Is Ecobee4 worth it

Smart Home requirements is increasing and so does the competition between the companies manufacturing smart products. Ecobee is one of the company that has been into this for years and with the release of its latest Ecobee 4 smart thermostat, certainly it has reached to millions of houses.

But, Is Ecobee 4 worth it? Yes, Ecobee 4 is certainly a thermostat that you need in your house. The built in Alexa integration, sensors to detect occupancy to keep temperature balanced and upto 23% annual cost saving totally makes it worth.

So, let’s dive deeper and try to understand how worthy it is and what are the new features that makes it different?

Why Ecobee 4 is perfect for you?

The first thing that I would love to start with, what makes it different from others? The Ecobee 4 is the first smart thermostat that came with the smart room sensor and the Built-in Alexa.

So, now you don’t require to go to your thermostat to change the temperature, you just have to say, “Alexa, set the thermostat to 30 degrees, or you can just ask. “Alexa, what is my bedroom’s temperature”.

Do you know that Ecobee 4 pays for itself in just 2 years? It simply means that you can save 23% of your energy bills annually. So, if you have already used a traditional thermostat then you can calculate the difference yourself.

You would be certainly thinking that if you are already using Apple Homekit or Google Home, Can I use this with Ecobee 4? The answer is yes! The feature that all of us want in smart device that its compatibility to other smart devices. Ecobee 4 is compatible to plethora of other devices like Google Assistant, Apple Homekit.

You can also integrate Ecobee4 with Samsung SmartThings, IFTT, Logitech Harmony, Vera and many more of them.

The reason you need to be aware about the thermostat compatibility with other devices because it is possible that the thermostat you go for would not be compatible to the device that you already have at your home and you would have to spend some extra bucks on the compatible device.

Who doesn’t like a device that is easy to install and doesn’t require a professional? The Ecobee 4 is very easy to install and you don’t have to spend more than 30 minutes for this.

The installation manual that comes with Ecobee 4 is easy to understand and the steps provided is concise and simple.

You can also get an online help where all the wires with particular diagrams are given for easy understanding.

If you get a message “Calibrating: Heating and Cooling Disabled”, check out our Ecobee Calibrating troubleshooting article.

However, if you are having problems in understanding then go through the below installation video.

Some Alexa commands for Ecobee 4

There are numerous Alexa commands for Ecobee 4 that makes the life simple and easy. Check out the few Alexa commands below that is generally used in every home.

Alexa command for getting temperature update

  • “Alexa, what’s the thermostat temperature?”
  • “Alexa, what is the thermostat set to?”

Note:- In place of Thermostat, you can use the thermostat name.

Alexa commands for setting temperature

  • “Alexa, set the thermostat to <desired temperature>”
  • “Alexa, set <thermostat name> to <desired temperature>”

Alexa commands for Increasing or decreasing the temperature

  • “Alexa, raise/lower the thermostat temperature by <desired number> degrees”
  • Alexa, increase/decrease the thermostat temperature”

Alexa command for turning On and OFF the Switch

  • “Alexa, turn on/off <Switch+ name>

You can find more Alexa commands for your Ecobee 4 here.

How to Enable Alexa Skills on your Ecobee 4?

You can’t use the Alexa command on your Ecobee 4 unless you enable the skills on the Alexa device you are using. Make sure to enable both Ecobee and Ecobee Plus skills. You can use the below steps to enable the skills.

  • The first step is to login to your Amazon account and click on the “Smart Home”.
  • Now, you would see the option “Get more Smart Home skills”. Click on this.
  • Search Ecobee from the list of the devices and enable it.
  • Now, you need to login to your Ecobee account and accept the Authorization.
  • Once you accept the Authorization, the Alexa skills are enabled for your Ecobee 4.

Make sure to repeat the steps and enable the Ecobee plus skills too. If still you are having any problem in setting it up, you can check out more details on this support page.

Some more features of Ecobee 4

Ecobee 4 has several features that makes it different from others. However, I have already discussed it above on this article, there are some more that you need to know if you have any plans to get a Ecobee 4 for your home.

HomeIQ – When it comes to saving energy, the most important aspect you need to know is how much energy you are using each day and how can you save more? The HomeIQ lets you know the details of the energy consumption monthy and the ways you can save more.

Smart Home/Away – Sometimes we forget to switch off the devices when we go outside and it really becomes annoying when we get the bills to pay. The Smart Home/Away feature uses sensors to keep track on when you are at home and when you are not and hence, saves the electricity when you are away.

Alerts and Reminders – There was a time when I was using traditional thermostat and it had some performance issues. I couldn’t get it and the bills I got at that month put me in debt. But, with the alerts and reminders in Ecobee 4, I get to know when it has any performance issue and call a professional for help.

Follow me – Doesn’t matter wherever you are! You can still average the temperature of you house based on the occupancy.

Smart Recovery – This feature is really awesome and let you Ecobee know when you want your house to be at what temperature and therefore minimizes the system runtime.

Apart from all the above features, there are some more features like clean and easy access to website, either from a smartphone or desktop to manage the thermostat.

What I don’t like in the Ecobee 4?

Nothing in this universe is perfect. Even if a device comes with loads with futuristic features, it has some flaws too. There are certain reasons that may not be helpful for you and I would like to put some light on these drawbacks too.

The first thing that I didn’t like in Ecobee 4 is that it is not aware of the nearby Alexa devices. I have a Ecobee 4 and an Alexa Eco dot, whenever I ask anything both of them reply. It is really annoying and don’t want my both Alexa devices to respond to my questions.

This can be fixed by the company and so that, probably with new update this issue will get resolved.

The second drawback is awfulness of the mic and speaker; you can neither connect it to Bluetooth nor you can use this for playing music. However, I understand that built in Alexa speaker in Ecobee 4 is not for playing music but if it could have been good enough then it would have certainly some more advantages over other thermostats.

The third drawback that I would like to highlight is the absence of learning feature. However, Ecobee 4 has sensors that keep track of you when you are home and away but absence of learning feature when you can get it in its competitor like Nest thermostat certainly makes Ecobee a bit below Nest.

If you have both Ecobee 3 and Alexa at your home, then you don’t need a Ecobee 4. All the features that you get in Ecobee3+Alexa is there in Ecobee 4, nothing more than that.

Our Verdict

Overall, Ecobee 4 is a better choice than most of the smart thermostats present in the market.

You have found all the reasons that makes Ecobee 4 more suitable for your home, I own it and therefore, I am in love with the device. However, each person has his own taste and therefore, if you find Nest learning thermostat better, it is your choice to go for that.

Anyway, if you find this article valuable for you, please drop a comment below. This would keep me motivated in sharing over more useful articles.

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