Ecobee thermostat plug

amitjm1980

Not sure how much familiarity there is with the Ecobee thermostat, but I just want to provide my quick review and why I think it's awesome for anyone with steam heat. You can use it just like a standard thermostat, or you can program it, set setbacks, etc. etc. The real beauty for steam heat users comes with two features:

1. The ability of it to automatically log run-times daily and monthly and to see that information easily and in detail through their portal. Since I recently replaced my boiler and made some other changes to my system, I was able to quickly see just how much my total system runtime improved (went from a mix of really short and really long cycles and super long total run times to ~20 minute cycles and much improved run time).

2. The ability to use remote temperature sensors for occupancy sensing but more importantly to use them as "remote thermostats". If for example your thermostat is in a bad spot (too cold or too hot), you can base the temperature setting off a remote sensor (or multiple sensors) that you place in a more ideal spot(s). In addition, if you have a room that's just a bit colder, you can put a sensor in that room and have the temperature setting be an average of what the sensor sees and what the actual thermostat and/or other sensors see. You can have multiple sensors in different rooms, use an average of any combination as a thermostat reading, and you can disable the temperature sensor in the thermostat itself if you want to. With all the different options, it provides many ways to make your heat more even throughout your house, or make a specific room warmer or cooler if you wanted to.

While my steam system is working great, just like most it's installed in an old house that isn't well insulated. Hence, I have some rooms that are cooler and some that are warmer than others. The Ecobee has made a massive difference in how evenly my house is heated, and since I have a 15 month old at home it gives me a bit more control over the temperature in the nursery. While having thermostatic vents on every radiator would be great, it's cost prohibitive for me and I'd be hard pressed to even fit them easily based on how close some of the vents are to my walls. I hope this is helpful for anyone considering it! No, I'm not affiliated with Ecobee in any way, I'm just very impressed with it.

Jamie Hall

Note to @ChrisJ -- shall I do a testimonial for my mercury T87s?

ChrisJ

> @Jamie Hall said:
> Note to @ChrisJ -- shall I do a testimonial for my mercury T87s?

If you want to be "that guy" on someone's post who am I to stop you?

amitjm1980

If you want to troll my post go for it free country

Jamie Hall

amitjm1980 said:

If you want to troll my post go for it free country

I wouldn't do that -- it's a kind of running joke between the two of us. Actually, reading along over the various posts regarding thermostats, of the newer electronic thermostats which are popular, it seems that the various Edobees do give less trouble than some others.

Kjmass1

+1 for ecobee as well. I trashed my Nest after they updated it in the middle of the winter and threw my steam boiler in to chaos building up pressure.

Best things for ecobee:

1) Monitor and adjust temp from anywhere
2) Stick a sensor in the basement when you are away to make sure pipes aren't freezing
3) Temp alerts in case something has happened
4) Say you have a fire going in your thermostat room, you can quickly switch to a different setup where it will average all your sensors except that room to keep rest of house heated in 1 zone system
5) Spreadsheet data down to 5 minute intervals for all sensors, humidity, outside temp/wind/humidity etc allows you to do some cool analytics, or back in to fuel usage per degree hour etc.

For those in Mass, MassSave was selling the ecobee lites for $15 at the end of last year. Keep an eye out on those sales.

Zipper13

Is there more than one model? Which do you have? For the remote sensors, does it present a log of the temps at each sensor over time? I feel like that could help balance my radiators. Right now as I walk into a room, it it feels hotter/colder as I enter I'll give the valve half a turn and check back the next day to see it its evened out. having a graph might be nice.

Zipper13

ooof! those remote room sensors are pricey! sounds like MassSave rebates the stats, but those are too rich for my blood.

amitjm1980

@Jamie Hall my apologies then I didn't realize that.

amitjm1980

@Zipper13 I have the ecobee3 and I purchased an extra two pack of sensors. I found a two pack on eBay cheaper than in the stores.

ChrisJ

Jamie Hall said:

amitjm1980 said:

If you want to troll my post go for it free country

I wouldn't do that -- it's a kind of running joke between the two of us. Actually, reading along over the various posts regarding thermostats, of the newer electronic thermostats which are popular, it seems that the various Edobees do give less trouble than some others.

amitjm1980 said:

@Jamie Hall my apologies then I didn't realize that.

I've never seen this man before in my life.

zackwatt

I'm loving my Ecobee3! It's been installed since Oct and I have it set to a 12 minute min run time.

modconwannabe

I have a few running. The ecobee lite or 3 are cheaper and the only difference is they don't have an Alexa built-in. In NY state you can get them for the price of a regular tstat--the electric company discounts them, and then I got a $75 rebate from gas company, so all in was like $44. The sensors are pricey but better than Nest's version because they detect both temp and occupancy/motion, so they can trigger "scenes" and so on. I just installed one in my parents uninsulated centrail air house.

Kjmass1

modconwannabe said:

I have a few running. The ecobee lite or 3 are cheaper and the only difference is they don't have an Alexa built-in. In NY state you can get them for the price of a regular tstat--the electric company discounts them, and then I got a $75 rebate from gas company, so all in was like $44. The sensors are pricey but better than Nest's version because they detect both temp and occupancy/motion, so they can trigger "scenes" and so on. I just installed one in my parents uninsulated centrail air house.

Ecobee lites also can't control accessories.

yz613

I recently bought an Ecobee but haven't been able to install it because the thermostat for my steam boiler only has 2 wires going to the thermostat. @amitjm1980, did you have the same problem? If so, how did you get past it?
Thanks!