Ecobee's eco-saving, WiFi-enabled Smart Thermostat now available for order
By Ross Miller 
posted January 30th 2009 6:24AM
posted January 30th 2009 6:24AM
posted January 30th 2009 6:24AM
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I really want to like this. The interface is light years beyond my current programmable (and would lead to a lot fewer headaches in regards to the wife trying to reset the temp); but the fact I need to run external AC wires to my fargin thermostat is a major turn off. Who care if your display is nice if you've got wires all over your wall?!
I'm pretty sure you don't need AC. Looking at the installation isntructions it appears you use the existing therm. wires to power the head unit, running those back to the control unit that you mount near your HVAC. You plug the control unit in next to your HVAC, and run wires from it to the HVAC for actual control.
scooby doo where are you?
So what happens if/when the company goes out of business, my 400 dollar thermostat just turned into a 100 dollar programmable thermostat. What is wrong with a 100 dollar thermostat. And is there really a need to monitor the condition of your AC over the web 24/7/360? Come on folks...who needs this much control. A smart thermostat should be able to set it and forget it. Who needs to babysit it? This product just appeals to techie who thinks it's cool to have a wifi thermostat. The regularu Joe wouldn't care for it. And if I'm interested in it, I would certainly know how to get a host name for DynDNS.org for free. and set up exceptions in my firewall. Basically, non techie people wouldn't be interested in this and the techie people are not going to pay 35 dollars a year for service. So I think these guys will be stuck with a product nobody wants.
Now if they would only make one of these for my sprinkler system.
Forget the yearly fee and make an add-in for Windows Home Server. That would hit a core market interested in a product like this.
Yeah, I was really stoked about this. Even figured I could easily swallow the price tag, then I heard about the $35 annual fee, ugh. Then I read about the what seems to be difficult "should only be installed by a certified HVAC Technician", that pretty much ended it for me. I think this idea has great potential, but there should be an easy "plug & play" device and has no further costs associated with it. Sorry, Mr. Lombard, I'm out.
no thanks looks cool but the 35 bucks and the goofy power supply isnt going get my sale ill stick with my Proliphix Network Thermostat Model NT120h
I bought one. You don't have to pay the yearly fee. You can do all the programming from the thermostat.
The web interface and alerts are cool but if you don't want that part you don't pay for it.
You can also use it from any web enabled mobile device. Just go to ecobee's website login and you can change all your settings.
Yes an ipod/iphone/windows mobile app would be very cool.
Also the addition of more features on the thermostat, like how many times the heat or AC cycled on and for how long per day and estimated costs per day and month of running the system.
It really is stupid easy to use and to program. Its not just for techies. Its nice to be able to set temps based on when you are home, asleep, away and when you wake up and actually be able to change them with a few clicks or taps on the thermostat. They really did their homework on interface.
Price is a bit much and cost me about $140 for an install. But my hope is there will be more features you can add to the device over time. And whoever is saying the device is too much? People paid almost $500 for new phones when they come out so put it into perspective.
I do think based on current features it should be $250 plus $12 a year for the online portal. (You can get basic web hosting for that)
Only because >$100 for install. I called 3 of the different preferred installers and 2 wanted to charge me $85-$100 just to come to my home, excluding the time to install.
Also if you are older or are not computer savvy how does it sound to pay $25 per 15 minutes to have an HVAC guy setup your wireless and program your thermostat? These HVAC people are being forced to become "PC" people and I don't think many of the installers are up to the task. My installer was salty as hell and complained about how the future of these systems were all about computers and how he thought all these green people and liberal tree huggers were just as fad. This coming from the guy I was paying to install this.
Ecobee needs to really work with their recommended installers better or actually play middle man between the customer and the HVAC provider to get a fixed install rate and provisions for setup/programming fees for the non-tech crowd.
I understand that's not easy to control 3rd parties but having some disgruntled tech/green hating installer come out to install a green product is pretty ironic.
I agree with most the previous comments . Lots of great featuresl but the $400 price and recurring fees are too high . Mandatory requirement of licensed HVAC installation required for warranty is hard to take . I would likely choice Proliphix even though is it is not wireless and maybe somewhat less versatile .
A user review -
http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/34709834/m/812000427931/inc/1
Here is one user's installation and comments -
http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/34709834/m/812000427931/inc/1
Oops -
correct link to user review - ( search for Ecobee at http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums if link below does not work . -
http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/34709834/m/793004517931?r=793004517931#793004517931
If you guess another wireless option would be to use the Prolyphix with a wireless bridge ( eg AirPort Express ) but then that adds more complexity to the installation (will Proliphix be there for support ?) .