EcoBee *Official* Disconnecting... but I use StrykerSKS-Ecobee3

I like that idea and I like CoRE but I have a blocking issue: my remote sensor has a range of like 10 feet (and it needs line of sight!). My main thermostat is on the mid level of my townhouse and placing the remote sensor literally ~8 or 9 feet away (directly below, on the lower floor) completely kills the signal. I have a wifi-friendly unit and plenty of other radio signals work just fine… maybe I have a dud remote sensor? I’ve checked the batteries and tried some ones ones - that’s definitely not the issue.

Yeah, I have additional sensors on top level and bottom level and I don’t have any issues with range. The furthest one is about 40’ from therm and goes through 4 walls…Sounds like a dud to me.

Also, check out this one which I’ve been using for quite awhile now.

SO here’s the thing: you can’t run both the “official” SmartThings Ecobee support and @StrykerSKS version at the same time. Sean’s version is meant to REPLACE the standard one provided by SmartThings. If you run both, ONE of them is going to complain about the credentials (since both are using the same seed).

My advice: remove both versions (ALL the SmartApps and ALL the Device Handlers), and then start from scratch.

If you’d like to try a slightly more advanced version, (that ALSO replaces both the stock and @StrykerSKS’ version), you can try the one I’m maintaining at the link that @johnahesch posted above.

Unlike Yves’, the Open Source version I am maintaining is free of charge. While not nearly as advanced or complex as Yves’ version, many are finding that my DTH and the supporting Helper SmartApps are quite sufficient, without the price tag.

Definitely a dud - I have nearly two dozen sensors deployed at 3 different properties with 6 different Ecobee 3’s, and none of them are line-of-sight, and only 3 are within 10 feet of their Thermostat. I had one that kept burning through batteries every 3 weeks, but since I swapped it out with a new one it has gone over 3 months without needing attention.

Super cool! I’ll definitely try it out. Honestly I tried to follow @StrykerSKS 's instructions exactly and thought it would only have his version installed, but I can see how to do it differently next time.

I’ll check out your open source version, but I’m also definitely on board to donate and pay for @yvesracine given that I’m a fan of paying people who do good work for stuff like this! Thanks!

Noted! I’ve contacted support. They asked me to place the sensor on top of the unit for a while so they can run some diagnostics. I’m going to do that when I get home tonight and just leave it there. They didn’t promise anything explicitly, but the implication was that they would be willing to replace it once they run those.

@lkjsaendlkje,

Thnx for your support!

BTW, if you have any other ST connected sensors in your rooms, you can use them with my smartapps to adjust your thermostat’s setpoints in a similar way to the ecobee’s follow me and smart away features.

Refer to this thread for more details:

Regards.

Well, if you try my free, open source version and you like it enough to keep using it, I will happily accept a donation :wink:

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I just got my replacement sensor… what’s the right setup process given that I’ve already got my main two devices paired… do I have to delete them and start over?

You should be able to connect the new sensor as an additional sensor to your existing thermostat. Then remove be the old sensor from smartthings, and then separate it from the thermostat ( which you do by reversing the battery in the sensor for a few seconds). Finally, go back into ecobee connect to add the new sensor.

ha… as a n00b that sounded like it started and ended with the exact same instructions (see the two highlighted parts)…

I was able to trivially get the new sensor paired with the OEM Ecobee platform (physically activate the battery on the sensor, make sure you’re near the main thermostat, then follow the instructions on the thermostat device). I was also able to remove the old sensor (again this was only possible from the thermostat unit itself using those menus which look very similar to the iOS app but they are not quite the same, for example the “remove sensor” X button is only available on the thermostat)… I can’t figure out what to do next, though.

Sorry for the confusing instructions. What I was trying to say is:

  1. Pair new sensor to Ecobee thermostat
  2. Go into Ecobee (Connect) on your mobile, and go to the Sensors part of the configuration
  3. Unselect the OLD sensor, exit out of Ecobee (Connect) - this will delete the old ST device. If not, it is safe to go into the OLD SmartThings Sensor Device and remove it from there.
  4. Go back into Ecobee (Connect), Sensors and select the new sensor - when you exit, this will create the new ST device.

You should be able to pick up at #2 above.

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Thanks! Starting from #2 I went to the ST iOS App -> Automation -> SmartApps -> Ecobee (Connect) -> [Devices] Sensors -> then checked the new one. That immediately created the new sensor. I went back and unselected the old one, which hasn’t done anything yet. I realize I did those steps in reverse order, but I’m guessing that might not matter. I’ll give it some time for the clouds to sync (just in case there’s a delay), then manually delete the old sensor if necessary. Thanks @storageanarchy!

NP - happy to help (and no, order shouldn’t matter…but the old ST sensor device should have been deleted automatically when you exited Ecobee (Connect)).

Turns out I had a security routine that was referencing the motion detector. I got a funny error in the SmartApp if I tried to even view the Sensors (“Device still in use. Remove from any SmartApps or Dashboards, then try again”), which was super confusing until I realized that’s probably the custom SmartApp trying to delete the Sensor and generating that error. The only way for me to get out of this menu was to “cancel” my way out (not saving any changes to the SmartApp).

Once I went over to the main device list in my iOS app I manually removed the sensor and found a check-message to the effect of “hey this device is being used by SECURITY_PROFILE_NAME are you sure you want to remove?” so I hit “yes” and then everything got back into alignment as expected!

IMG_5640

Just a quick edit to clarify why the screenshot is so confusing: I see the message showing one-of-one sensors that are selectable, which is reduced from the previous one-of-two (in theory I had two before)… hence I couldn’t understand what the red bar was about.

@yvesracine - Seems as though you and a few others on this thread are the “experts” when it comes to the Ecobees. I’m a newbie to coding for these devices (but have been a developer for over 30 years), but I can’t seem to find anything with regards to using the Ecobee’s speaker as a chime/speaker/alert/etc. Did I totally miss it in one of your threads? The current Ecobee DTH doesn’t seem to allow the use of the speaker.

What I’d like to do is use my ecobees as a chime when someone opens a door, hasn’t disarmed the alarm, etc. I can easily do this via a IFTTT or a CoRE piston IF I could actually use the speaker.

Any ideas…and apologies if I’ve overlooked/missed this in one of your threads.

Hi @Tek_Age, there is no way (at the moment) to send this kind of commands to the ecobee via the APIs.

However, with the new ecobee switch, some API changes are coming soon.

That’s all I can tell you about it…

Thanks @yvesracine for confirming that. I wasn’t sure if I had missed that somewhere. Hopefully new API will contain some.

Hi guys, Im using hubv2 in the UK and cant seem to find ecobee in the thermostat marketplace. Anyone else having this? Also, how do i add the device then?