I know the ecobee3 just started shipping today but from my understanding it should have the same type of integration with SmartThings as the previous ecobee thermostats. I currently have a Nest thermostat and have added it to my SmartThings using the device type written by @pstuart. I’m curious if switching over to an ecobee thermostat will give me any additional integration with SmartThings over my current setup. I’m not overly interested in actually adjusting the thermostat within the SmartThings app, I can do that from the dedicated app. I’m more interested in the potential for automation through SmartApps.
Hello seannymurrs,
Please refer to this thread for a custom ecobee device that I created. This custom device can
be used with the new ecobee3 thermostat as well.
I’ve created several smartapps that can be used with that custom ecobee device.
Refer to the github repository below for more details
P.S. You can also ask me questions on this thread or PM me.
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That ecobee3 is pretty.
How much is it?
Has the ecobee shown to be compatible with the SmartThings system?
Yes. The current ecobee devices are compatible and we expect the ecobee3 to be as well.
The new ecobee3 is $249 with a remote sensor. See ecobee.com for details.
Just for a visual comparison (and for fun):
One thing I found, if you use @yvesracine’s Ecobee device type, Harmony home app and remote will see it. You can set Harmony remote actions like “Watch a movie” to increase the Ecobee thermostat temp to a specific setpoint. You can also control the thermostat manually from the Harmony remote. Harmony can’t see the Ecobee if you use the default ST Ecobee device type. So the ability to have custom device types does add some additional ability to automate. This is probably not specific to Ecobee though.
I know Nest has its own integration with Harmony too. As I have things setup now, I never use the Ecobee App, all my thermostat control is automated with ST. We’ll see how the winter goes but I expect to manually adjust the thermostat very infrequently.
Of course just as I wrote that, this appeared in my inbox from Ecobee:
We are excited to announce the launch of a new ecobee app and Web Portal! The new mobile App (iOS and Android) and Web Portal are free upgrades for all ecobee customers and are available starting today. The availability of these new platforms coincide with the launch of the new ecobee3 smarter wi-fi thermostat and remote sensors, which starts shipping today. If you’re interested in learning more about this innovative new thermostat and how it works with wireless remote sensors to address hot and cold spots in your home, please visit: http://www.ecobee.com or call us at 1.877.932.6233.
What’s new in the App?
The ecobee residential mobile App has been completely redesigned with a focus on a great user experience, and rebuilt with all-new functionality. The App layout matches the home screen of the ecobee3 smarter wi-fi thermostat, creating a seamless experience between the App and the new ecobee3 thermostat. This is not an update to the current ecobee residential mobile App; it’s a brand new App. If you would like to continue to use the legacy residential mobile App, you can do so, but we will not be updating the legacy App moving forward and it will no longer be available for download for the App store.
Download the app and view our full list of mobile App improvements.
What’s new in the Web Portal?
The new Web Portal also introduces a new user interface to increase ease-of-use, responsiveness, and better tablet performance. The redesigned and improved Home IQ report will include new features and insights that help you maximize the performance of your heating and cooling while also offering suggestions on ways you can save even more money on your energy bills. View our full list of Home IQ™ improvements
Please note that customers who have Smart Plugs, Smart Meters, or multiple accounts, cannot upgrade to the new web portal. This is to prevent the loss of any data or functionality they are currently taking advantage of. We are working on a transition plan for these users to ensure they’re able to take advantage of all the great new features in the updated ecobee residential Web Portal. Learn more about upgrade eligibility.
Please review our guide on upgrading to the new web portal before proceeding with the upgrade.
The new ecobee residential Web Portal is available starting September 29, 2014. The new Home IQ™ will be made available in stages, starting with diagnostic trending (coming soon), and additional features being released throughout Q4 2014.
If you have any questions about the new products, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We’re here to help!
I have Four Ecobee Smart Si thermostats in my Condo and LOVE them. I am coming from previous condo with Nest Themostats and honestly am happy with my decision to use Ecobee Smart Si>Nest.
Ecobee’s integration with ST has been seamless (*with exception of status which is sometimes not up-to-date, which I have read via this community is due to polling status issue ST is aware of and I would hope be working on).
Honestly only two things I miss from Nest but they are negligible as of writing this.
- Easy of turning Nest to away mode, BUT using ST, with mobile-presence enabled, has made up for this turning off my Ecobee thermostats when I leave my condo.
- UI of App Nest was just a little easier to use… BUT, as of today Spet. 29 new Ecobee3 App, which is backwards compatible, adds lots of great features and much improved UI
This was also a cost decision for me as I had to buy 4x thermostats. Going with Ecobee was a $644 investment (4x$165 Ecobee Smart Si) versus would be $996 (4x$249 Nest) with Nest. I would obviously choose the new Ecobee3 or Smart Si but buying four is just a bit too pricey for me
If you have any questions about my experience with Ecobee/ Nest, my system, ST set-up let me know.
I am looking to purchase a Nest for my newly bought ST system, I am semi-tech savvy with a completely not savvy wife … should I be wary?
I’m resurrecting an old thread, but just a quick question about the Ecobee 3 and sensors. I already have a handful of Aeon MultiSensors working well in my house. Many of my SmartThings automations and monitors are using them and I’m happy with it. I really like the look of the Ecobee3, and am considering this for my house. The other contender is the Ecobee Si. I saw somewhere here that Ecobee 3 plays nicely with Harmony which is an extra added bonus that I could leverage.
But will I get the same remote sensor benefits from an Ecobee 3 using the Aeon MultiSensors and SmartThings automations as I would from the Ecobee sensors talking directly to the unit? Or can they both work in tandem? I feel that the sensor is an added piece I don’t need, since I already have sensors that can trigger my system once I get a smart thermostat in place. But I could be missing a key point, and just want to see what this community thinks. I don’t really care about getting access to the Ecobee sensor in my SmartThings ecosystem, although that would be cool. I just want a nice looking smart thermostat to add to my SmartThings home. Ecobee 3 is quite pretty 
I too have been wondering whether that remote sensor for the Ecobee 3 provides any additional functionality, compared to the temperature sensor in a multi sensor (which most SmartThings users are already going to have installed around the house).
While several comments in this thread refer to these being “compatible”; Ecobee 3, Ecobee Si, and Nest all depend on community-written device types right now. If that’s a consideration.
I’m totally OK with the user written device types and smart apps. I am leveraging many already and I’m very happy with it. That’s one of the things that makes SmartThings appealing to me - the community here is creative and comes up with solutions for so many things. Of course, I’m technically minded so I don’t object to installing via IDE or tinkering with code.
I see a lot of threads about the ecobee 3 and it seems like it’s working fine in the ecosystem. But it’s not clear if you have to be mutually exclusive about the sensors - either use Ecobee sensors, or use SmartThings sensors, but not both? I can’t really tell. And if they don’t have to be either/or, then is there any advantage to having both in the system? I was on the verge of picking up the Ecobee Si when my HVAC installer friend suggested the 3 instead because aesthetically it looks sooooo much better. He didn’t realize what I already have in my house, so he was suggesting it for it’s sensor and smart operating options. It looks a lot better than the Si, and is a lot more evolved, but for that extra $100 am I only buying a pretty face with the 3 versus the Si?
I’m often one to see that most people have success and like something, so I am willing to give it a try…but a thermostat is a whole different level. I don’t exactly want to go through installing and setting up and then find out that it was money I shouldn’t have bothered to spend (and then have to uninstall, reinstall, get a different one, etc). Decisions, decisions… LOL!
I am really getting fed up with my Nests. I was one of the first on board with them 2 years ago. I replaced all 3 old thermostats in the house I bought and I loved them! Support was great too. Fast forward to when their 4.0 software came out (the one that supported Protect) about 8 months ago. Nightmare. All 3 of the thermostats were going offline with Wifi issues and if you look in their community forums, I wasn’t alone. They have improved from this issue, but now one of mine is still constantly going offline. I emailed the support manager who I was dealing with originally and I get no response. I opened a support ticket 2 days ago, no response. I am now on hold 30 plus minutes to speak to someone. I am not sure if this has anything to do with Google acquiring them, or they grew too fast, but I would definitely consider the Ecobee’s. I am in the process of adding a house extension and I picked up a 4th Nest on Black Friday for $199, and I have another few days to return it and I am strongly considering it. The one thing holding me back right now is the fact I have invested over $800 into Nest and I don’t feel like ripping them out.
@Mbhforum, there are a lot of ST users out there that are using ecobee thermostats (smart, smart-si, ecobee3, and even EMS) with my custom ecobee device that I created which adds most of the rich API functionalities compared to the ST stock device.
See
I’m currently working on adding reporting & stats capabilities so that ST users with ecobee can later post their daily runtime stats on their devices (HVAC, fan, humidifier, dehumidifier, HRV/ERV) to some analytics platforms such as grovestreams (www.grovestreams.com) and make any possible correlation with their sensors.
It seems that ecobee thermostats are more reliable, and with their latest addition (ecobee3), they have more capabilities than Nest out-of-the box. On top of that, there is less fuss about data retention issues.
Ecobee’s API are really rich (sometimes too much to my taste), but with my Custom Ecobee Device you can really use most of them within the ST environment.
And, finally I have developed a lot of smartapps that can take advantage of ecobee within SmartThings.
Refer to GitHub - yracine/device-type.myecobee: SmartThings-ecobee integration
My 2 cents.
Thanks! I spent 3 hours on the phone with Nest support and got the usual “we’ll be escalating your case”. They won’t admit they have software issues but yet won’t sent me a replacement unit: I am considering retuning the brand new Nest I bought on Black Friday that was going to be used for my new house extension and might get a Ecobee 3.
A couple of things holding me back are it needs a C wire or I need to then mess around with wiring at my furnace and I read how you cant look at the sensors remotely from your phone which is annoying.
The ecobee3 smart WiFi thermostat has the free wireless remote sensor for measuring temperature and occupancy and is compatible with the SmartThings system. I am wanting to order Nest Learning or ecobee3. I read the Nest Learning vs ecobee3 spec and features comparison and notice the ecobee3 is pretty.
I ended up going with the Ecobee 3 and have had zero issues with it. I have one remote sensor, but since I already had Aeon Multi Sensors in the 3 main areas I live in, I wanted to use those. Couple the sensors with “Keep Me Kozy II” and some hello home phrases, and I’ve got the system doing pretty much what I set out to do. What’s not clear is if I tell the Ecobee 3 at the unit to use it’s sensor system if that conflicts with the instruction from the Aeon sensors. If they are working in tandem, great, but I can’t tell. At the very least I don’t seem to be suffering any adverse effects.
thanks for feedback. I’m debatng about ecobee vs nest for my upstairs thermostat. (first is nest 2nd gen) I’m thnkng extra sensor that comes with ecobee will be helpful since 2nd floor thermostat is in mail bedroom and my wife spends lots of time in office. Nest would probably think no one is around and shut down. Glad to hear good feedback about ecobee.
I’ve been using Ecobee smart SI for almost a year now and it works well with my smart devices. check out this site http://www.consumeressentials.com/best-smart-thermostat/ they have a lot of thermostat products compatible for smart devices.