Nice review. I have the Ecobee and it's about 6 months old now and I love it too. I'm techie enough to dig into all the settings and tweak it perfectly. I believe they call my model "The smart thermostate with voice control" and it came with one sensor. The sensor function I always had issue with but you nailed it as it's showing the average temp between the room that it is in and where the main unit is. Well this got to be an issue as I had my daytime "comfort setting" set to 70 degrees but the thermostate NEVER would show 70; it always showed 69. I have a small 1200 sqft home and this difference from room to room is negligible. But it always bothered me as the thermostat would always show 69 degrees. I unpaired the sensor and voila, now it shows 70. While the sensor is a nice idea and it does show whether the room is occupied or not the temp function for me is irrelevant. I'd love a way to switch off the temp sensor mode in the sensor and just use it for a room occupancy function. But I love the thermostat and it truly is an amazing device and ESPECIALLY with the app. Thanks again for the review.
I bought the Ecobee Premum after watching your video @SilverHammer Surveillance. I had a Honey Well T5 and was very happy with it up until it went no response in homekit and could not for the life of me get it added back. I decided to see what was out there to replace it with and was torn between the enhanced and the premium. After watching your video, I was sold on the premium with the included room sensor and with Siri built in and with the new UI. I've had it installed for a couple of days and all the sensors are just now getting calibrated and I have to say, I'm glad I went with it. Everything just works as you would expect it to. Thanks George for the awesome video and I hope you are doing well my friend!!
Did you/ anyone upgrade from the Voice Control version to the Premium version? I don't really feel the need for air quality sensor or the appearance or the UI. Is there a functionality improvement, or might you suggest "just get it cuz it's newer/ the software will be supported for longer"?
I upgraded from the Voice Control model. In addition to the Air Quality Monitor it also has a more advanced occupancy sensor built in. So it not only helps in the temperature control, but it’s more advanced if you use their security system. Otherwise, the aesthetics were enough for me. It’s much more “Premium” as the name suggests.
Hey George! Great, informative video!! I have the previous generation Ecobee. Do I need to install a new back plate for the Premium or would the previous one suffice? Thanks for your help!
Hi George I hope your treatment is going well. Now that you have had the premium for a while. How is it preforming? It it turning off and on the heat/ac accurately?
I’m starting to add HomeKit devices to my house, I have a question about the ecobee and HomeKit. With the ecobee in HomeKit, can a accessory be turned on when the AC turns on. In my house I have a room that uses a booster fan that needs to be turn on with a wall switch. If I put a HomeKit wall switch, can a scene be created to turn on the fan when the ac turns on?
Just got one of these to replace the crusty old "ProTech" standard thermostat in my home. Was not only tired of look at that, ugly, faded, discolored thermostat. But also looking forward to the smart features, and wifi control. Welcome to the future baby, YEAH!...
Nice review, I am looking into getting one because of the remote sensor feature. Can you tell me if it it possible to adjust the heating based on a single sensors reading or does it only work from an average. Thank You.
I updated last week from the Ecobee 4 to the new Premium. The UI update with the larger display and WAAAAY better scrolling up and down for the temp is a huge improvement but my biggest gripe is why they decided to totally change the pin layout connector??? Would it have been too much trouble to just leave it the same so I could have just popped the old one off and the new one on and been up and going? Minor gripe: it also would have been nice to be able to migrate my home/away/sleep schedule settings from the old one to the new one. Alabama had a $200 rebate (credit added to the bill) last year and the year before essentially paying for the whole ecobee 4 but they've ended that for now. Everyone should definitely check with their power company to see what rebates they have. We also got a $600 rebate from our gas company after home insurance covered the install of a replacement waterheater so we basically just pocketed the $600! We also got $1000 rebate (again, account credit) from the power company for upgrading from our old freon HVAC system last year. It was nice not having a power bill for half the year LOL
I love this review. I’m just as “wish-washy” as you when it comes to looking for the best features in a smart home technology, hence why I also went back and forth between the Nest (Gen 2) and EcoBee (Gen 1). I stuck with the Nest for UI reasons and have been happy with it for last 5 years. But now maybe I’ll look into the Eco Premium. Hmm.. One question. Can you set up automation via Google Home or Alexa to run Fan only for 30+minutes?
@@GeorgeLangabeer But I am needing Google or Alexa bc it’s part of my voice control automation in the morning. I don’t want to have manually go into an Ecobee app nor have the fan on a set schedule. Currently, when I wake up, I tell Google to “Wake me up.” And it activates my bathroom light, activates my fan, tells me the weather, and plays the news. Problem is, my Nest only allows me to automate the fan max 15 minutes per instance.
Another great video! 👍 I have an Ecobee3 model that I bought a few years ago and absolutely love it! Never had any issues with it. I love using the IFTTT app to create geofencing so when I leave the house it drops a few degrees and when I get home it’s the perfect temp again 😎 but would I upgrade? Not sure 🤔 Around the corner I’ve got a Samsung Family Hub refrigerator that has alexa so I could imagine both responding at the same time 🤣 Also, directly above the Ecobee in the hallway I’ve got a Nest Protect smoke/CO detector so I’m covered for the air quality that counts ✅ I also have extra sensors with my existing unit. So mostly for me the upgrade would be for aesthetics unless I’m missing something? As far as price goes It’s an incredible deal at $250 especially with a rebate so it’s a no brainer if you don’t already have a Nest or an older model Ecobee or are replacing something much older. But again is it enough for me to replace my existing Ecobee3? 🤷♂️ I don’t know….
Thanks! The aesthetics was always my biggest problem with Ecobee, but I’m in love with the looks of this one. So for me, that was worth it alone. …I’ve also found the new radar system to be more accurate than the old PIR sensor.
@@GeorgeLangabeer The radar sensor might be the deciding factor for me. Anything that makes it more accurate is definitely worth it’s weight in gold! Thanks again for the info! 👌
Hi, I am looking to purchase two of these thermostats one for upstairs and one for downstairs however, my question is where the sensors upstairs not interfere with the one thermostat downstairs and vice versa and then what happens if you are sitting in your room or in the lounge and not moving with the Aircon turn off because the sensors are not picking you up?
Good work George. Got a question for you, do the remote sensors have the radar occupancy sensor in them? Also, are those occupancy sensors exposed to homekit?
Thanks! The sensors don’t have the same radar, but I do find their newer smart sensors to be pretty accurate…& yes, they are in HomeKit & can be used for automations (but it’s got to be the newer smart sensor).
Love the look of the premium, but looking at either the enhanced or the 3.can you tell me if the 3 is able to sence humidity in the room ? I believe the premium and enhanced does ?
I have upstairs/downstairs HVAC with separate ecobee thermostats, an ecobee 4 and a Smart SI. Just might get this new premium and swap out the 4 for the SI!
Cool vid and info. I just installed my premium yesterday. I’m still learning it but its very user friendly and so is the app. I love having Alexa in that spot on the wall. And it’s beautiful looking. Peace and love.
@@GeorgeLangabeer I have no idea! I don't use any Apple products, so HomeKit is of no interest. I don't care about Alexa. As long as I can, control it via app and use those room sensors, I'm good. If I was going to upgrade, it would be the Enhanced.
The tiny, oddly placed display on the older ecobee's, with the less than intuitive interface were a bit of a dealbreaker for me.. But this new one looks to be a massive improvement.
Thanks for the great video! This video definably made my mind and my purchasing an Ecobee smart thermostat today! Specially knowing about the rebate. I believe most people don't know about it. I checked the PGE website and it does apply.
Good summary of New Ecobee Premium and Enhanced. You should mention that Enhanced does not have ACC+ and ACC- connectors and thus cannot support Evaporative Humidifiers (2 wire) which is used in 80-90% of HVAC systems. Enhanced only support Humidifiers (1 -wire). I purchased Enhanced only to find out it does not support Evaporative Aprilaired 600 humidifier so I had to return and order new Premium. This RMA process is very slow and as they only provide credit 14 business days after receiving the return. I still do not have my credit and is waiting on Ecobee. Not happy about how slow they work.
Who would’ve thought they the industry could fool us into upgrading our thermostats. At one time you only just stuck with the one that came with the house unless it was faulty or you got a new Unit. But I guess they figure if smart phones can do it then why not try to rack in the profits as well.
I had one installed with a new heat pump today. I hate it. No instructions. Online instructions have very few pictures, and since the computer is not in the room with the thermostat, it is very hard to figure out what they are talking about. Plus the online verbiage is laden with jargon. Comfort setting just seems to mean temperature. No hint if it is supposed to work with a heat pump. Not user friendly. At all.
Does this support turning on & off humidifier and managing the humidity on IOS APP on the smart phone? I had EcoBee4 before then I switched to Honeywell T10 PRO. With Honeywell T10 PRO I can turn on & off the humidifier and humidity control on the IOS App which EcoBee4 lacked. Does EcoBee Premium support this feature? Without this ability you would have to come to your thermostat and do manually increase or decrease and for turn on and off humidifier which I hate doing it in the middle of the night.
@@GeorgeLangabeer Thanks for answering my question. Ecobee Thermostat Premium looks nice. I actually requested them by sending them an email and talking to tech support person from their Toronto office. They did not incorporate the feature I want, so I switched it. That was over 3 or 4 years ago, so I thought Ecobee Premium might have added this feature, but they didn't.
@@GeorgeLangabeer Just FYI... You can connect external humidifier to EcoBee model 4 and above but turning it on & off can only be done at Thermostat but not on IOS App.
When you say lock on a certain temp, tell me exactly what you mean? This will lock on a temp, but so will Nest. You don’t have to use the smart temps on either of them. Kind of defeats the purpose of a smart thermostat though. Lol
I just bought my new house and I want to make it into a smart home, but some stuff is $$$ pricey. Thank you for the reviews, they're going to help me decide which devices to buy. Also I grew up in Omaha and I loved it there, the view you have for snowy days is awesome. It looks like all you need is a Jarvis 🤣🤣 and you would be set with all the smart devices.
