Ecobee3 lite Review and Installation Walk-through

The ecobee3 lite thermostat is a smart thermostat that can be used directly to control your HVAC system. Connecting the system was straight forward and I did not need to go support from a professional. This was thanks to the step by step instructions. Connecting the thermostat to my home intranet and controlling it with an iphone app was also easy.

Why would I want a smart thermostat?

I love robots and automation in the lab, but I’ve been a slow adopter of home automation tools. The only reason I bought a new smart thermostat was because I needed to replace my older system. The older system was a 1st generation smart thermostat and I had a like/hate relationship with it. I liked that I could set it on a schedule, but I hated pretty much everything else about it.

My rationale for buying a smart thermostat is as follows:

1. Setting a schedule for heating and cooling that saves energy and keep the home at the comfortable temperature.
2. Connecting the thermostat to the home wireless and control it using a phone application
3. Managing the thermostat in a larger smart home system that integrates multiple smart devices.

Why choose the ecobee3 lite?

There are multiple smart thermostats out there. I ended up choosing the ecobee3 lite based on positive online reviews, price point, and the connectivity options.

Relative Positive Reviews of the ecobee3 lite

The Google Nest and the ecobee Smart Thermostat with Voice Control both had higher reviews than the ecobee3 lite. However, the ecobee3 lite was the 3rd highest rating and I was fine with top 3.

Price-Point of the ecobee3 lite

Price was one of the places where the ecobee3 lite shone.  It was less than either the Google Nest or the ecobee with voice control. I saved even more money by buying a refurbished model.  I’m not suggesting that everyone buy refurbished, but I’ve had good luck in that area to date.

Connectivity Options for the ecobee3 lite

I wanted my thermostat to: (1) be able to connect with my mesh internet. (2) Have a decent iPhone app to control the thermostat as well. I did not feel the need for voice control. I’ve heard feedback from friends that Nest products do not work that well with apple devices. I don’t have that personal experience, but it helped remove it from contention.

Getting started with the ecobee3 Lite

It impresses me how easy it is to replace the old thermostat with the ecobee3 lite.

Step 1: Download the ecobee app

To start everything off, I needed to download the ecobee app.

Step 2: Make sure you have enough battery charge

I installed the app! However, my phone battery was too low. I had to charge it for 20 minutes before I could move forward.

Step 3: Identify your wiring

Following the short break I started the directions and quickly got to the point of figuring out whether I need to externally power the Ecobee or if the wiring from the HVAC system could power the Ecobee without a power source. The viseo instructions to deterime if a C-wire existed to power the Ecobee was very helpful.

My HVAC system happened to have the ability to power the Ecobee directly so I didn’t have to bother with the power extender kit.

I focussed my attention on disconnecting the old thermostat and reconnect to the Ecobee.

Step 3B: Identify the wiring

The video was helpful and walked me through the process of identifying the wiring by going to the HVAC system and then labeling the wires so I could properly connect them.

The app even walk me through opening the front of my HVAV system to confrim the wire identities.

Step 4: Connecting the Ecobee

The final process of connecting the Ecobee was indeed the “home stretch”

Step 4A: Removing the old mounting plate

Removing the old mounting plate was quite straightforward and took less than 5 minutes.

Step 4B: To use a trim plate or not?

I have a big hole in the wall where the thermostat sits so I chose to use the trim plate.

The process of adding a trim plate was very easy.

Step 4C: Attaching the backplate to the wall

The presence of the trim plate did not interfere with attaching the backplate to the wall.

The picture below was my handiwork after walking through the process. I’m pretty proud of myself.

Step 4D: Connecting the ecobee3 lite to the backplate

This final connection step was somewhat anti-climactic, just a gentle press of the system.

Step 5: Powering on the ecobee3 lite

At the beginning of this process I discovered that my Ecobee power source is the HVAC. So I need to turn the system back on to see if it actually worked.

The directions walked me through that process as well.

Optional Remote Sensors

One of the nice features that the Ecobee line of smart thermostats have is that they support additional remote sensors. These remote sensors are battery powered and come with stand and wall mount options. The batteries lasts about a year in our experience. Once connected to your thermostat the remote sensors allow for occupancy detection for the room as well as general temperature sensing. When setting your schedules and profiles you can select which sensors are active and give them priority.

Keiran’s house had an issue where the bedrooms got very hot at night in the winter due to the thermostat being in the hallway and the heat sources being in the rooms. Installing remote sensors in all bedrooms and making them the only active sensors for the night profile solved the problem for him and they required no additional wiring.

If you don’t need a thermostat interface in a room or on another floor but you want to be able to get the temperature there these are a great solution. Enabling the occupancy mode will alow the ecobee to ignore temperature readings in unoccupied rooms as well so if you have one in say a guest room that is seldom used the temperature of that room won’t factor into the average unless the room is in use.