trigger it running out the door... Or, if we're not home, the alarm doesn't go off when firefighters kick open the door. 1. If CO detector goes off 2. Turn off heat (in case it's leaking from furnace) 3. Turn on HVAC fan (to help circulate fresh air because our house is large and drafty and we don't want it concentrating in any one room) 4. Turn on A/C to 66°F (for higher fan speed). 5. Turn off alarm so we can open doos/windows.
Great review, but I wish more reviews now days talked about privacy and data sharing. It’s an issue that’s become quite problematic and needs to be talked about more (see driver/car data information sharing and how it’s affecting insurance rates or Amazon locking customers out of their smart home systems for things being said “in private”).
Thanks for this video. I ordered a Nest 4th gen to replace my gen 3, and followed all the instructions and at the end it said "system not compatible." My system is compatible. Got a replacement from the merchant with the same results. This also involved 2 hours on the phone with Google to make sure I had it set up properly. (I did). Ecobee looks pretty nice. Gonna give it a shot after Thanksgiving. I think that means I can eliminate my Starling Home hub (which works great), because I don't think I have any other Nest/google devices. Simpler is better (which should be the motto for Matter.)
If you have a two-wire boiler heat system, only the Nest will work. Ecobee advertises the power extender kit to add a c wire, but it still does not work in a two-wire environment. Nest is the only options for me and everyone in my neighborhood. Google must have some patent on charging an internal battery from the low voltage wires because no other smart thermostat can do this.
Ive had both. I actually prefer the Nest. I feel like its temperatures are more accurate. The range between when it kicks on and kicks off I like better. It works better with my heat pump and turning on the aux heat and letting me know whats happening. In my opinion the Nest is a little more professional and customizable and just works better with my system.
Hopefully this comment is worthwhile for others who have struggled like me. I live in a 100-year-old home with a boiler system and hydronic radiators. These are controlled by two-wire thermostats. Only the new Nest, Nest Gen 3, and Nest E, can support this setup. Ecobee has the power extender kit, but it still cannot work on two wire systems. It needs to have four wires. So I have two Nest E thermostats downstairs to control two zones of heat. I also have an Ecobee upstairs because I had air conditioning installed in the house and was able to add the boiler zone into that wiring.
Right now i have the Nest 3rd gen thermostat. I love it, but after seeing 4th gen learning and how it no longer works with Nest app I’ll switch to ecobee when it dies. But so far my 3rd gen was an amazing buy.
I understand if you have a home with multi zone heating and cooling, wanting the movement sensors. But as someone in the northeast with only central heat, and a couple of window ac's in summer, the nest is more than enough. I still want the temp sensors so that the temp is averaged between multiple floors. Plus my thermostat is in my dining room, which warms up when cooking in the kitchen. The extra sensor will hopefully help with keeping upstairs from getting too warm or cold when cooking.
Missing from most reviewers. What kind of additional equipment can these thermostats handle? Dehumidifiers, humidifiers, fresh air ventilators, outdoor temperature sensors. I decided to buy nest 4th gen because I have fresh air ventilator, haven’t connected it yet. Wish nest added outdoor temperature sensor.
I have issues with the Nest changing my temperature on it's own. I've turned everything off and removed everything from the schedule but the Nest will still turn the heat up in the middle of the night. So I wake up every night sweeting and have to change the temperature.
I have the gen 3 nest. I miss my mercury units. No firmware, no batteries, no interoperability considerations, no external power considerations, no wifi, no privacy concerns and a great antique look and feel and easy to set. When it's too cold, I walk over there and use the slider. Its more sustainable too as long as you dont drop it on the hard floor. 😁
Ecobee has a subscription package if you want to use them as a security system. You can integrate their doorbell on the thermostat, and using cameras and sensors you can have an alarm system using your thermostat as a siren and control to put a code in to disarm. Obviously it can also notify your phone.
Do we really need either? I'm testing 2 Sonoff temp sensors and a Aquara. My front end voice software averagea the temp of all the sensors. All we need in HK/HA is software to turn the HVAC off/on and better(?) software controls and we're set.
i agree - both these options are around 10 times the price of simple Sonoff sensors. Fine to compare if you are outsourcing your smart home to Google etc but a very expensive choice for anyone running home assistant
10:23 I will never own a thermostat without a Differential setting again, full stop. Why Ecobee is one of the only thermostats to have it will forever baffle me. It's such a critical setting to tune your system, helping with performance, energy, and reducing wear and tear. Everyone can benefit from it and all it needs to be is a simple software setting. Yet, almost all thermostats hardcode it to 1/2-1 degree. Makes. No. Sense!
If you connect them to Apple home kit with Apple TV you can control it from the Siri remote. If you connect them to google you can control them from the google remote with the google assistant
@@weirdstuffandthattogames6736 that negates the whole automation thing for me, I essentially want something that works like this, occupied (as recognised by mmwave sensor) lounge is 10degrees cold, thermostat turns on combi boiler, other rooms adjust trvs to maintain temperature in unoccupied rooms whilst lounge trv allows for an increase in temperature, then temp is maintained via a combination of occupation and temp control via trv with combi boiler turning on when needed. The whole point of home automation for me is to remove the need for triggers, whether that be with physical, app or vocal. :)
funny you mention brightness.... I have seen the premium and enhanced ecobee on display at 2 best buys, 1 home depot and 1 Lowes. and ALLLLL Ecobee's are DIM even at the max brightness. I ended up buying one anyway, the enhanced, and sure enough, it is Still DIM as crap in my hallway... But the Nest and Sensi are much brighter! Mine in the hallway looks just like all the others on display at the stores. and I have mine wired to the dedicated C-wire. So i am not using the Power extender kit ..PEK.
I use Ecobee and HA. the occupancy sensor is awesome. I have automations for room fans to turn on/off based on occupancy. I used to be team Nest, but when I upgraded my AC system it was not working well...I was constantly making adjustments. I tried Ecobee and it was set and forget.
Can one use a Lysol wipe on this for general cleaning from time to time or does that wreck it? Also, if ones phone breaks down or is stolen, it sounds like Ecobee will work without a separate control, but Nest won't, correct?
I picked up the Ecobee Premium due to this video. It's been great so far. Do you have any recommendations for high voltage thermostats? I have a baseboard heater in my 4 season porch and in floor heating in my master bathroom. I was looking at the Mysa but I'm not sure if those can be integrated into Home Assistant.
I've owned both and I'm ecobee all the way. My main gripe is that its auto-away mode *does not put the unit in its away mode*, it keeps it on the current mode but permits the temperature to slip to the extent it believes it can recover within
@@Meatball2022 yes, HomeKit is an option. The ecobee sensors record occupancy for around *40* minutes, though, so unless you use a more aggressive/configurable occupancy sensor (e.g., Apollo Automation MSR or MTR) you will end up running the system for a long minimum if someone does so much as walk into the zone to grab a pencil.
@@astrostl sorry. I had misread your comment. I was thinking this was an issue when leaving a house, for example. Geofence. Nest has something called Eco mode - when you leave your house / geofence, it’ll switch to that. Then when you return it turns back on. I thought you were referring to something like this. For your example can you just avoid having temp / prox sensors in those infrequent areas?
@@Meatball2022 the idea is simply to have it be pretty uncomfortable when people aren't there, but have it be comfortable when people are there, and also be aggressive in the detection of people so that the system doesn't remain active for unnecessarily long periods of time. Without sensors, it would be uncomfortable all the time. My solution is to activate on motion or (aggressive Apollo) occupancy from *ANY* sensors, and to deactivate when *ALL* sensors are clear. It totally works, and well, but it would be better if this could be accomplished using ecobee gear alone and without resorting to HomeKit/Bridge/Assistant.
GE Cync! It's basic, but at a far cheaper price I get smart integration and multiple sensor (room) tracking. You can adjust the temperature swing as well 😉. You can set the swing different between heat and cool as well.
Ok I just bought the Ecobee Premium because of your recommendation for how well it works with Home Assistant. I can't get it to work HA to find it. What am I doing wrong?
Ive used both. My reasoning for sticking eitb nest 4th gen is that i want less apps on my phone. All my cameras and speakers are google. i also didnt like how only one phone in the house could be used for presence sensing to adjust home and away. It would turn the temp higher when i left.
I like my ecobee way better than the nest I had, one of the other features the ecobee had was it could control a fresh air damper. My nest couldn’t but not sure if they added that to the 4th gen
My only complaint as a long-time Ecobee user is that they will stop support every few years. Maybe that's just part of thermostat world. We had 5 systems installed at work 9 years ago. last year they stopped support and no we have no online capability with the Ecobee there at all. I love the Ecobee but was very very disappointed in the long term support in this case.
On the home assistant integration page of ecobee it says that ecobee has shut down the api for new users. There seems to be a workaround with the home kit device but I am not willing to do that, especially if ecobee is going down the route of closing their system! It seems like the best option for me at the moment, but only if it integrates. Am I missing something?
It makes you wonder if it really is saving us energy. It has been proven that you actually save energy by setting a comfortable temperature and leaving your thermostat alone (during the winter months anyway) . I guess it makes sense that this thermostat goes by what the temp is outside and that it may not need to be set as high, but if your home is well insulated, that really wouldn't matter either would it? I own the 1st gen nest thermostat, but i do like the looks of this new one better. Not enough to spend that much money or to have to switch away from the nest app, though. Lol
Great review! I don't love the new Nest design and that was even before learning about the overly reflective and hard-to-view screen from your review. A random thought I have is that its floating design lends itself to being ripped off the wall whether by accident or maybe a sufficiently tall, angry, feral child. That said, I'll be sticking with my 3rd gen Nest thermostats. I like the colored metal ring design on them, and I prefer the rotating/press controls over tapping the touchscreen like Ecobee (fingerprints!). I certainly agree that Ecobee is the clear winner here from a fully-featured smart home perspective, but my experience with them is they are almost *too* granular with random options I just don't care about. Nest 3rd gen just works and is pretty inexpensive on sale now. Oh yeah, and nice watch, Reed!
If there’s no C wire the Ecobee comes with a PEK adapter: “The PEK+ connector on Smart Thermostat Enhanced Smart Thermostat Enhanced's PEK+ connector can be connected to: The Power Extender Kit (PEK) wire, if you need to install it The G3 wire, to activate the third speed of the fan on multi-speed fan systems The ACC wire, to control an HVAC accessory (humidifier, dehumidifier, or ventilator)”
how many temp change steps in a daily schedule can each support? My current Sensi allows me to do the 8 changes I want during the day. I seem to remember last time I considered Ecobee it was limited to less steps and wasnt enough so I returned it. Has this number of programmed steps been improved?
Before I installed my Ecobee, I opened it up and physically disconnected the microphone by unplugging it. I don't know if the new one is as easy to disconnect. My wife refuses to have microphones on any device that connects to the internet. I agree.
I get it but don’t you think it’s a bit much? Unless you’re hiding something or some kind of secrets is it really worth all the trouble and stress? I used to go through life that way then I just let go. There’s nothing to worry about. Yes the government and a lot of people on internet sucks but they aren’t really out to get you unless your someone important. I get it if it’s the wife’s thing there’s nothing you can do there. I just feel for people who hold onto and let things like this and politics run their lives
looking at Ecobee for my HA, and on the intergrations section(below) - I'm not sure what that means. Can I NOT use it easily in HA now unless I have HomeKit? (which I don't) Warning As of March 28th, 2024, ecobee is no longer accepting new developer subscriptions, nor are existing developer accounts able to create new API keys. There is no ETA for when they will be allowed again. Existing API keys will continue to function. In the meantime, you can use the HomeKit Device integration as a fully functional alternative.
I have the ecobee and it's... fine. Annoyed by the ads they're putting into the app lately. Are there any smart thermostats that are entirely local and don't send my home data somewhere else?
Hate to see ads in app, I paid for the product, I don’t want ads. I got myQ smart garage door opener, they were asking me for permission to see app activity.
Hello! Really needing your experience here… based on another youtuber’s video, I’ve purchased and installed a diffuser into my HVAC system. I’ve also purchased an ecobee premium thermostat and a smart outlet. I’d like to use my ecobee to trigger to outlet to turn on, which which turn on the diffuser and pump it into my HVAC system. Supposedly, some people have found an Ecobee trigger for “when fan is “on”, but I can’t seem to find that in Alexa or HomeKit. End goal is to have the smart outlet turn on when the AC fan is on, so that the diffuser will be on only when the AC fan is blowing. Hopefully you’re able to provide some guidance on a different hub, app,or solution to reach this end goal. I really appreciate any help!
Can anyone tell me why I can't push my heat up passed 76 degrees, on the Ecobee? I have tried calling the support line and they are too busy to take calls. i checked the manual. No lock. I sent them an email and they pointed me to the chat. I sat at the chat box for 20 minutes without anyone chatting back. I sometimes want to push the heat up to 78. I am on blood thinners and coming out of the shower would be nice to have something a little more comfortable for me. This is my last shot at getting an answer because they are not helping.
Ecobee sensors CONSTANTLY disconnect and it doesn’t matter really as if you don’t have 2 AC units you can have a sensor upstairs but the AC panel will be downstairs with drastically diff temps.
For an EU based person who lived in many EU countries and even some Asian countries, I’ve never understood a thermostat like these two.. Does it connect to the AC making it turn on/off depending on the desired temperature? I rarely use AC, only when it’s too hot.
Do you experience the ecobee thermostat not updating it's temperature in HA, I made the switch after watching this video and it's been great, just wanna know if this is an issue.
I hate my ecobee thermostats because the temp is so inaccurate. I have 5 zones so 5 thermostats and two of them are 7 degrees off. I know there's an adjustment but it's still ridiculous.
Are you team Nest, or team Ecobee?? 🤔
Nest 4th gen: amzn.to/3X7Av2b
Ecobee Premium: amzn.to/3MoT5On (affiliate links)
what one does not phone home and sell my data?
I'm team I have no thermostat because I didn't have enough money saved yet to buy airco / heating for my house.
I am sure there will be some open source something once I do.
Team gen 3 Nest. No need to upgrade and it just works.
Thank you, Reed for your informative, well paced information. Hardware is only as good as its software
@@thechanacy Same here. The gen 3 works (until Google rolls out an update that "accidentally" kills it), and is an elegant piece of kit. It also has native matter support, regardless of the fact that Google "forgot" to enable it.
I was all set to buy the Nest, but after watching this video and learning (no pun intended) so much more about them both, I think I'm switching to the Ecobee! Thank you for pointing out the pros and cons. VERY helpful video.
Nest is like Roomba. They were first movers in their categories, but were too slow to innovate and the competition passed them by.
Well, they got bought by Google and then all productivity was completely obliterated. Won't be long before Google kills them off and does something else.
Had they not been bought and killed by Google, I believe that we would have seen some innovation. On the other hand, how much can you innovate on a thermostat? The Nest Gen3 is still one of the best thermostats out there, regardless of the decade that has almost passed since its roll out.
@@michailangelopoulos5602How tell I tell which Gen I have? I got one as a gift March 2020 and it’s starting to give out now. It needs to be replaced
They are still the leading smart thermostat brand; they definitely didn’t fall behind. If anything google made them even more popular
@@michailangelopoulos5602 Make it more than a thermostat. There’s no reason it can’t also be a smoke detector, air quality sensor, and fire alarm all in one box
Anyone remembers when Google was a cool and innovative company? Man, that was so cool
Nest prior to being bought by Google > current Google Nest. Google bought a Ferrari and tanked it.
@@thechanacy Exactly. It's been a loooong time since Google actually developed something good themselves. Nowadays they're specialists at enshittifying existing products. Imo it's best to avoid anything by Google as much as possible.
@@thechanacy Most people don't even know who created and funded them. Hint, three letter agency.
Wdym? How is this not innovative
this is very scare, my cat is sad
Had an original Nest thermostat used it in 2 houses. One with hot water radiator heat only and another with forced air heat and AC. Immediately disabled all “Learning” of the schedules as it was wonky and unpredictable. Tried auto away and also disabled that as it was also unreliable due to thermostat placement in an area with low foot traffic.
Moved again and switched to the higher end Ecobee model with a remote sensor. Much happier with the ecobee for the air quality monitoring, better circulation fan controls, and easier to configure schedules. Humidity monitoring and easy to read charts help me understand what my thermostat is doing instead of the very dumbed down summary on Nest.
Glad I went with the ecoBee Premium thermostat. The only thing I do not like about it is if you use the ecoBee contact sensors for doors and windows to tell your thermostat to turn off when one of them is open, that feature is behind a pay wall. So I will not be using that feature but will instead do it manually with Home automations using other vendor's contact sensors; like Aqara door and window contact sensors.
Very timely video. The Ecobee premium I ordered is scheduled to be delivered today! Replacing an old nest where the temperature is off and the humidity stopped working completely.
So glad you talked about the temperature swing. That was the primary reason I switched to ecobee from nest, it’s not an exaggeration to say it was driving me insane how much it was triggering the AC to only have a 1 degree differential (I actually recall it as a .5 differential which maybe they’ve adjusted now). That and the ability to use specific sensors as part of a schedule has made a huge difference, glad nest has caught up on that at least!
Google home app added more controls in latest update. 12/01/24.
You can adj the set point on and off , and in between 1st and 2nd stage . It’s not just 1 degree.
Ecobee thermostats don't require a C wire either if you have a four wire system. They come with a PEK adapter that is simple to install in your heating and cooling system, no tools required, just plug in the wires. With this, you can use your existing four wire system with an any Ecobee that uses five wires. Takes less than five minutes to install if you know which wire is which and can read the labels on your HVAC control board.
I just installed my Nest 4th Gen. I have several Google smart devices but this is my first time using a smart thermostat. I agree the screen is very dim, I saw an article that they're working on a software update to fix this.
Update?
@@nickbailey202 It must have been given the update because you can adjust the brightness level now, so much better.
@@Bostero79 it has been updated on the screen. You can set how bright you want it.
Do you need a subscription for the temp sensor on the ecobee?
The ecobee comes with a wiring kit to be able to connect with no C wire. Wired up my son’s thermostat that way. It worked great.
Honda odyssey 1:42 l k km 1:42 o😮in gainbridge den 😢😢met 😢m mm bolt bolt was trying 1:42
Thank you for your comment. Exactly what I was looking for. Does it explain how to connect the wiring kit for no C wire? Thank you again.
@@Its_Mik3 there were good instructions. Just don’t be like me and try to skip steps. I wired it wrong originally. Then we decided to read the directions and follow them! Amazing how that works! It was easy then.
But you still need four wires to do this. The power extender kit will not work with the old school two wire boiler heat systems. Nest is the only option.
@@drsmith1988😂
Wow that new Nest is absolutely beautiful
Nest was looking reasonable until the smart home integration. I am sorry, but Matter is meant to be platform agnostic and to work totally locally. Google is part of the connectivity alliance and they are abusing the Matter protocols. This alone would make me choose Ecobee.
Nest does have a temperature swing difference. It goes from 0.3° to 2°.
You said if you don’t have a C wire you can’t use the ecobee but I think the ecobee comes with an adapter that takes the Y, R, etc and makes enough power to not need the C wire I think.
It does, but you still need 4 wires. I did so much research and digging to figure this out but the only smart thermostat that can support a true two-wire system is the Nest.
Great video. I put off buying the Nest during home construction in hopes of a new model but that never happened. I had a second gen Nest in my previous residence and loved it. Went with two Ecobee Premiums in my new home and have never looked back. One tip is to check the marketplace for your Utility Company. You can often get significant discounts. When the current Ecobee Premiums were released I bought them for $140 each which even today is ultra cheap. Keep up the great work!
I have a dual zone setup and am looking to transition to smart thermostats. Just curious if your two thermostats are integrated in the app or are they two separate systems.
@@waymor2460You can see and control all thermostats individually in the app. If I’m understanding the question. Even the two completely separate systems I have in first and second floors. Cheers!
Nest 4th gen I see more options for temperature swing now, 12/01/24. May be app was updated ?
Great video and timely. This channel has to be one of the best Smart Home content channels available - I love it.
Question - can someone direct me as to how to integrate my Ecobee with Home Assistant?
Gold toilets FTW!
_don't judge me._ ( hides in pantry )
Great review - I appreciate all the details. Stands out from the other vanilla type reviews with just generalities, and all thermostats are a tie usually.
Thanks for this trying to decide between these two. Mostly Apple household with home assistant. Currently no central hvac but will be going heat pump in next year or so.
This was a very helpful (and humorous!) review of the two products. It Matters! lol . Definitely leaning towards the Ecobee Premium. Thank you!
Awesome. I've been using *ecobee* since 2018. For what I use it for -- heat & AC -- it has all the features I need.
I had a Nest 3rd gen in my previous house and I liked it. Made it easy to use for my basic operations.
I moved last year and changed to the ecobee premium with the sensor. My goodness is it horrible. The app is laggy, when you open it the temperatures will show the last known temperature but will take a good 20-30 seconds to update to the current readings but the app won't say the numbers are "old" making you think it's either too warm or too cold. Adjusting the temperatures in the comfort settings is also horrendous. I made a change, saved it and sometimes it times out other times it "works" but then I look at it again and the temperature is the previous setting. Starting to regret the ecobee but the home assistant integration is much better. If Ecobee could find some of these issues, I'd be fine to stick with them but it's not a new product so not sure what gives.
Yeah but Nest is missing some key features. We had a Nest and I really wanted to go back to Nest because we are in an almost all Google ecosystem at this point... But nope. Stuff like not having finer configuration of 2 stage HVAC, or making an adjustment only last 2-4 hours, etc.
Ecobee hands down. Local integration into Home Assistant with HomeKit for the win!
I had a Gen 2 Nest for probably 5 years and “upgraded” to Ecobee for HomeKit compatibility. But my wife absolutely hates it. She misses how easy it was to program the Nest. It just seems much more intuitive. I also don’t feel like my Ecobee ever goes into away mode when we aren’t home.
I love my new nest thermostats I got a 4 gen and 2 nest (2020) far sight is pretty cool
I went with the Nest for aesthetics. Ecobee just reminds me of the Honeywell T5 that came with my new build.
I used to be team Nest, but my Nest integration in Home Assistant continuously gives me errors due to exceeding the number of requests. In a matter of speaking, using my cameras and the thermostat frequently causes my cameras to stop showing the stream. This becomes a deal breaker for me, as I use my cameras in my integrations. I don't even use the thermostat in automations any more cause of that.
Tesm ecobee since 2017. First one still working. Their tech support is awesome.
A lightning strike killed my stage 1 input. I called tech support and instead of telling me to buy a new one they walked me through wiring it up for stage 2.
One reason I use nest is I also use Nest Protect smoke and CO detectors. If one of them detects smoke or CO the automatically tell the nest thermostat to shut down my HVAC system so neither is sucked in and distributed to other parts of the house!
You could do the same thing even across brands using Home Assistant or other automation software.
@@RambozoClown haven’t found a way to do that could you point me in right direction?
@@MitchellGreenI don't have Home Assistant set up yet, but I have this feature set up with simple automation in my Abode Home Security system... Just added the thermostat + z-wave smoke/CO detectors to it (linked).
1. When smoke alarm goes off
2. Turn off HVAC so it doesn't circulate smoke
3. Turn off home alarm so there's less chaos trying to get pets out safe if we trigger it running out the door... Or, if we're not home, the alarm doesn't go off when firefighters kick open the door.
1. If CO detector goes off
2. Turn off heat (in case it's leaking from furnace)
3. Turn on HVAC fan (to help circulate fresh air because our house is large and drafty and we don't want it concentrating in any one room)
4. Turn on A/C to 66°F (for higher fan speed).
5. Turn off alarm so we can open doos/windows.
@@nashdashflash Wow that is very impressive !! Excellent idea Many thanks
Great review, but I wish more reviews now days talked about privacy and data sharing. It’s an issue that’s become quite problematic and needs to be talked about more (see driver/car data information sharing and how it’s affecting insurance rates or Amazon locking customers out of their smart home systems for things being said “in private”).
Thanks for this video. I ordered a Nest 4th gen to replace my gen 3, and followed all the instructions and at the end it said "system not compatible." My system is compatible. Got a replacement from the merchant with the same results. This also involved 2 hours on the phone with Google to make sure I had it set up properly. (I did).
Ecobee looks pretty nice. Gonna give it a shot after Thanksgiving. I think that means I can eliminate my Starling Home hub (which works great), because I don't think I have any other Nest/google devices. Simpler is better (which should be the motto for Matter.)
If you have a two-wire boiler heat system, only the Nest will work. Ecobee advertises the power extender kit to add a c wire, but it still does not work in a two-wire environment. Nest is the only options for me and everyone in my neighborhood. Google must have some patent on charging an internal battery from the low voltage wires because no other smart thermostat can do this.
Is there any benefit of upgrading to new thermostats over an ecobee4?
Ive had both. I actually prefer the Nest. I feel like its temperatures are more accurate. The range between when it kicks on and kicks off I like better. It works better with my heat pump and turning on the aux heat and letting me know whats happening. In my opinion the Nest is a little more professional and customizable and just works better with my system.
Excellent video - thank you! I was evaluating both these options and you made y mind up for me - Ecobee it is!
Hopefully this comment is worthwhile for others who have struggled like me. I live in a 100-year-old home with a boiler system and hydronic radiators. These are controlled by two-wire thermostats. Only the new Nest, Nest Gen 3, and Nest E, can support this setup.
Ecobee has the power extender kit, but it still cannot work on two wire systems. It needs to have four wires.
So I have two Nest E thermostats downstairs to control two zones of heat. I also have an Ecobee upstairs because I had air conditioning installed in the house and was able to add the boiler zone into that wiring.
Can either of them be controlled remotely. I have an aging mother in law and sometimes she gets confused.
Right now i have the Nest 3rd gen thermostat. I love it, but after seeing 4th gen learning and how it no longer works with Nest app I’ll switch to ecobee when it dies. But so far my 3rd gen was an amazing buy.
I understand if you have a home with multi zone heating and cooling, wanting the movement sensors. But as someone in the northeast with only central heat, and a couple of window ac's in summer, the nest is more than enough. I still want the temp sensors so that the temp is averaged between multiple floors. Plus my thermostat is in my dining room, which warms up when cooking in the kitchen. The extra sensor will hopefully help with keeping upstairs from getting too warm or cold when cooking.
Can you schedule just the fan on ecobee?
Missing from most reviewers.
What kind of additional equipment can these thermostats handle?
Dehumidifiers, humidifiers, fresh air ventilators, outdoor temperature sensors.
I decided to buy nest 4th gen because I have fresh air ventilator, haven’t connected it yet.
Wish nest added outdoor temperature sensor.
I have issues with the Nest changing my temperature on it's own. I've turned everything off and removed everything from the schedule but the Nest will still turn the heat up in the middle of the night. So I wake up every night sweeting and have to change the temperature.
I have the gen 3 nest. I miss my mercury units. No firmware, no batteries, no interoperability considerations, no external power considerations, no wifi, no privacy concerns and a great antique look and feel and easy to set. When it's too cold, I walk over there and use the slider. Its more sustainable too as long as you dont drop it on the hard floor. 😁
Great video btw. I have a thermostat in every room to control each room separetly. Is there more suitable solution for me?
What about monthly subscriptions… do either of these require you to pay monthly for any of the features? That would be something to consider as well.
@@n_carpenter no they don’t
Ecobee has a subscription package if you want to use them as a security system. You can integrate their doorbell on the thermostat, and using cameras and sensors you can have an alarm system using your thermostat as a siren and control to put a code in to disarm. Obviously it can also notify your phone.
Does the ecobee work well with other manufacturers? Like a video doorbell from Aqara or Google for example? And do they integrate with smartthings?
Do we really need either? I'm testing 2 Sonoff temp sensors and a Aquara. My front end voice software averagea the temp of all the sensors. All we need in HK/HA is software to turn the HVAC off/on and better(?) software controls and we're set.
i agree - both these options are around 10 times the price of simple Sonoff sensors. Fine to compare if you are outsourcing your smart home to Google etc but a very expensive choice for anyone running home assistant
Ecobee comes with a power "extender", in case you don't have a C-Wire. Literally only took me a few minutes to install it into the HVAC.
10:23 I will never own a thermostat without a Differential setting again, full stop. Why Ecobee is one of the only thermostats to have it will forever baffle me. It's such a critical setting to tune your system, helping with performance, energy, and reducing wear and tear. Everyone can benefit from it and all it needs to be is a simple software setting. Yet, almost all thermostats hardcode it to 1/2-1 degree. Makes. No. Sense!
how well do both of these play with smart trv's?
If you connect them to Apple home kit with Apple TV you can control it from the Siri remote. If you connect them to google you can control them from the google remote with the google assistant
@@weirdstuffandthattogames6736 that negates the whole automation thing for me, I essentially want something that works like this, occupied (as recognised by mmwave sensor) lounge is 10degrees cold, thermostat turns on combi boiler, other rooms adjust trvs to maintain temperature in unoccupied rooms whilst lounge trv allows for an increase in temperature, then temp is maintained via a combination of occupation and temp control via trv with combi boiler turning on when needed.
The whole point of home automation for me is to remove the need for triggers, whether that be with physical, app or vocal. :)
@@daphnetilling6034 😂 I Thought you said smart tv’s. Theses thermostats don’t work with trvs
@@weirdstuffandthattogames6736 I dinnae think they work with TVs either 😂 ohh well will just have to stick HA automations 😁
Is black one less reflective?
Gen 4 Google nest all day long, Love it!!!
The software and glitches with nest is insane. Ecobee wins hands down in every category. Ecobee also has air monitoring
Thank you very much for posting this. Super clear, detailed and helpful. I know which system I need now.
My only issue is that the Ecobee has been out for a while and I hate to buy one only for them to release a new model.
how is the ecobee app? Nest often doesn't realize that I'm home when I'm home. Geo location doesn't work properly.
funny you mention brightness.... I have seen the premium and enhanced ecobee on display at 2 best buys, 1 home depot and 1 Lowes. and ALLLLL Ecobee's are DIM even at the max brightness. I ended up buying one anyway, the enhanced, and sure enough, it is Still DIM as crap in my hallway... But the Nest and Sensi are much brighter! Mine in the hallway looks just like all the others on display at the stores. and I have mine wired to the dedicated C-wire. So i am not using the Power extender kit ..PEK.
I use Ecobee and HA. the occupancy sensor is awesome. I have automations for room fans to turn on/off based on occupancy. I used to be team Nest, but when I upgraded my AC system it was not working well...I was constantly making adjustments. I tried Ecobee and it was set and forget.
I can’t seem to find the differential settings. I have the same thermostat
So is thi nest the only matter thermostat available now??!
Can one use a Lysol wipe on this for general cleaning from time to time or does that wreck it?
Also, if ones phone breaks down or is stolen, it sounds like Ecobee will work without a separate control, but Nest won't, correct?
Is the nest a VA screen or something?
I picked up the Ecobee Premium due to this video. It's been great so far. Do you have any recommendations for high voltage thermostats? I have a baseboard heater in my 4 season porch and in floor heating in my master bathroom. I was looking at the Mysa but I'm not sure if those can be integrated into Home Assistant.
Great video! Can my aqara 1st gen door/window sensor be integrated with ecobee premium? My ecosystem is apple homekit.
I've owned both and I'm ecobee all the way. My main gripe is that its auto-away mode *does not put the unit in its away mode*, it keeps it on the current mode but permits the temperature to slip to the extent it believes it can recover within
Being its integrated with HomeKit, can you set an apple shortcut to do this instead?
@@Meatball2022 yes, HomeKit is an option. The ecobee sensors record occupancy for around *40* minutes, though, so unless you use a more aggressive/configurable occupancy sensor (e.g., Apollo Automation MSR or MTR) you will end up running the system for a long minimum if someone does so much as walk into the zone to grab a pencil.
@@astrostl sorry. I had misread your comment. I was thinking this was an issue when leaving a house, for example. Geofence. Nest has something called Eco mode - when you leave your house / geofence, it’ll switch to that. Then when you return it turns back on. I thought you were referring to something like this.
For your example can you just avoid having temp / prox sensors in those infrequent areas?
@@Meatball2022 the idea is simply to have it be pretty uncomfortable when people aren't there, but have it be comfortable when people are there, and also be aggressive in the detection of people so that the system doesn't remain active for unnecessarily long periods of time.
Without sensors, it would be uncomfortable all the time. My solution is to activate on motion or (aggressive Apollo) occupancy from *ANY* sensors, and to deactivate when *ALL* sensors are clear. It totally works, and well, but it would be better if this could be accomplished using ecobee gear alone and without resorting to HomeKit/Bridge/Assistant.
GE Cync! It's basic, but at a far cheaper price I get smart integration and multiple sensor (room) tracking. You can adjust the temperature swing as well 😉. You can set the swing different between heat and cool as well.
I wish they were available in the UK
Ok I just bought the Ecobee Premium because of your recommendation for how well it works with Home Assistant. I can't get it to work HA to find it. What am I doing wrong?
Ive used both. My reasoning for sticking eitb nest 4th gen is that i want less apps on my phone. All my cameras and speakers are google. i also didnt like how only one phone in the house could be used for presence sensing to adjust home and away. It would turn the temp higher when i left.
I like my ecobee way better than the nest I had, one of the other features the ecobee had was it could control a fresh air damper. My nest couldn’t but not sure if they added that to the 4th gen
What about Amazon one ???
My only complaint as a long-time Ecobee user is that they will stop support every few years. Maybe that's just part of thermostat world. We had 5 systems installed at work 9 years ago. last year they stopped support and no we have no online capability with the Ecobee there at all. I love the Ecobee but was very very disappointed in the long term support in this case.
Which one will help me save money on my bill?
On the home assistant integration page of ecobee it says that ecobee has shut down the api for new users. There seems to be a workaround with the home kit device but I am not willing to do that, especially if ecobee is going down the route of closing their system! It seems like the best option for me at the moment, but only if it integrates. Am I missing something?
Thanks for the video!
Do you have a Ring doorbell vs Ecobee doorbell video by chance?
Thanks!
It makes you wonder if it really is saving us energy. It has been proven that you actually save energy by setting a comfortable temperature and leaving your thermostat alone (during the winter months anyway) . I guess it makes sense that this thermostat goes by what the temp is outside and that it may not need to be set as high, but if your home is well insulated, that really wouldn't matter either would it? I own the 1st gen nest thermostat, but i do like the looks of this new one better. Not enough to spend that much money or to have to switch away from the nest app, though. Lol
Great review! I don't love the new Nest design and that was even before learning about the overly reflective and hard-to-view screen from your review. A random thought I have is that its floating design lends itself to being ripped off the wall whether by accident or maybe a sufficiently tall, angry, feral child. That said, I'll be sticking with my 3rd gen Nest thermostats. I like the colored metal ring design on them, and I prefer the rotating/press controls over tapping the touchscreen like Ecobee (fingerprints!). I certainly agree that Ecobee is the clear winner here from a fully-featured smart home perspective, but my experience with them is they are almost *too* granular with random options I just don't care about. Nest 3rd gen just works and is pretty inexpensive on sale now. Oh yeah, and nice watch, Reed!
If there’s no C wire the Ecobee comes with a PEK adapter:
“The PEK+ connector on Smart Thermostat Enhanced
Smart Thermostat Enhanced's PEK+ connector can be connected to:
The Power Extender Kit (PEK) wire, if you need to install it
The G3 wire, to activate the third speed of the fan on multi-speed fan systems
The ACC wire, to control an HVAC accessory (humidifier, dehumidifier, or ventilator)”
how many temp change steps in a daily schedule can each support? My current Sensi allows me to do the 8 changes I want during the day. I seem to remember last time I considered Ecobee it was limited to less steps and wasnt enough so I returned it. Has this number of programmed steps been improved?
Before I installed my Ecobee, I opened it up and physically disconnected the microphone by unplugging it.
I don't know if the new one is as easy to disconnect.
My wife refuses to have microphones on any device that connects to the internet. I agree.
I get it but don’t you think it’s a bit much? Unless you’re hiding something or some kind of secrets is it really worth all the trouble and stress? I used to go through life that way then I just let go. There’s nothing to worry about. Yes the government and a lot of people on internet sucks but they aren’t really out to get you unless your someone important. I get it if it’s the wife’s thing there’s nothing you can do there. I just feel for people who hold onto and let things like this and politics run their lives
@@AdabulldoyaYes, but what’s the purpose of the microphone?
Did anyone have an issue with Ecobee not reading the temperature correctly?
Mine has a temp difference of about 2.5-3degrees.
looking at Ecobee for my HA, and on the intergrations section(below) - I'm not sure what that means. Can I NOT use it easily in HA now unless I have HomeKit? (which I don't)
Warning
As of March 28th, 2024, ecobee is no longer accepting new developer subscriptions, nor are existing developer accounts able to create new API keys. There is no ETA for when they will be allowed again. Existing API keys will continue to function.
In the meantime, you can use the HomeKit Device integration as a fully functional alternative.
I have the ecobee and it's... fine. Annoyed by the ads they're putting into the app lately. Are there any smart thermostats that are entirely local and don't send my home data somewhere else?
Hate to see ads in app, I paid for the product, I don’t want ads.
I got myQ smart garage door opener, they were asking me for permission to see app activity.
Hello! Really needing your experience here… based on another youtuber’s video, I’ve purchased and installed a diffuser into my HVAC system. I’ve also purchased an ecobee premium thermostat and a smart outlet. I’d like to use my ecobee to trigger to outlet to turn on, which which turn on the diffuser and pump it into my HVAC system. Supposedly, some people have found an Ecobee trigger for “when fan is “on”, but I can’t seem to find that in Alexa or HomeKit. End goal is to have the smart outlet turn on when the AC fan is on, so that the diffuser will be on only when the AC fan is blowing. Hopefully you’re able to provide some guidance on a different hub, app,or solution to reach this end goal. I really appreciate any help!
Can anyone tell me why I can't push my heat up passed 76 degrees, on the Ecobee? I have tried calling the support line and they are too busy to take calls. i checked the manual. No lock. I sent them an email and they pointed me to the chat. I sat at the chat box for 20 minutes without anyone chatting back. I sometimes want to push the heat up to 78. I am on blood thinners and coming out of the shower would be nice to have something a little more comfortable for me. This is my last shot at getting an answer because they are not helping.
I dont want a thermostat to detect if im home or not, can i shut that feature off?
Yes, you don't have to enable that. It's the "presence sensing" option.
Ecobee sensors CONSTANTLY disconnect and it doesn’t matter really as if you don’t have 2 AC units you can have a sensor upstairs but the AC panel will be downstairs with drastically diff temps.
its Daddy's thermostat... no one else touches it!
I don’t have a C wire. Using the nest thermostat e right now. When I move though I will probably go to ecobee
For an EU based person who lived in many EU countries and even some Asian countries, I’ve never understood a thermostat like these two..
Does it connect to the AC making it turn on/off depending on the desired temperature?
I rarely use AC, only when it’s too hot.
Yes, and heat in winter.
I have the Nest Gen 3 units. I did not enjoy replacing that pouch cell battery. It was quite stressful. Come on guys!
The ecobee doesnt get very bright! The Nest gets brighter but as you said, glare.
Do you experience the ecobee thermostat not updating it's temperature in HA, I made the switch after watching this video and it's been great, just wanna know if this is an issue.
Did you grow to really dislike knockdown texture on your walls too? I like it on ceilings, but not on the walls haha. Good video as always!
Please do a review on the modue
I hate my ecobee thermostats because the temp is so inaccurate. I have 5 zones so 5 thermostats and two of them are 7 degrees off. I know there's an adjustment but it's still ridiculous.
looks like google has an occupancy bug with it detecting people literally standing in front of it. My 3rd gen has the same issue.