OT: Nest vs. Ecobee Thermostats

[RedStickDawg]

I’m looking into a couple of smart thermostats for the house. Do any of you guys have experience with both of these thermostat brands? Which performs best and what generation is optimal?

Both seem to have pros and cons but the Ecobee4 looks to have a few more desirable features including built-in Alexa, multi-room temp sensors and more compatible with Apple products.

When you read reviews you get mostly good but then a few bad on both brands. What am I missing? Thanks in advance

 

[RivaDawg]

I have the Nest brand and am pleased. App is easy to use. Only negative is I had to turn off the mode where it would “learn” your patterns. Wake up a couple of times in the middle of the night to let the dog out and it “learned” to come on at that time every night.

Programming the thermostat is easy. Easy to set timers for adjusting temps. Would but again.

 

[pDigital32Dawg]

I’ve got two Nest 3rd gens and I have been pleased with them so far. Both are good options with pros and cons to each. I was very interested in ecobee early on but ultimately price was my biggest driving factor for Nest (frequent discount promos).

Regarding ecobee, the multi-room temp sensors might be useful depending on how your house heats/cools. It wasn’t a need for me. Also, the built-in Alexa feature has some limitations that I would consider before buying. If you have an echo, you won’t have multi room support with your thermostat like you have with multiple echos. I’ve got an echo that I am able to control my nest with, and that eliminated the advantages of the built-in Alexa feature for me.

Lastly, check with your utility providers. There’s a possibility that you can get up to $100 in rebates per thermostat.

 

[ronpolk]

I have a nest for both upstairs and downstairs. Really like them both and would highly recommend. I’ve never tried the Ecobee though. I’m not sure how it’s more or less compatible with Apple than a nest is but the nest app works great on the IPhone. I have not purchased one yet but nest does have sensors now that you can place anywhere and that sensor will dictate the temp. I think they are about $25 to $30 each.

 

[thf24]

I've been very pleased with my Nest after 4-5 months of use. You'll want to turn off the learning stuff however, that only costs you money unless your entire system and duct layout are set up to facilitate daily changes. I like the "airwave" feature that shuts the condenser off but keeps the fan running to take advantage of the residual cold coming off the coil. The room sensors are also eye-opening as well. With a little experimentation, you can schedule the system to read off different ones at different times of day to balance out your home better if you have an older layout like mine.

 

[aTotal360]

I got a Nest and love it. I bought the cheaper white one. I can't see the expensive one having any more functionality that really matters. The app is super simple to use and works well. I honestly think it paid for itself in 6 months time.

The "learning" function works well 99% of the time as long as you're not one of those people that gets nervous about your phone tracking your location.

I'm not a voice command guy, so that sort of stuff doesn't matter to me.

 

[Car Ramrod.sixpack]

I don't have any experience with the Nest but I have had the Ecobee3 for about 6 months. First off I would consider the Eccobee3 rather than the 4. It seems they just rushed the Alexa integration in with the device from the 3. Mainly the 4 does not incorporate a near field microphone with the Alexa. This means if you call for Alexa for your thermostat and Amazon dot (for example or other Alexa device) will answer. Also I'm not keen on a device recording everything that is said in my home. With that being said the 3 is the same as the 4 sans the Alexa function. If you are an apple user the Ecobee integrates with home kit and Siri, this will allow you to use the basic voice commands to change temp and etc. Although the app is very user friendly and I prefer the iPad app better as it adds more functionality and settings.

I'm not sure about smart functions other than it will change the temp. if the house is occupied or not. I utilize the programmable functions primary by create comfort profiles based on temperature and other variables and assigning a schedule for these comfort profiles. You can also schedule a vacation on the calendar and your schedule will resume at your specified return.

The best part of the Eco is the motioned activated remote sensors. You can set up the thermostat to base the HVAC temperature on an average of the occupied rooms of the house. You can even set a comfort profile to base the temps off a single or multiple sensors. For example at night we have a sensor in the bedroom and the comfort profile set for that sensor, our bedroom stays a constant temperature while we sleep independent of other rooms in the house.

 

[bulldogbaja]

I like the "airwave" feature that shuts the condenser off but keeps the fan running to take advantage of the residual cold coming off the coil.

FYI, HVAC units have pretty much always done this.

 

[RingN2012]

https://www.wiserair.com/

 

[Hugh's Burner Phone]

I remember back when I was hot or cold I got my *** up off the couch, walked into the hallway, looked at the thermostat, and adjusted the dial accordingly. Y'all realize that **** like this is how Terminator happened. Today it's learning when to turn the air on. Tomorrow is robots walking through the city park, crushing skulls underfoot, and shooting lasers at the survivors.

 

[RocketDawg]

I remember back when I was hot or cold I got my *** up off the couch, walked into the hallway, looked at the thermostat, and adjusted the dial accordingly. Y'all realize that **** like this is how Terminator happened. Today it's learning when to turn the air on. Tomorrow is robots walking through the city park, crushing skulls underfoot, and shooting lasers at the survivors.

Or went outside in the snow, split a log, and threw it in the fireplace/wood stove. **

I have Honeywell programmable thermostats for my heat pumps. I never could understand why they require being on wifi ... won't work with an LTE connection (so I can't change it from the golf course, for instance).

 

[xxxWalkTheDawg]

I have a nest. It’s great. It works with Alexa too. You just have to get Alexa to learn the skill. The app is simple too. If the learning pattern gets wacky on you, you can go in and change it day by day. Supposedly that counts in the program as “learning”. I have not one bad word about it.

 

[ronpolk]

I remember back when I was hot or cold I got my *** up off the couch, walked into the hallway, looked at the thermostat, and adjusted the dial accordingly. Y'all realize that **** like this is how Terminator happened. Today it's learning when to turn the air on. Tomorrow is robots walking through the city park, crushing skulls underfoot, and shooting lasers at the survivors.

Just the other night, I woke up about 3 AM just burning up. I started to get up and turn the AC down when I remembered I had the nest app. So, I just rolled over opened the app and bumped it down a few degrees. It was then I realized how great technology is.

 

[RedStickDawg]

Thanks for all the input....think I’m going with the Nest.

 

[turkish]

I really do not like the idea of the Learning feature on the Nest. I made my mind up to go with the Ecobee but haven’t purchased yet. It seemed to me that that feature was the main thing the Nest had over the Ecobee.

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

FYI, HVAC units have pretty much always done this.

At the very least, central air units in the 70s did this.

 

[The Peeper]

Funny you say that because I was taking a dump recently and heard the unit just outside my bathroom window cut off and noticed the fan inside kept running and stirring up the stench for a couple more minutes. It's a 5 yrs old unit w/ an old fashion thermostat. They need to figure out how to keep the unit from blowing hot air out the ducts when it first kicks on. I'll put some thought into that on my next trip to the throne

 

[patdog]

They need to figure out how to keep the unit from blowing hot air out the ducts when it first kicks on.

I think that's going to be fairly impossible. That air has to go somewhere and the only outlet is into your house.

 

[jxndawg]

I've had Ecobee 3 for 2 years now (one upstairs and one downstairs). I went with them over Nest b/c I had 2 rooms in my house that got more/less sun than others and tended to run hotter/cooler than the rest of the house, so I wanted the remote temp & motion sensors. Two years later, I love them. Setting up a schedule is easy, and it's quick to respond if it notices you're home when you're not supposed to be, or vice versa. My upstairs unit is only a year old, but my downstairs unit is almost 15, and takes twice as long to do what the one upstairs does. The Ecobees have figured this out - the one downstairs starts doing its thing about 2 hours before we get home, where the one upstairs waits another hour or so before kicking on. Ecobee mobile app and desktop site are both really slick and easy to use to adjust temps, schedule vacations, look at usage stats, etc.

I'd echo what somebody else said about getting the 4 - I don't think baking Alexa in really adds anything, esp. since my 3s also work with the existing Echoes scattered through my house. And it is actually pretty nice (and not gimmicky like I thought it might be) to be able to say, "Alexa, set the downstairs temp to 74."

Having said all that ... I love my Ecobees, but you prob can't go wrong with either. Ecobee's claim to fame for the longest time was the remote temperature sensor option, but Nest is now coming out with those, too.