Although Apple continues to offer the Nest Learning Thermostat and Nest Protect despite Google’s acquisition of the smart device company, the iPhone maker has added a competing Wi-Fi-connected smart thermostat to the lineup. Apple has recently added the Ecobee3 smart Wi-Fi thermostat to the Connected Home section of its online store. The smart thermostat, which can be controlled with an iPhone or iPad, is available for $249.95.
The addition of the Ecobee3 smart thermostat to the Apple online store is notable, given that the iPhone maker also sells the Google-owned Nest thermostat through its online storefront. Considering that the Fitbit fitness tracker was recently dropped from the Apple Store, it is plausible to think that the Nest could be on its way out as well in the foreseeable future.
The Ecobee3 smart thermostat helps to eliminate uneven temperatures in households based on remote sensors that intuitively keep a room at the right temperature when it is occupied. Meanwhile, when rooms are empty, the Ecobee3 helps you save money and energy while you are away. The thermostat supports up to 32 remote sensors over Wi-Fi.
A free Ecobee3 companion app for the smart thermostat is available on the App Store for iPhone and iPad, enabling users to efficiently manage their home heating and cooling system from anywhere. Ecobee3 finds that the average user saves up to 23% on their heating and cooling bills per year by using the smart Wi-Fi thermostat in their home.
Product Highlights:
- Reads the temperature in multiple rooms making the rooms you use most more comfortable
- Intuitive interface and large touch screen that works like your iPhone
- Comes with one free remote sensor and supports up to 32 sensors throughout your house
- Offers personalized reports and energy savings insights through Home IQ
- Control your system from anywhere using the ecobee3 app on your iPhone or iPad
- Start your day with live weather and a preview of the days ahead with a five-day forecast
- Average installation times are less than 45 minutes with equipment auto-detection features
- Includes free power extender kit for truly reliable power
- Three-year manufacturer’s warranty included
The Ecobee3 Smart Wi-Fi Thermostat also retails for $249 on Amazon with free shipping.
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All of these devices are pointless unless they can control the individual TRV in each room. Whats the point of having up to 32 sensors if you can only set one temperature?
Just guessing here, but it may be able to correlate how long it has to run to get the temp in your most often occupied rooms to right temp.
Or simply run until the room you are actually in gets to the right temp, ignoring the temps in unoccupied rooms.
2 ways, first. It runs an average of all the temperatures and cools or heats the house to that temperature. So you don’t have 1 room at the perfect temperature and all the others way hotter or colder, you’ll have rooms a little warmer, or a little colder. Second, for minor temperature variations it will just turn on the fan in the HVAC system to move the air in your house around, this evens out the temperature.
I guess we think about energy differently in the UK as it’s so bloody expensive
Looks nice and so far what I am reading about it this has moved to the top for my next purchase before next summer.
This is going to replace my Nest sometime next year. I knew Nest was overrated when I bought it in 2012 and by this point I’m just tired of it being a one-trick pony. The Ecobee will actually control ALL my HVAC equipment and the remote monitoring is just a bonus.
Now that Google owns Nest, I don’t expect them to ever innovate again in the area of HVAC.
Oh, and the folks at Nest still don’t realize I don’t need to see my SET temp in a huge font, but I want to see the CURRENT temp there instead. If the scheduling is all about automated learning, then you don’t need that static number on the screen at all times. Poor design element they’re unwilling to change.
I’ve had one of their previous SMART thermostats of over four years and it has been a flawless performer with a solid industrial interface to my HVAC system. BTW, this seems to be a bit different from the Nest based on internet reading that suggest the Nest has issues with the flaky/noisy power you often find in HVAC systems. The Ecobee App is quite easy to use and their on-line interface provides access to most settings, as well as historical tracking and temperature-vs-time responses curves for the house. Adding a few more sensors to the Ecobee was always an option, but an expensive and cumbersome one requiring wires, and this new model seems to have dealt with that quite effectively using wireless. Not sure if I’ll spring for updating my fully functional thermostat, but I highly recommend them based on my experience.
And no affiliation with the company – just a customer that likes well made and well integrated stuff.
haven’t really researched this, maybe somebody can tell me quickly.
would this work in ANY home? ANYWHERE?
or is it more like only US type homes etc.?
The system seems to be pretty North America focused and they have a compatibility checker – check out the FAQ at https://www.ecobee.com/faqs/ecobee-3/ and if you’re the self-installing type then it might give you enough info to see if it can work elsewhere.
Yet one step closer. When they finally make wifi connected system controllable vents you can install in each room to work with the room thermostats that will automatically balance your home, think summer vs winter in multi floor homes, or allow you to set independent temps for some number of rooms, then wake me up.
ecovent systems dot com homie
Thanks. That (ecoventsystems) looks really interesting. (Though I tried to price converting my home, and it ends up being several thousands of dollars :-/)
I think this is because Nest isn’t supporting Homekit, maybe that’s because it’s now Google owned. Apple clearly wants to showcase products that buy into their ecosystem, and ones that opt out will be out in the cold.
I’m not a proponent of Apple taking out products (actual products, apps …) from their stores without a good customer-oriented reason (bad product, bad user experience, significant issue …). For example, pulling non-Beats headphones from the Apple Store doesn’t have a good customer-oriented reason.
As for the Nest, if it were to be pulled from Apple’s stores, I tend to have the same position. Except when considering that “not supporting HomeKit” is a customer-oriented reason to not selling it: Apple promise that their iPhones can control smart devices (via Siri, apps …), and Nest is a smart device but cannot be controlled like other devices, so a non-technical customer will be confused.
It’s good product . See review & FAQ at http://allthermostat.com/ecobee3-review .