Before you all say my house is way too hot... you're right, it is! Arizona is SO hot. Luckily we are getting solar installed through Tesla, and we can keep our house cooler without it costing hundreds per month. I'll be talking about solar in a future video once it's all up and running.
In a new house... I am wondering what your insulation install is like. The house should be able to hold temperatures better. With a new house zoning shouldnt be needed unless you have a large house or rooms with high heat loads. Unf modern building science seems to be a hard trade to find for most home owners. Hvac, insulation and builder all have to work together.
does that solar installation include a powerwall or 2? it would be a good idea. also, another thing you can do is install phase change material in the walls. ok, that is a big project, so keep it in mind for when you renovate or remodel or whatever you yankees call that.
I've loved the Ecobee since I first installed it 3 years ago. The satellite sensors were the biggest draw over the Nest Learning Thermostat as it didn't have that capability then and the old Honeywell thermostat was located in a shaded hallway that was always cooler than the rest of the house. I also like that in the Comfort Settings menu you can select which sensors the Ecobee reads depending on activity so for example, say it's bedtime in summer you can have just the 2nd story bedroom sensors monitoring the average temp during the night and not your lower floors that tend to have cooler temps. My biggest concern now is that Ecobee was bought by Generac this November and though there was no immediate statement about the future of Ecobee I can only hope they don't mess with the overall foundation of the Ecobee services.
Great comparative review! My family's been in residential construction for over a century. In bigger homes (3000+ sq ft), we have usually gone with separate, dedicated HVAC systems in two or more locations e.g. upstairs and downstairs. Not only are two HVAC systems more efficient, but they are also more comfortable. I'd recommend that route over a single HVAC with remote sensors that would trigger whole house cooling or heating. Our HVAC vender can even show clients the payback/return on a dual HVAC system. Now with smart thermostats, one can really be comfortable and efficient. In sum, if you're planning on building a new home, two HVACs with smart thermostats are the way to go.
The nursery for our younger daughter runs about 5 degrees warmer than the other portions of the house. The Nest sensors are so clutch for finding balance throughout temperature variations in the house.
@@micahjohnson9184 if you have young ones... It's $100 WELL spent. Being able to see the temp and set the sensors at the point of reference... Helps keep the littles comfy.
I'm glad I stumbled upon your discussion of the Ecobee thermostat. I recently ordered an Ecobee when presented with an offer I couldn't refuse. It turns out your hardware and the way you operate it is reasonably close to me, as well as your geographical location. You did a great job of describing what I can expect from my Ecobee (when it arrives), but I thought I'd share with you a realization that I had that few people are likely to duplicate. I'm beginning to think that I am not going to be happy with the Ecobee as my main control, only because it appears that it has only a 1.0-degree control loop. After operating this house for a long time with a 1.0-degree control loop, I changed to a 0.5-degree loop with my Radio-Thermostat thermostats, and I am able to get better all-around results than before. While it theoretically reduces the overall efficiency, in this particular, old, poorly insulated, flat-roof, block house, and with the way we operate it, we have improved comfort at a lower temperature setting. And that alone will mitigate the reduction in efficiency.
Great to know! I'm building a house & your channel has been very helpful for planning all my smart home features! I was thinking about Google nest, but I think I'll go with Ecobee since I'll mostly doing Amazon routines
Love our Ecobees and having the remotes and being able to disable the temp sensor at the remote saved us THOUSANDS having to remodel our upstairs A/C ducting/return units
What’s missing from the smart thermostat equation for most folks is room-level control. You want to heat or cool the space where you are, and not heat or cool the space where you’re not. That’s the only way to save money with these things. Thus if you have forced air, you want your system to be slightly underpowered from a whole-house perspective - and then, based on room occupancy, open or close the air vent as appropriate. Same would go for steam radiator systems or whatever. One of the best things I have is a small electric space heater. Wife heats the room where she is, I like it cooler so the heat in the rest of the house is lower. The space heater goes on for a few minutes at a time, and effectively heats her entire room. Not connected, but smart home nonetheless.
I don't think most homes have dampenars for each room zone control. New are much more likely too, and those that do will also have var speed compressors. And those shouldn't be "undersized". Since it can change the power consumed and cooling done. Basically they self undersize as needed based on how many zones are calling for air. On say homes that are 15 years old, you are more likely to find dual zones, just like an upstairs and downstairs, and these generally have a "by pass", so if one zone is open and the other is closed, a weighted swing will open up so the "extra" high flows back into the intake and is already pretty cold, thus cools off even more and helps cool the other zone even faster.
My thought was, and it seems you confirmed it, beyond some specific standard scenarios, smart thermostats are not so smart after all. So if you are solving this with Home Assistant automations, there is no real need for for smart thermostats, all you need is some wireless temperature/motion sensors integrated with HA, and remote control through direct integration with HA or IR beamers.
I have a heating approach that’s really simple, that I would’ve expected more people to adopt (only relevant to standard tariffs). I have balanced my radiators across my house using TRVs and temperature sensors. My smart thermostat is set to 19.5c during the day whilst each room has a TRV and temp sensor. All the TRVs are calibrated to 19.5c, so as each room gets to 19.5c the TRVs close, and allows more heating to flow to the cooler rooms. Once the rooms, and the house is at 19.5c - the thermostat turns off the heating. Advantage here is that every room has a consistent temperature through the house. In short, thermostat plus each radiator calibrated with TRVs.
I'm getting rid of my ecobee thermostat with three occupancy sensors and going to DIY room level sensors build around EspHome and Home Assistant. I want to take advantage of my solar production and limit grid use whenever possible. We are also de-clouding our smart gear as much as possible.
You're smart!, honestly which I could do that I'm not sure I have the brain capacity for home assistant, but I'm thinking of going with a smart things hub 😅 I currently have nest thermostat e cause I'm pretty much in the google ecosystem with pixel and stuff and it works pretty well for me. I'm sure with the solar you'll save a lot of money oh nevermind I though you said you where going with ecobee lol by bad I read that wrong.
Taking your smart home out of the cloud has the added benefit of security and privacy. But a major con of requiring you to be on your local network to access/modify your devices (i.e. lock a door, change the thermostat, turn off your lights) The ability to do this anywhere is a huge plus for me. As long as you put all your IoT devices on a separate VLAN from your personal computers/phones and make sure to use unique secure passwords for each IoT cloud account you shouldn’t have to worry about security. So what if someone hacks your lights if they can’t jump to your computer from there? What are they going to do… spend all day turning them off and on? If you want to take it another step you could even separate your IoT devices into VLANs based on how much someone hacking them could ruin your day. For example I’d keep the insecure smart toaster separated from the smart locks, garage, and video cameras.
I've had similar revelations over the years. Nowadays I just use automations to turn my AC [or heat depending on the season] on at night when it matters most. During the day we rarely use either and just rely on fans.
Love the outro. On that same note, have you integrated ceiling fans with the sensors and thermostat somehow? I know a lot of times if it's hot in a room, justva fan can make the difference. Also running fans while the AC or heat is running can help with distribution of the air with in the house and make run times shorter. Great video.
Excellent point. I have fans in all the bedrooms and unless it's crazy hot, we don't put on the AC because the fans cool down the rooms more than enough. In addition, if you have cool air from outside, you can open a window. We only use the AC only when it's absolutely necessary. I am in south Jersey.
I live alone in a smaller 1566 sf house in southern Virginia. I had a Google Nest Learning Thermostat installed yesterday. I am currently (11 more days) confined to a wheelchair post surgery. I learned very quickly yesterday to TURN OFF the Eco-Away mode. Since I'm not moving around much, while sitting in the recinler and NOT moving throughout the house, yesterday multiple times the system went into AWAY mode and the heat when down. NO, I'm not away. I'm just not moving much. I quickly turned off that feature. I'll continue to learn about the Nest but interesting video
The problem with multiple stats is that even with the smart versions there is no logic between them, in fact the air transfer between zones is the logic link. Sensors and a single point of control is the approach to go for but as far as I know there is nothing commercially available.
One function I am wanting in my first Smart thermostat is complete schedule programming for the fan. Does this thermostats - allow you to program the fan to run all night like 10pm - 6am regardless if the Heat/AC is needed…. And also then just go to Automatic through the day - meaning it comes on only when the Heat/AC needs to run!? I like the fan on to move air while we sleep for the noise and air movement - but do not want to waste electricity when we are not home through the day. Also with the fan - is there a “recycle” type setting - where the fan would come on periodically to move air through the house - but would not require the fan to just be on all day/schedule long? The rest of the programming I’m sure works fine - but I want to know I can program just the fan completely!? TIA!
We've got the Honeywell Lyrics in our place, just a downstairs and upstairs. Trying to do occupancy with geolocation and motion sensors was the worst. Ended up going with a custom daily schedule. I have a "vacation mode" setup to a routine so If we are gone for a longer time I can just trigger that and then disable it on our way home so everything goes back to normal, though I'd definitely go your route if I was on time of use instead of flat rate pricing! And your temps aren't that bad. If you keep your humidity levels in check you can keep it comfortable at higher/lower temps as well as using the circulate feature on some systems just to have moving air.
I use Nest with three sensors in different rooms, but I ended up disabling the learning option and I programmed them by time and temp. I have tried Away mode thru Google home app, but if we stay too long in our room offices, it will change to Eco mode and it will get hot. I keep my house in TX at 75 during the day and replace the filters every three months.
Good day. Great video with useful information. First, I once had a Nest thermostat that I thought was the cat's meow. It broke after 6 months, I spent an hour on Google chat with the rep giving me instructions I had tried. After the hour the rep said I would be sent a new one. Of course that never happened. Another objection I have to all of them is that they do not have a back light even with a C wire. I like to walk by the thermostat and see what the indoor temp and set temp are, without touching anything. I now have a Honeywell in two houses. Limited features (I wish I received energy reports) but fully functional. My wife and I are both retired and home all day so we have no need for a thermostat to decide when we are away. We have only one zone (a/c and gas forced air heat) so separate sensors would do no good. I have some schedules set. On Long Island we do not have peak pricing (but we do have a program to which I subscribe wherein the electric utility can control my A/C during periods of peak demand; we have natural gas for heat and that may come in to question at some point; it is a different provider). My wife and I generally like warm temps during the day - 76 - but cooler at night - 70. I have the thermostat programmed to cool the house to 70 from 10:00 p.m. this is when the air is cooler outside which I assume offers a bit more efficiency. The program reverts to 76 at 3:30 a.m. The house is cool most of the day, having been pre-cooled. Cycle repeats. This is the only programming I have done; if we want a temporary change I manage that either at the thermostat or the program. Because we are retired, "away" programming is of no use. I understand your need for it. Thanks again for the video. When you become president would you please encourage the manufacturers to program a constant back light with a c-wire.
Good material and helpful presentation. We had new heat pumps installed about a month ago driven by two Ecobee premiums. Still trying to get it all figured out. Some of the features are very cool and the graphed data definitely is tell-tale. Thanks!
I have the 1st generation ecobee and there's no scheduling function to turn on the fan only at certain times to circulate the air. It only has a feature which runs the fan a certain duration every hour. I dont want it running while I sleep. Hopefully the new ecobee has this feature. The circulation will help move stagnant air and cool the house.
my problem with the ecobee is that it does not accurately determine the room temperature. When I compare the log data to actual data (digital thermometer logger) the ecobee had a 10 degree range (+/- 5 degrees from setpoint). I was using multiple sensors and averaging them. They have an embedded software alogrithm that averages the ecobee reading over a 20-30 minute period and this is not displayed in the data. I returned mine.
Thank you I was able to disable smart cooling and adjusted the time on it since it wasn't correct so my schedule wasn't working at the times I set it up
Yess! That's awesome 😊 hope you're enjoying it. I still have the old Nest Thermostat E and I love it, helps a ton more than our old regular honeywell this is definitely good info 👍
Hi I have question I would like to ask??? I live in Toronto freeze in winter, and gas expensive and electricity 7am-7pm double 2x price $$, 7pm-7am 50% off, I thinking it would be better if I can set heatpump run from 7pm-7am because electricity cheaper, and run gas furnace 7am-7pm, is there a option for that on ecobee thermostat?? Thank you and how do you set it?? Have a nice day
Im such a smarthome geek but I would never let a smart thermostat control my heating, I always just schedules, I use Nest 3rd gen & Tado TVR valves in most rooms to set individual rooms temp.
Interesting I have the nest thermostat e and was think of getting temperature sensors to go with with it. I eventually plan on setting schedules with it, what would you recommend?
Thank you! i was trying to decide what to get and had the same thoughts about the 'learning' of the nest. LOL thanks again. Looking forward to your solar panel vid!
I moved into a new previously owned house last summer and they had a ecobee lite. I had a nest that I tried to use but it was not compatible with my AC unit. I added 2 sensors. Our master bedroom is 2-3 degrees hotter than the rest of the house. We typically have someone hone all of the time and it’s hot here like in Arizona. My peak time is M-F 3 pm to 8 pm. I have solar, so I don’t really care if my AC runs during the peak time. I’ll see how added an electric car and doing home charging increases my electric bill. I am not impressed with the ecobee lite. I may need to upgrade to the full version to get more programming options.
Ive been dialing mine in for almost 3 years now with a dual zone system, it does take some time, but once its dialed in, its really good. Even so, Im always trying new things.
I have an eco bee and the temp/occupancy sensors. I am not sure it saves money for me, but allows the temperature to be accurate in our bedrooms at night. I have started to use the room sensors in Automation’s, only to turn off ceiling fans lights after people have left. Not sure it wouldn’t be better to creat my own system at this point.
I just refer to my phone when i am out and make all adjustments by phone >> , when i am in Florida in the winter i just check my phone and i can see what my Ecobee is up to in Canada!
love the video. I'm getting ready to install whole house zoning. Can you set the desired temp per room and the ecobee turn the ac on if that room gets to hot?
I have owned two major brands of smart home thermostats, and despite the fact that I've been an IT sysadmin for decades, successfully running dozens of different brands of servers, I haven't been able to figure out how to to get these thermostats to schedule temperatures as I want. Sure, call me an idiot, but if I can't figure it out, I can't help my family members use smart thermostats in their own homes. I have a feeling that using multiple computers to access my smart thermostat was causing different schedules to be loaded depending upon which computer I used last.
Every time I consider getting a smart thermostat, I think about this and decide against it. Too much work to create a useful effective program for someone without a consistent schedule.
That is my problem but i just run with a geofence. No problems there. Just put it like 1km around my home. So as cross that line, my system goes to "home" mode; or when i exit that line it auto goes to "away" mode. I have no schedules set. So its either home or away.
How’s your experience with the little eco bee sensors been for battery life? Also, if they’re good at temp and humidity but not motion/ presence because of sitting still - since you’re using HA is there something else you could do to also override the system trying to shut off when you’re working at a PC? Maybe a seat sensor or just another companies motion/IR sensor?
@smarthomesolver is there a way to automatically turn off the A/C if the outside temp drops below 65°? I live in a flat roof townhouse with ladies on both sides of me who turn on their heat once it gets to 78° outside! Is there a way to do this on the thermostat (I can't find it) or maybe thru a Alexa routine? TIA!!! GREAT CHANNEL, I'M ENJOYING IT!!!
Great outline of some of the limitations of so-called “smart” devices, and how to adapt them best for your own specific situation. Any chance you’ll publish the schedule details you’re using, or your Home Assistant automations?
I see you have a Aprilaire system. I do as well and was told no smart thermostat can be used with it. It has some 123 wire system at thermostat that is Aprilaire branded. We have fresh air intake. Curious if you have similar setup and if you had any challenges with using the ecobee?
Always enjoy your videos as I learn something new each time. This was really good because it made me think about some other use cases that I ignored. Example: we don’t have variable pricing but with HomeKit I can use geofencing to adjust more quickly for “away mode”. Away mode is awesome by itself but takes time to kick in. Thanks! I have 3 remote sensors and also found that averaging is best in my area (Indiana - ranch with a walkout basement, so basement is always more chilly). 👍
Uuuuuummm, yeah, how about setting your thermostat to a single temp and keeping exterior doors/windows/curtains closed to help maintain that temp INSTEAD of allowing the system to shut off and allowing the temps to fluctuate? It seems that chasing the thermometer, constantly, would end up costing more in the long run. The key seems to be in having your home as weather-sealed as possible.
Some thermostats are smarter than others. Installed a couple nest thermostats. Easy but i still didnt like. Especially for shift workers. I have a wyze version at inlaws. It freaked out and overworked the ac. Not exactly sure what happened. Took it off the eco mode ( ran fan more and house was never cool). Also.. Make sure to seal the hole the wires come through. A draft from there can mess with some sensors. Simple plastic bag wad will do.
Talking about HomeAssistant, do you know how to fix when DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN error appears? I cannot acces HomeAssistant and I dont know how to fix it!
Smart thermostats are not that smart. I still wonder if Google still thinks $2b was a good investment for Nest. THey are an improvement on thermostats not having schedules, just having an App for interface is so much better than the bloody thermostat to set schedules. It certainly helps lazy people not setting schedules but I truly wonder how much is saved over a decent thermostat with good schedules. Great vid and content. Cheers from Oz.
I'm pretty sure it doesn't have the ability to connect to the extra sensors. It's the same as the cheaper Nest thermostat. You get a more affordable option but lose that sensor feature.
This is a great primer. Thank you. One big factor in my buying decision is how easy it is to override a programmed schedule on a one-time (ad-hoc) basis. For instance, I might schedule heat to come up to 65° at 7am every day. But there is often the odd day that I need to wake up much earlier and would like the ability to go to bed and easily set the heat to come on at 5am the next morning. After that, the system would resume the normal schedule. Your thoughts? Again, thanks.
Great Video, short answer, I bought a nest thermostat two weeks ago, I am tired of it emailing me with its problems, I don't care anymore, will return.
The issue today is the lack of control over rooms of the house. When I sleep, I require 1 room to be at a certain temp, not the whole house. I have been looking at smart vents, they are WAY too expensive and unnecessarily complicated (should be WIFI device, but for some reason they are not). Dampers look promising. I am looking into them now.
Does anyone know which WIFI thermostat will go down to the lowest temperature in heat mode for my garage gas heater/furnace? I live in the North and want to keep my garage above freezing but not waste money when it is not in use. I am looking for something that I can put down as low as around 3 degrees celsius. I was looking at a Vine but someone told be they only go as low as 7 degrees C. I thought this would be straightforward but evidently not.
My only issue with my Nest Thermostat is there's no lock mode on it. I can't tell when others change the temperature so I'm considering going back to a traditional Thermostat with a lockbox.
Hi, are the nest and ecobee thermostats quiet when the temperature changes or if it automatically turns on? I'm looking for a silent one, as my traditional one clicks really loudly!
Yes, ecobee is much more configurable. Although it has been said that smart thermostats are for dumb houses... meaning if your house and HVAC are properly constructed you should be able to set a round the clock standard temp and be fine because your system and insulation and whatnot are working together. Most of us though don't have a perfectly insulated house and a perfectly engineered and installed HVAC system so smart thermostats are nice to have.
I have a smart thermostat and the only thing that's good for us to operate at remotely. I don't live by a schedule so I set everything manually when I need it.
The historical data from ecobee is not representative of all reading and functions. Precisely accurate data needs to be captured through the API and stored in a HA database.
Did you see what Linus at LTT is doing with ecoBee? He's faking some of the wires and sending I/O using Home Assistant. Meaning, his HVAC is mostly decoupled from the ecobee, which is acting as a literal remote control through Homeassistant automations.
Before you all say my house is way too hot... you're right, it is! Arizona is SO hot. Luckily we are getting solar installed through Tesla, and we can keep our house cooler without it costing hundreds per month. I'll be talking about solar in a future video once it's all up and running.
Very early! I really like your videos!
Arizona is very hot...
@Stuart Tree
Much like germany many years back.. Temps got high and they had no idea what to do. Many died.
In a new house... I am wondering what your insulation install is like. The house should be able to hold temperatures better.
With a new house zoning shouldnt be needed unless you have a large house or rooms with high heat loads.
Unf modern building science seems to be a hard trade to find for most home owners. Hvac, insulation and builder all have to work together.
does that solar installation include a powerwall or 2? it would be a good idea.
also, another thing you can do is install phase change material in the walls. ok, that is a big project, so keep it in mind for when you renovate or remodel or whatever you yankees call that.
I've loved the Ecobee since I first installed it 3 years ago. The satellite sensors were the biggest draw over the Nest Learning Thermostat as it didn't have that capability then and the old Honeywell thermostat was located in a shaded hallway that was always cooler than the rest of the house. I also like that in the Comfort Settings menu you can select which sensors the Ecobee reads depending on activity so for example, say it's bedtime in summer you can have just the 2nd story bedroom sensors monitoring the average temp during the night and not your lower floors that tend to have cooler temps. My biggest concern now is that Ecobee was bought by Generac this November and though there was no immediate statement about the future of Ecobee I can only hope they don't mess with the overall foundation of the Ecobee services.
Great comparative review! My family's been in residential construction for over a century. In bigger homes (3000+ sq ft), we have usually gone with separate, dedicated HVAC systems in two or more locations e.g. upstairs and downstairs. Not only are two HVAC systems more efficient, but they are also more comfortable. I'd recommend that route over a single HVAC with remote sensors that would trigger whole house cooling or heating. Our HVAC vender can even show clients the payback/return on a dual HVAC system.
Now with smart thermostats, one can really be comfortable and efficient. In sum, if you're planning on building a new home, two HVACs with smart thermostats are the way to go.
The nursery for our younger daughter runs about 5 degrees warmer than the other portions of the house. The Nest sensors are so clutch for finding balance throughout temperature variations in the house.
Omg, I was wondering if they work well! I have the nest thermostat e and was thinking about getting them Thank you! 🙏🏾
@@micahjohnson9184 if you have young ones... It's $100 WELL spent. Being able to see the temp and set the sensors at the point of reference... Helps keep the littles comfy.
@@cfletch85 Lol not necessarily young ones but I have my grandma, grandpa, mom, cousin, and my dog but I guess it should work ok right 😂
I'm glad I stumbled upon your discussion of the Ecobee thermostat. I recently ordered an Ecobee when presented with an offer I couldn't refuse. It turns out your hardware and the way you operate it is reasonably close to me, as well as your geographical location. You did a great job of describing what I can expect from my Ecobee (when it arrives), but I thought I'd share with you a realization that I had that few people are likely to duplicate.
I'm beginning to think that I am not going to be happy with the Ecobee as my main control, only because it appears that it has only a 1.0-degree control loop. After operating this house for a long time with a 1.0-degree control loop, I changed to a 0.5-degree loop with my Radio-Thermostat thermostats, and I am able to get better all-around results than before. While it theoretically reduces the overall efficiency, in this particular, old, poorly insulated, flat-roof, block house, and with the way we operate it, we have improved comfort at a lower temperature setting. And that alone will mitigate the reduction in efficiency.
Great to know! I'm building a house & your channel has been very helpful for planning all my smart home features! I was thinking about Google nest, but I think I'll go with Ecobee since I'll mostly doing Amazon routines
I hate my Nest since Google bought them out and took away their Amazon functionality. Ecoby looks way more friendly and a better menu structure.
Love our Ecobees and having the remotes and being able to disable the temp sensor at the remote saved us THOUSANDS having to remodel our upstairs A/C ducting/return units
Why would you guys knowingly bug your own house? Lol idiots
I’m getting mine tomorrow and I appreciate the trials and tribulations you endured to share with us.
What’s missing from the smart thermostat equation for most folks is room-level control. You want to heat or cool the space where you are, and not heat or cool the space where you’re not. That’s the only way to save money with these things. Thus if you have forced air, you want your system to be slightly underpowered from a whole-house perspective - and then, based on room occupancy, open or close the air vent as appropriate. Same would go for steam radiator systems or whatever. One of the best things I have is a small electric space heater. Wife heats the room where she is, I like it cooler so the heat in the rest of the house is lower. The space heater goes on for a few minutes at a time, and effectively heats her entire room. Not connected, but smart home nonetheless.
I don't think most homes have dampenars for each room zone control. New are much more likely too, and those that do will also have var speed compressors. And those shouldn't be "undersized". Since it can change the power consumed and cooling done. Basically they self undersize as needed based on how many zones are calling for air.
On say homes that are 15 years old, you are more likely to find dual zones, just like an upstairs and downstairs, and these generally have a "by pass", so if one zone is open and the other is closed, a weighted swing will open up so the "extra" high flows back into the intake and is already pretty cold, thus cools off even more and helps cool the other zone even faster.
I was just planning to get a smart thermostat and here we go. SHS just posted a video about it❤️🥳
My thought was, and it seems you confirmed it, beyond some specific standard scenarios, smart thermostats are not so smart after all. So if you are solving this with Home Assistant automations, there is no real need for for smart thermostats, all you need is some wireless temperature/motion sensors integrated with HA, and remote control through direct integration with HA or IR beamers.
I have a heating approach that’s really simple, that I would’ve expected more people to adopt (only relevant to standard tariffs). I have balanced my radiators across my house using TRVs and temperature sensors. My smart thermostat is set to 19.5c during the day whilst each room has a TRV and temp sensor. All the TRVs are calibrated to 19.5c, so as each room gets to 19.5c the TRVs close, and allows more heating to flow to the cooler rooms. Once the rooms, and the house is at 19.5c - the thermostat turns off the heating.
Advantage here is that every room has a consistent temperature through the house. In short, thermostat plus each radiator calibrated with TRVs.
I have 3 nest units and once I figured out the common wire thing I’ve really come to love having them.
I'm getting rid of my ecobee thermostat with three occupancy sensors and going to DIY room level sensors build around EspHome and Home Assistant. I want to take advantage of my solar production and limit grid use whenever possible. We are also de-clouding our smart gear as much as possible.
You're smart!, honestly which I could do that I'm not sure I have the brain capacity for home assistant, but I'm thinking of going with a smart things hub 😅 I currently have nest thermostat e cause I'm pretty much in the google ecosystem with pixel and stuff and it works pretty well for me. I'm sure with the solar you'll save a lot of money oh nevermind I though you said you where going with ecobee lol by bad I read that wrong.
Taking your smart home out of the cloud has the added benefit of security and privacy. But a major con of requiring you to be on your local network to access/modify your devices (i.e. lock a door, change the thermostat, turn off your lights)
The ability to do this anywhere is a huge plus for me. As long as you put all your IoT devices on a separate VLAN from your personal computers/phones and make sure to use unique secure passwords for each IoT cloud account you shouldn’t have to worry about security.
So what if someone hacks your lights if they can’t jump to your computer from there? What are they going to do… spend all day turning them off and on?
If you want to take it another step you could even separate your IoT devices into VLANs based on how much someone hacking them could ruin your day. For example I’d keep the insecure smart toaster separated from the smart locks, garage, and video cameras.
I've had similar revelations over the years. Nowadays I just use automations to turn my AC [or heat depending on the season] on at night when it matters most. During the day we rarely use either and just rely on fans.
Love the outro. On that same note, have you integrated ceiling fans with the sensors and thermostat somehow? I know a lot of times if it's hot in a room, justva fan can make the difference. Also running fans while the AC or heat is running can help with distribution of the air with in the house and make run times shorter. Great video.
Excellent point. I have fans in all the bedrooms and unless it's crazy hot, we don't put on the AC because the fans cool down the rooms more than enough. In addition, if you have cool air from outside, you can open a window. We only use the AC only when it's absolutely necessary. I am in south Jersey.
@@moltenpros Nest thermostat has a fan only option; I run my fan 15 minutes per hour to distribute the heat especially.
I live alone in a smaller 1566 sf house in southern Virginia. I had a Google Nest Learning Thermostat installed yesterday. I am currently (11 more days) confined to a wheelchair post surgery. I learned very quickly yesterday to TURN OFF the Eco-Away mode. Since I'm not moving around much, while sitting in the recinler and NOT moving throughout the house, yesterday multiple times the system went into AWAY mode and the heat when down. NO, I'm not away. I'm just not moving much. I quickly turned off that feature. I'll continue to learn about the Nest but interesting video
The problem with multiple stats is that even with the smart versions there is no logic between them, in fact the air transfer between zones is the logic link. Sensors and a single point of control is the approach to go for but as far as I know there is nothing commercially available.
Interesting video! Didn’t know about that occupancy sensor and all the extra features. Thank you!
Thanks Adam!
One function I am wanting in my first Smart thermostat is complete schedule programming for the fan. Does this thermostats - allow you to program the fan to run all night like 10pm - 6am regardless if the Heat/AC is needed…. And also then just go to Automatic through the day - meaning it comes on only when the Heat/AC needs to run!? I like the fan on to move air while we sleep for the noise and air movement - but do not want to waste electricity when we are not home through the day. Also with the fan - is there a “recycle” type setting - where the fan would come on periodically to move air through the house - but would not require the fan to just be on all day/schedule long? The rest of the programming I’m sure works fine - but I want to know I can program just the fan completely!? TIA!
Great video. I too live in AZ. I just got the ecobee. I have two zones. I'm still learning how to set it up and automate for my situation.
We've got the Honeywell Lyrics in our place, just a downstairs and upstairs. Trying to do occupancy with geolocation and motion sensors was the worst. Ended up going with a custom daily schedule. I have a "vacation mode" setup to a routine so If we are gone for a longer time I can just trigger that and then disable it on our way home so everything goes back to normal, though I'd definitely go your route if I was on time of use instead of flat rate pricing!
And your temps aren't that bad. If you keep your humidity levels in check you can keep it comfortable at higher/lower temps as well as using the circulate feature on some systems just to have moving air.
I use Nest with three sensors in different rooms, but I ended up disabling the learning option and I programmed them by time and temp. I have tried Away mode thru Google home app, but if we stay too long in our room offices, it will change to Eco mode and it will get hot. I keep my house in TX at 75 during the day and replace the filters every three months.
Good day. Great video with useful information. First, I once had a Nest thermostat that I thought was the cat's meow. It broke after 6 months, I spent an hour on Google chat with the rep giving me instructions I had tried. After the hour the rep said I would be sent a new one. Of course that never happened. Another objection I have to all of them is that they do not have a back light even with a C wire. I like to walk by the thermostat and see what the indoor temp and set temp are, without touching anything.
I now have a Honeywell in two houses. Limited features (I wish I received energy reports) but fully functional. My wife and I are both retired and home all day so we have no need for a thermostat to decide when we are away. We have only one zone (a/c and gas forced air heat) so separate sensors would do no good. I have some schedules set. On Long Island we do not have peak pricing (but we do have a program to which I subscribe wherein the electric utility can control my A/C during periods of peak demand; we have natural gas for heat and that may come in to question at some point; it is a different provider). My wife and I generally like warm temps during the day - 76 - but cooler at night - 70. I have the thermostat programmed to cool the house to 70 from 10:00 p.m. this is when the air is cooler outside which I assume offers a bit more efficiency. The program reverts to 76 at 3:30 a.m. The house is cool most of the day, having been pre-cooled. Cycle repeats. This is the only programming I have done; if we want a temporary change I manage that either at the thermostat or the program. Because we are retired, "away" programming is of no use. I understand your need for it. Thanks again for the video. When you become president would you please encourage the manufacturers to program a constant back light with a c-wire.
Do you have a document that outlines the entire steps to set up the best settings for Ecobee to save money?
Woah! I used to watch this channel all the time like 1 year ago and since then you’ve grown like 200k subs :O
Lol, sounds like a good old fashion manually programmed time-based thermostat is nearly as good.
Good material and helpful presentation. We had new heat pumps installed about a month ago driven by two Ecobee premiums. Still trying to get it all figured out. Some of the features are very cool and the graphed data definitely is tell-tale. Thanks!
Love your videos. I just bought my first home and I have been looking all week about this Ecobee. Also in Arizona!
Thanks! Congrats on the new home!
@@SmartHomeSolver Thank you, friend!
Can I just use it as a regular old thermostat but with wifi access so I can at least turn it on remotely 10 minutes before I get home ?
Zones? You have dampers in your ducts that direct flow to certain zones/rooms?
I have the 1st generation ecobee and there's no scheduling function to turn on the fan only at certain times to circulate the air. It only has a feature which runs the fan a certain duration every hour. I dont want it running while I sleep. Hopefully the new ecobee has this feature. The circulation will help move stagnant air and cool the house.
my problem with the ecobee is that it does not accurately determine the room temperature. When I compare the log data to actual data (digital thermometer logger) the ecobee had a 10 degree range (+/- 5 degrees from setpoint). I was using multiple sensors and averaging them. They have an embedded software alogrithm that averages the ecobee reading over a 20-30 minute period and this is not displayed in the data. I returned mine.
Thank you I was able to disable smart cooling and adjusted the time on it since it wasn't correct so my schedule wasn't working at the times I set it up
What's the best electric provider for using Ecobee with solar panels (w/no battery bank)?
The sensors now work with Ecobee Lite FYI. I have them and they work great.
for the geo-fencing, does it go into away mode if you leave the house, but family members are still home, or do the sensors override that?
Perfect timing! I just got the Nest Thermostat so I’m looking for this type of information. Thank you.
Yess! That's awesome 😊 hope you're enjoying it. I still have the old Nest Thermostat E and I love it, helps a ton more than our old regular honeywell this is definitely good info 👍
Hi I have question I would like to ask??? I live in Toronto freeze in winter, and gas expensive and electricity 7am-7pm double 2x price $$, 7pm-7am 50% off, I thinking it would be better if I can set heatpump run from 7pm-7am because electricity cheaper, and run gas furnace 7am-7pm, is there a option for that on ecobee thermostat?? Thank you and how do you set it?? Have a nice day
Im such a smarthome geek but I would never let a smart thermostat control my heating, I always just schedules, I use Nest 3rd gen & Tado TVR valves in most rooms to set individual rooms temp.
Interesting I have the nest thermostat e and was think of getting temperature sensors to go with with it. I eventually plan on setting schedules with it, what would you recommend?
My only question does it have the Geo fence option. I really like that feature.
I am at a loss as to which thermostat to buy ecobee premium or honeywell t10 pro
Thank you! i was trying to decide what to get and had the same thoughts about the 'learning' of the nest. LOL thanks again. Looking forward to your solar panel vid!
This is great! But do you know any product that's designed for remote control ac units?
Any chance that you can try/review smart air vents (like Flair)? Curious to see how they would work/integrate with Ecobee.
What is the analytics platform you displayed showing hourly performance?
I moved into a new previously owned house last summer and they had a ecobee lite. I had a nest that I tried to use but it was not compatible with my AC unit. I added 2 sensors. Our master bedroom is 2-3 degrees hotter than the rest of the house. We typically have someone hone all of the time and it’s hot here like in Arizona. My peak time is M-F 3 pm to 8 pm. I have solar, so I don’t really care if my AC runs during the peak time. I’ll see how added an electric car and doing home charging increases my electric bill. I am not impressed with the ecobee lite. I may need to upgrade to the full version to get more programming options.
Ive been dialing mine in for almost 3 years now with a dual zone system, it does take some time, but once its dialed in, its really good. Even so, Im always trying new things.
That sounds like a nightmare to me.
@@Alexander_l322 What is, trying new things? The ability to take sensors in or out of the mix when you have a household with varying schedules.
Great video. Are you using a single stage, dual stage or variable speed AC compressor?
Can you use the ecobee sensors to turn on the blower to equalize between sensors and stat?
I have an eco bee and the temp/occupancy sensors. I am not sure it saves money for me, but allows the temperature to be accurate in our bedrooms at night. I have started to use the room sensors in Automation’s, only to turn off ceiling fans lights after people have left. Not sure it wouldn’t be better to creat my own system at this point.
I just refer to my phone when i am out and make all adjustments by phone >> , when i am in Florida in the winter i just check my phone and i can see what my Ecobee is up to in Canada!
Best way to save money is upgrade the SEER rating on you AC. Notify you power company afterwards
The ecobee 4 has eco+ mode that tries to auto optimize based on time of use. You get a slider of how much you want eco+ to rely on time of use rates
love the video. I'm getting ready to install whole house zoning. Can you set the desired temp per room and the ecobee turn the ac on if that room gets to hot?
I have owned two major brands of smart home thermostats, and despite the fact that I've been an IT sysadmin for decades, successfully running dozens of different brands of servers, I haven't been able to figure out how to to get these thermostats to schedule temperatures as I want. Sure, call me an idiot, but if I can't figure it out, I can't help my family members use smart thermostats in their own homes. I have a feeling that using multiple computers to access my smart thermostat was causing different schedules to be loaded depending upon which computer I used last.
Good Info! Need to investigate zones! Heating especially not working well in 2 story living area. It's almost like heat rises! HEHE!
Every time I consider getting a smart thermostat, I think about this and decide against it. Too much work to create a useful effective program for someone without a consistent schedule.
That is my problem but i just run with a geofence. No problems there. Just put it like 1km around my home.
So as cross that line, my system goes to "home" mode; or when i exit that line it auto goes to "away" mode. I have no schedules set. So its either home or away.
How’s your experience with the little eco bee sensors been for battery life?
Also, if they’re good at temp and humidity but not motion/ presence because of sitting still - since you’re using HA is there something else you could do to also override the system trying to shut off when you’re working at a PC? Maybe a seat sensor or just another companies motion/IR sensor?
Just geofence instead
@smarthomesolver is there a way to automatically turn off the A/C if the outside temp drops below 65°? I live in a flat roof townhouse with ladies on both sides of me who turn on their heat once it gets to 78° outside! Is there a way to do this on the thermostat (I can't find it) or maybe thru a Alexa routine? TIA!!! GREAT CHANNEL, I'M ENJOYING IT!!!
Great outline of some of the limitations of so-called “smart” devices, and how to adapt them best for your own specific situation. Any chance you’ll publish the schedule details you’re using, or your Home Assistant automations?
I would appreciate the insight into a "plug and play" sharing of Home Assistant automations too.
I see you have a Aprilaire system. I do as well and was told no smart thermostat can be used with it. It has some 123 wire system at thermostat that is Aprilaire branded. We have fresh air intake. Curious if you have similar setup and if you had any challenges with using the ecobee?
Always enjoy your videos as I learn something new each time. This was really good because it made me think about some other use cases that I ignored. Example: we don’t have variable pricing but with HomeKit I can use geofencing to adjust more quickly for “away mode”. Away mode is awesome by itself but takes time to kick in. Thanks! I have 3 remote sensors and also found that averaging is best in my area (Indiana - ranch with a walkout basement, so basement is always more chilly). 👍
Uuuuuummm, yeah, how about setting your thermostat to a single temp and keeping exterior doors/windows/curtains closed to help maintain that temp INSTEAD of allowing the system to shut off and allowing the temps to fluctuate? It seems that chasing the thermometer, constantly, would end up costing more in the long run. The key seems to be in having your home as weather-sealed as possible.
Hey, I want to install home assistant on a old laptop, do i always need to have my laptop on to run things via home assistant
Some thermostats are smarter than others. Installed a couple nest thermostats. Easy but i still didnt like. Especially for shift workers.
I have a wyze version at inlaws. It freaked out and overworked the ac. Not exactly sure what happened. Took it off the eco mode ( ran fan more and house was never cool).
Also.. Make sure to seal the hole the wires come through. A draft from there can mess with some sensors. Simple plastic bag wad will do.
Talking about HomeAssistant, do you know how to fix when DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN error appears? I cannot acces HomeAssistant and I dont know how to fix it!
when you say cost you a lot of money for the AC during peak hours, what exactly is the price difference?
5* quality content as always Reid. One of the best out there. Keep it up.
Smart thermostats are not that smart. I still wonder if Google still thinks $2b was a good investment for Nest.
THey are an improvement on thermostats not having schedules, just having an App for interface is so much better than the bloody thermostat to set schedules. It certainly helps lazy people not setting schedules but I truly wonder how much is saved over a decent thermostat with good schedules.
Great vid and content.
Cheers from Oz.
You said you're running your ecobees on HA, how are you getting around the token invalidation occurring constantly?
Hello~
May I ask, what brand/model is that white 'peg board' on your wall in the background?
I really like it!
Thank you for your time~
You said ecobee lite doesn’t have an occupancy sensor. Do you mean built in or you can’t even add their occupancy sensor?
I'm pretty sure it doesn't have the ability to connect to the extra sensors. It's the same as the cheaper Nest thermostat. You get a more affordable option but lose that sensor feature.
great video and even better timing I was seriously considering getting a smart thermostat and was unsure if o should go with the cheaper nest
This is a great primer. Thank you. One big factor in my buying decision is how easy it is to override a programmed schedule on a one-time (ad-hoc) basis. For instance, I might schedule heat to come up to 65° at 7am every day. But there is often the odd day that I need to wake up much earlier and would like the ability to go to bed and easily set the heat to come on at 5am the next morning. After that, the system would resume the normal schedule. Your thoughts? Again, thanks.
Please do a review on the EcoBee Smart Camera
Also recommend ecobee over nest but wish there was a far better option available.
How do you know the peak pricing hours ?
LOL! The dinner comments were awesome!
Good info. I've always had trouble with presence sensors as they really rely on motion, not true presence.
Can you post what the full HA automations look like for the thermostat and the script that is called under actions? Thank you!
Great Video, short answer, I bought a nest thermostat two weeks ago, I am tired of it
emailing me with its problems, I don't care anymore, will return.
Love all you videos. What smart thermostat would you recommend a second home that you would be away from for long periods? Such as a vacation home.
The issue today is the lack of control over rooms of the house. When I sleep, I require 1 room to be at a certain temp, not the whole house. I have been looking at smart vents, they are WAY too expensive and unnecessarily complicated (should be WIFI device, but for some reason they are not). Dampers look promising. I am looking into them now.
8 1/2 cents per kWh? i wish we had that kind of price here in the UK.
I pay 13 cents in maryland
@@andrewwolf4963I love that rate 😂 in the UK I'm paying the equivalent of 27/28 cents. I'm on the cheapest tariff too.
Oh and that soon to increase by 50%. 😳
Does anyone know which WIFI thermostat will go down to the lowest temperature in heat mode for my garage gas heater/furnace? I live in the North and want to keep my garage above freezing but not waste money when it is not in use. I am looking for something that I can put down as low as around 3 degrees celsius. I was looking at a Vine but someone told be they only go as low as 7 degrees C. I thought this would be straightforward but evidently not.
Phenomenally useful video, thank you 🙏
My only issue with my Nest Thermostat is there's no lock mode on it. I can't tell when others change the temperature so I'm considering going back to a traditional Thermostat with a lockbox.
I see the LOCK feature on my Nest app. Does your's not have that? I have never tested mine.
The wall looks like a gun cabinet from 007! 😂
I think the ecobee is far superior than the nest. Have had mine for a few years now and it has done all I've wanted.
Hi, are the nest and ecobee thermostats quiet when the temperature changes or if it automatically turns on? I'm looking for a silent one, as my traditional one clicks really loudly!
@@gemmac3227 my ecobee is 100% silent all the time, it's all solid state, no clicky relays
@@JH-tc3yu Thank you :)
Do America states not have fixed rate energy price plans? Here in UK every company anywhere offered a fixed rate yearly plan?
They do but that’s not what he has
Yes, ecobee is much more configurable. Although it has been said that smart thermostats are for dumb houses... meaning if your house and HVAC are properly constructed you should be able to set a round the clock standard temp and be fine because your system and insulation and whatnot are working together. Most of us though don't have a perfectly insulated house and a perfectly engineered and installed HVAC system so smart thermostats are nice to have.
I must be really cold blooded because I'd be miserable if my house was 76°. I like 72° when awake and as cold at I can get it when I'm asleep.
I have a smart thermostat and the only thing that's good for us to operate at remotely. I don't live by a schedule so I set everything manually when I need it.
Glad I have 3 LG WiFi split unit ACs 😃👍🏻 Native support
Great insights. Thank you.
The historical data from ecobee is not representative of all reading and functions. Precisely accurate data needs to be captured through the API and stored in a HA database.
Hey Reid, what is that L-shaped multi-colour light in the background at 5:10? I think it's behind the couch in your office.
See the previous video: ua-cam.com/video/CK6MlN-NFlU/v-deo.html
Thanks Zachary for linking the vid! Yep, it's the Govee Glide, here's a link: amzn.to/2Vsb6oc
@@LazySpartan Thanks!
What part of AZ are you in?? I am in north peoria!
Did you see what Linus at LTT is doing with ecoBee? He's faking some of the wires and sending I/O using Home Assistant. Meaning, his HVAC is mostly decoupled from the ecobee, which is acting as a literal remote control through Homeassistant automations.
Sweet video!! I need these thermostats.