If you are like me, the Canadian based company ecobee may not have been on your radar. To be honest, I hadn’t heard of them until I attended a tech show and was intrigued by their smart thermostat and their use of remote sensors. You may be more familiar with Nest and their smart thermostat, even though ecobee came out with their smart app-enabled thermostat first. The problem was these devices were not geared towards DIY’ers and were marketed by HVAC distributors and installers. About a year ago ecobee came out with the ecobee3 which changed all of that.



For those not familiar with ecobee, here is a little history on how it was founded... Before founding ecobee in 2007, Stuart Lombard was on a mission to reduce his family’s carbon footprint and save money. He found a lot of ways to conserve energy but most were complex and costly. However, he discovered that heating and cooling made up the majority of his home energy use. So, he tried a programmable thermostat. It turned out to be really complicated, even for someone with an engineering degree. And, unreliable. When Stuart and his family came home one winter day to find their house freezing, they'd had enough. He knew there had to be a better way and decided to build his own thermostat. A truly smart thermostat, that was easy to install, smart enough to deliver comfort, conserving energy and pay for itself in energy savings. That day, ecobee was born.

Features and Specifications:

As mentioned above, this smart thermostat utilizes remote sensors. Each kit comes with one sensor but you can add up to 32. The display is a 3.5” full color touch screen that can control most 1 and 2 stage HVAC systems (heating, cooling, and heat pumps), dehumidifier, humidifier, and ventilation devices. And all units currently shipping are Apple Home Kit certified. Below are some highlights, but for a complete list of features and specifications please check here.

Thermostat:
» Temperature, humidity, motion and proximity sensors
» Height 100mm
» Width 100mm
» Depth 22mm

Remote sensor:
» Temperature and motion sensors.
» Height 44mm (54mm with stand)
» Width 44mm
» Depth 20mm

Large trim plate:
» Height 150mm
» Width 150mm
» Depth 15mm

Display:
» 3.5” Full color LCD touch screen
» 320 x 480 pixels

Compatible HVAC equipment:
» Conventional (2H/2C)
» Heat pump (4H/2C) including 2 stage heat
» Gas, oil and electric.
» Dual fuel
» Humidity, dehumidification, ventilation and HRV or ERV control

Connectivity:
» 802.11 b/g/n @ 2.4GHz
»     WEP64, WEP 128, WPA and WPA2 encryption
»     DHCP or static IP address
»     168 bit SSL encryption
»     Expected bandwidth 15-20MB/month
» 915MHz for remote sensors
» ZigBee with expansion card

Other:
» Power consumption < 3.5VA
» Desired temp range: 45 to 92F
» Display temp range: 40 to 100F
» Sensitivity: +/- 1F
» Operating temp range: 32 to 130F
» Humidity display: 20-90%
» Sensitivity: +/- 5%
» Operating: 5-95% non-condensing
» 3 year warranty