Finaaalllllyyyyy
I’ve been wanting to try out a smart Wifi thermostat for awhile now. THANK YOU CYBER MONDAY. Amazon.ca had this one on for a steal of a deal and we finally took the plunge. All of these home automation/smart tech products are SO tempting am I right?!
But is it worth the buzz?? ha..
YES, YES IT IS WORTH THE BUZZ.
I’m going through everything today; from installation to set up to actually using the ecobee 3.
So I was actually between the ecobee 3 and Nest for a long time. Cyber Monday DID help me make that decision but so did the ecobee 3 reviews..
On Amazon.com, both the ecobee 3 and Nest had similar reviews which are both stellar.
Now that we know WHY ecobee, let’s get installing.
Installation
I’M NOT GOING TO LIE HERE, it was more of a process than I thought it would be. It wasn’t too hard per se, but don’t think you’re going to pop it on the wall and everything magically works. It involves knowing your way around your electrical box, furnace, cables/wires and the TOTAL TIME: about 45 mins to an hour.
If you know this going in, you’re FINE.
Ecobee actually has the most amazing installation guide. Just download their app and it guides you step-by-step through a VIDEO tutorial. Included are super easy quiz questions to help the guide determine your furnace system and which set up steps you require, based on your answers.
Plus, the feeling of pride having installed a frickin THERMOSTAT sans electrician is pretty nice.
Set Up
EASY AND FUN. Yes, fun. Weird hey? I absolutely LOVE tech. I really love home. Tech for the home? FUN. The system is super user friendly and like hella smart. I’m talkin’ not your average bee.
All you do is plug in your desired temperatures into the 3 comfort settings; Away, Home & Sleep. Then in the schedule tab, adjust your sleep, wakeup and away from home time frames. That’s it.
I also integrated the ecobee into my Apple HomeKit, since it’s compatible, so now Siri can go ahead and adjust the temperatue when I ask her to. If you have Philips Hue lights or other home automation products these can work with ecobee for creating ‘Scenes’. That’s a whole other blog post which I’d be more than happy to chat about. HOWEVER, I’ve been using the ecobee app mostly.
Lastly, my favorite, you can even schedule your vacations in the app so it automatically starts ‘Away’ mode during those times.
Use
I’m addicted.
I’ve been using it all the time. The ecobee 3 came with a room sensor that I put in my bedroom upstairs. The ecobee is downstairs on the main floor. The app recognizes the sensor as Lil Bee {um CUTE!} and tells you what temperate the bedroom is and what temperate the main floor is. At night I’ve set the ecobee to adjust the temp based on Lil Bee while I’m sleeping, and during the day it’s set to adjust based on the main ecobee.
The more you use it the smarter it gets. It learns your preferences and with the room sensors the ecobee 3 creates a geofence, which means when you leave that ‘fence’ it will automatically switch to ‘Away’. When you return home and back into the ‘fence’ it will switch to ‘Home’. Hello energy savings. Plus if you’re at the office and about to head home you can always turn up the thermostat right on your phone so it’s nice and toasty upon your arrival. I’m thinking… if you had a CABIN and on the way to the cabin could turn on the heat from your phone during the chilly Canadian winter months… Okay great, now I need a cabin.
Prices
Keep looking on Amazon.ca or Amazon.com. Put it on your Boxing Day list if you want a bargain. Also, for my Canadian readers, keep an eye on Red Flag Deals.ca. Lastly, check out BestBuy.ca and Home Depot for $299. I paid $249 on Amazon.ca during Cyber Monday.
Alright now, what am I missing? Questions, comments, ANYTHING, type it below!! Let’s chat.
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xxoo Drea Marie 
