ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium
The strongest smart thermostat for a North American heating system, and the one to buy if you want room sensors done properly. It is a 24VAC device for forced-air, heat pump and low-voltage boiler setups, so it is the right answer in the US and Canada and the wrong answer almost everywhere else.
Our editorial rating, not aggregated user reviews
Reviewers who have had it on a wall are close to unanimous that this is the best thermostat you can buy for a North American forced-air or heat pump system. TechHive, Tom's Guide and Android Central all reach the same verdict, and the reasons are consistent: the remote sensor lets it heat the room you are in rather than the hallway the thermostat happens to sit in, the radar occupancy sensing is accurate, and the installation kit anticipates the wiring you will actually find behind an old thermostat. It does not reach the nines because of two flaws that recur across reviews rather than in one grumpy write-up. The built-in air quality monitor is the weaker half of the pitch: reviewers report alerts that fire on a schedule regardless of what the air is doing, and it cannot even run the fan itself in response. And parts of what the hardware can already do, including door and window alerts through the smoke-alarm listener and motion notifications, sit behind the ecobee Smart Security subscription. Neither stops it being an excellent thermostat, so it lands in the 8s.
Pros
- The bundled SmartSensor measures temperature and occupancy in another room, so the system heats where people are rather than where the thermostat is
- Broad HVAC support: conventional furnaces and air conditioners up to 2H/2C, heat pumps with two-stage auxiliary heat, boilers, PTAC and fan coil units
- A Power Extender Kit is in the box, so a home without a common wire can still be wired up without running a fifth wire
- Alexa is built in, and it works with Siri and Apple Home as well as Google Assistant, so it does not force an ecosystem on you
- Three-year warranty, which is longer than most of the category
Cons
- 24VAC low-voltage wiring only. This is a North American thermostat and it does not suit a typical UK, Irish or European boiler installation
- It needs a C wire, and while ecobee includes the Power Extender Kit to work around that, the kit is fitted at the furnace or air handler, which is a second job in a second place
- The air quality monitor is the part reviewers trust least. Alerts are reported firing in the same evening window whether the house is occupied or shuttered, and the thermostat cannot circulate air by itself in response
- Some capabilities the hardware already has, such as door, window and motion alerts, require the ecobee Smart Security subscription
- Priced at the top of the category, and you can get most of the scheduling benefit from cheaper thermostats
Specifications
- Wiring
- 24VAC through C and Rc terminals; Power Extender Kit included for homes with no C wire
- HVAC support
- Furnace and AC to 2H/2C, heat pump 2H/2C with 2-stage aux, boilers, PTAC and fan coil
- Sensors
- Temperature, humidity, radar occupancy and proximity, air quality
- In the box
- Thermostat, SmartSensor, Power Extender Kit, trim plate, mounting hardware
- Voice control
- Alexa built in; works with Siri and Apple Home, and Google Assistant
- Warranty
- 3 years
- Region
- North America (24VAC systems)