OT: Ecobee3 HVAC Thermostat

I have it.  My wall plate theromstat is always running high, by about 2-3 degrees.  It's placed in a central location on an interior wall, however the sun hits it in the afternoon causing it to spike.  It reads a true temp, but will kick on the AC or won't kick on the heat due to the sunlight, this the rest of the house will be cold or hot depending.

Work around, I've turned the main thermostat off and only run it when it's in away mode.  When I'm home, the system knows via wifi and smartphone location being paired to it, and switches the remote sensors as the primary sensors for air/heat.  my sensors are in the upstairs bedrooms, kitchen, and main thermostat.  The more sensors he better job the system does at averaging out the heat/cooling.  

At at night the downstairs sensors get kicked to "off" for comfort settings while sleeping. 

You can program the schedule everyday for home/away/sleep and as many combos as you see fit.  Perhaps you at home at 8, leave at 8;30, back at 12, leave at 1, back at 5, sleep at 10, and wake up at 4am.  The system can be programmed to do such.

Lastly, it has a learning mode to start and stop the heat/air once it learns how long and which sensors adjust quicker.  Thought being, it may take your AC unit 45 minutes to cool the house 5 degrees.  It will start up sooner as it anticipates your arrival at home.  So instead of starting at 5, and your house is hot until 6, it will start the AC sooner around 4:15.

My only complaint thus far is the dual comort settings.  Meaning you can have both air and heat on for fall/spring type seasons.  In the morning you may want heat and afternoon the AC.  The temp spread is 5 degrees, if it goes below 70 it will kick on the heat, or over 75 in the house it turns on the AC.  You can widen the spread beyond 5 degrees, but not narrow it.  It's because the program is designed to protect the AC compressor from kicking in and off very quickly damaging the unit.  Idea would be if the spread was 70/71.  Heat would kick on and overshoot the temp, then at 71 the AC will kick on to lower the temp.  This Cycling will damage your units...5 degrees seems to be the buffer, I just wish it was 3 degrees.

Ecobee is working on a hub system for wifi sensors that work with aftermarket register grates for folks that have one zone heating.  Seems cool, pretty pricey and I have no experience with the units.  I just know its Being developed.

Side note, I've had my system for 3 years and the lithium batteries (watch style) are starting to need replaced.  Seems to be fairly good, especially when the sensor recognizes when you walk into the room and "occupy" it.

hope this helps!

Edit:  I read your post again, and the iPhone app works well.  It has a bug when you go to look for the local weather, the screen locks up, but I just re boot it. You can turn it on/off, switch sensors to run the system on the phone.  Turn on the fan, turn off the system, etc.   the iPad app has more function due to comfort settings and program history.  It will track your historical usage and compare to other ecobee in your area to see how energy efficient your home is.  The iPhone app doesn't have these extra features.

I have an Ecobee 3 and would buy again in a heartbeat. I do not have multiple zones, but have a variety of different hot/cold rooms depending on the season. I have 7 remote sensors (really good deal at walmart a few weeks ago). The system works fantastic. You can easily tell the thermostat what sensors should or should not be involved when determining whether the system should heat or cool, even depending on time of day. So...my daughters room is always hot in the summer. I try to make sure her room and some other warm rooms are given more priority when they are occupied or towards evening when I know she will be there, more so than the other rooms. The other rooms are still taken into consideration by including a sensor or two from a cooler area of the house.

I also have it hooked up to Samsung Smartthings. I have Smartthings monitor for large temperature deviations between rooms and automatically turn on the furnace fan to help equalize temp differences or if the basement (large reef tank) or daughters room get too hot.

There is a lot of different things that can be done and like I said...totally worth it to me.

caliking said:

I don't have the ecobee3 but I have 2 Honeywell wifi thermostats in the house. The main zone is controlled with this:
https://yourhome.honeywell.com/en/products/thermostat/wi-fi-smart-thermostat-rth9580

The upstairs zone is run with this one:
yourhome.honeywell.com/en/products/thermostat/wi-fi-7-day-programmable

I think @nolaegghead and @Eggcelsior also have these. 

The programming works well and I like them. The Nest would not have worked well because there isn't much traffic past the thermostat location . I had a similar issue like @RedSkip had with sun light hitting the thermostat and causing it to cool or heat inappropriately , so I hang a hat over it and the problem resolved.

You will need a "common" wire to power the thermostats, which is often already there. You may have to get someone to run one for you, if you don't have one. 

I have the same thing (earlier gen, I think).  The wifi works well.  I have 2 units, one with 2 zones and one single zone, and my house holds temp pretty well.  We have crazy insulation, so other than one hallway that gets a ton of direct afternoon sun, we stay pretty comfortable.

i called my dad who has been in HVAC for 40+ years and he stopped by the supply house.  the Ecobee is really popular and they have seen great results with the ones that the sell.  My FIL needed a new system so we helped them out and installed 2 nests one up and one down and it seems to do a really good job working together. just thought I would throw in my 2 cents, I know dad doesn't get a deal on ecobee but I can get  a good price on the nest and ship them if you decide to float that way, just send me a PM.

Check with your power company.  Sometimes they give rebates.  In Atlanta Georgia power has a $100 rebate on the ecobee. 

https://www.georgiapowermarketplace.com/collections/featured-energy-saving-products/products/ecobee4-wifi-thermostat

If the GA Power thing sounds good, I can be your middle man since they are my power company!

We have had the ecobee 3 for about a year.  Love it, living in the desert we have one sensor in our bedroom and this helps a ton it heats up more then the rest of the house in the afternoons so it is nice and cool st bedtime.  The iPhone ap is user friendly.  Check with your gas and power company we got $100 rebate on it (could have got nest too but I liked the sensor idea more).  Some brands didn't have a rebate offer like the Honeywell comes to minds.  I think they sent me an email about a new model coming out that is Alexa ready (4?).