thermostat


ecobee4 with Amazon Alexa Voice Service 4
Today is the official launch of the ecobee4 smart thermostat: the latest in what’s now a long(ish) line of WiFi thermostats from the eponymous Toronto-based ecobee Inc. Whenever ecobee releases an even “smarter” version of their smart thermostat, you can pretty much guarantee I’m gonna be all over that product […]

ecobee4 Smart Thermostat Review


ecobee3 Lite calibration mode 1
Are you wanting to get on the smart thermostat bandwagon, but aren’t sure if it’s worth the $249 price tag of the full-featured models like the ecobee3 and Nest? Then has ecobee got a deal for you. They recently added the ecobee3 Lite to their line-up with a very tempting MSRP of […]

Review: ecobee3 Lite


Lux GEO WiFi Thermost 5
Thermostats have come a long way since the days of the gold-colored round Honeywell dial thermostats at your grandma’s house. Ecobee launched the first “smart” thermostat in 2007, but others like Google’s Nest and Honeywell’s Lyric weren’t far behind. But now even those manufacturers are shipping 2nd or 3rd generation hardware… meaning that […]

Review: Lux GEO WiFi Thermostat



Replacement dual capacitor ready to install. 32
Summer 2015 in Seattle has been officially declared the hottest summer here on record (check my weather station’s 2015 max temps on my Weather Underground weather history graph for geeky details). For those in the Pacific Northwest living without central A/C, it’s been miserable. And for those fortunate enough to have central air conditioning, […]

Air Conditioning Not Blowing Cold? Replace your Capacitor or Contactor


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Last year, when the ecobee3 smart thermostat was announced, I published a preview, then a “first look” and unboxing video, followed soon after by the very first review of the ecobee3. I followed those up with an ecobee3 installation guide for new users, along with an ecobee Smart to ecobee3 upgrade guide for owners migrating […]

Review: ecobee3 HomeKit-enabled Thermostat


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When I first received an ecobee3 smart thermostat for review, I wrote a guide to installing an ecobee3 for first-time ecobee users. This post, by contrast, is for ecobee old-timers. I’ll walk through how to replace your original ecobee “Smart” unit and upgrade to the ecobee3, while re-using your existing in-wall wiring […]

Upgrade Install Guide: ecobee original Smart Thermostat to ecobee3



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As part of our preparations for winter, my wife gently reminded me last week that she’s been asking me to fix the gas fireplaces in the house for months. But as a geek’s geek, I can’t just fix a fireplace, I have to upgrade a fireplace! We have three gas […]

Review: Skytech SKY-5310 Fireplace Remote Control


ecobee Firmware Update Screen 4
I’ve already discussed most of the pros and cons of the product in my ecobee Smart Thermostat review, and detailed my experiences with installing a second ecobee unit and using the group features. I’ve also documented some of my frustrations with ecobee’s tethered device approach, especially in the rare cases when […]

Installing Ecobee Smart Thermostat #5


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A few months ago, I wrote a product review for the ecobee Smart Thermostat (along with complete installation instructions and photos) which had I purchased to remotely monitor and control the thermostat in my Utah house while I was away. Overall, my review of the ecobee was

Installing my 2nd ecobee and Using Group Admin Features



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One of my favorite movie lines is from the 2001 movie Bandits, starring Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton. Billy Bob plays a neurotic genius who, at one point in the movie, states “You know the hardest thing about being smart? I always pretty much know what’s going to happen next. […]

ecobee Mothership Won’t Let My Thermostat Phone Home


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As the owner of a couple of vacation homes in climates more extreme than Seattle’s, I’ve had plans for a while now to eventually install thermostats in those houses which I could control remotely. In the winter, I could turn on the heat at my Utah house the day before […]

Product Review: ecobee Smart Thermostat