smart thermostat

ecobee3 Lite calibration mode — 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

This entry was posted in DIY Home Theater & Automation Technology and tagged DIY ecobee ecobee upgrade ecobee3 ecobee3 Lite Install remote thermostat smart thermostat thermostat WiFi thermostat on January 17, 2017 by Steve Jenkins (updated 2894 days ago)

Lux GEO WiFi Thermost — 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

This entry was posted in Home Theater & Automation Product Reviews Technology and tagged air conditioning ecobee Honeywell HVAC Lux Lux GEO Nest review smart thermostat thermostat WiFi WiFi thermostat on December 10, 2015 by Steve Jenkins (updated 3286 days ago)

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

This entry was posted in Home Theater & Automation iPhone Product Reviews Technology and tagged Apple automation ecobee ecobee3 Home Kit HomeKit HomeKit-enabled HomeKit-Enabled ecobee3 iOS iPad iPhone Nest product review review Siri smart home smart thermostat thermostat WiFi thermostat on July 15, 2015 by Steve Jenkins (updated 3446 days ago)

Control options for the ZigBee control module — One of my favorite features of my Ecobee WiFi thermostats is the ability to heat or cool a location so that it’s nice and comfortable by the time we walk in the door. For example, our furnace and heat pump at our cabin both use electricity, so I save money on my electric bill by allowing a […]

Product Review: Remotely Controlling an Electric Water Heater with a ...

This entry was posted in DIY Home Theater & Automation and tagged 240V 30 amp ecobee Leviton product review remote control schedule smart thermostat water heater wireless control module ZigBee on June 29, 2014 by Steve Jenkins (updated 3643 days ago)

Winland Electronics WaterBug Sensor — I’ve already written plenty of posts about my experiences with the Ecobee Smart Thermostat. To say I’m a fan would be putting it mildly. But today, I became an even bigger fan after extending the functionality of my Ecobee Smart Thermostat by connecting a water sensor to it. My basement […]

DIY: Connecting a WaterBug Water Sensor to an Ecobee Smart ...

This entry was posted in DIY Home Theater & Automation Product Reviews Technology and tagged alarm dry contact ecobee how to product review review smart thermostat water sensor WaterBug WB-200 Winland Electronics on January 10, 2013 by Steve Jenkins (updated 4363 days ago)

ecobee Firmware Update Screen — 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

This entry was posted in Home Theater & Automation Product Reviews Technology and tagged ecobee remote thermostat smart thermostat thermostat WiFi thermostat on August 12, 2011 by Steve Jenkins (updated 3743 days ago)

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

This entry was posted in Home Theater & Automation iPhone Linux Product Reviews Technology and tagged ecobee furnace heat pump iPhone remote thermostat smart thermostat thermostat WiFi WiFi thermostat on January 4, 2011 by Steve Jenkins (updated 4808 days ago)

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

This entry was posted in Home Theater & Automation Product Reviews Rants and Raves Technology and tagged ecobee hosted application remote thermostat smart thermostat thermostat WiFi on December 30, 2010 by Steve Jenkins (updated 4808 days ago)

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

This entry was posted in Home Theater & Automation iPhone Linux Product Reviews Technology and tagged cooling ecobee equipment interface furnace heating HVAC iPhone remote access remote thermostat smart thermostat thermostat WiFi thermostat on November 21, 2010 by Steve Jenkins (updated 4008 days ago)