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Author Topic: Nest or Ecobee Thermostat?  (Read 8312 times)

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Offline ZackG

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Nest or Ecobee Thermostat?
« on: November 18, 2016, 12:51:52 pm »
Both the Nest and Ecobee3 will be on sale for $200 this coming week.  The Ecobee3 with 1 remote sensor is onsale now at Amazon, Best Buy, Home Depot, etc. 

I've been looking at both of these closely, and wanted some opinions.  I'm leaning towards the Ecobee3, but the lack of Almond+ integration has held me back.  I plan on adding other devices that are compatible with the Ecobee and Nest (Haiku Ceiling Fan for example) and want to control window A/C units and humidifiers based on room and remote sensor temp/humidity. 

Is there any plans to integrate Ecobee3 into Almond+?  Has anyone leveraged IFTTT to integrate Ecobee into home automation strategies?

Any advice would be appreciated. 

Offline grouter

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Re: Nest or Ecobee Thermostat?
« Reply #1 on: November 18, 2016, 01:27:31 pm »
Considering the "smart" thermostats have very advanced functionality built-in (adaptive, sensing, zoning, etc.), it doesn't make sense to me to tie them to the A+ or other HA controller. They'd just lose their smarts and all of the functionality they provide natively could never be reproduced on the HA controller.

Offline ZackG

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Re: Nest or Ecobee Thermostat?
« Reply #2 on: November 18, 2016, 01:35:40 pm »
My plan is not to modify the thermostat but rather control other appliances based on room temperature or humidity. 

For instance, my house only has a central boiler that is controlled by the thermostat.  In the summer I have window A/C units.  My plan is to control those window A/C units via zwave outlets based on room temperature. 
Another example is humidity.  Same idea as with the window A/C units.  I'll control stand alone humidifiers via humidity sensor on the thermostat. 


Offline grouter

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Re: Nest or Ecobee Thermostat?
« Reply #3 on: November 18, 2016, 01:40:46 pm »
That sounds very useful, but I think when you pair it with the A+ the thermostat essentially hands over all control. I believe it used to work like that and am not sure if there have been any improvements...

You could leave the Nest/Ecobee to its own smarts and pair temp/humidity sensors and outlets/switches with the A+ to control window units.

Offline fillibar

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Re: Nest or Ecobee Thermostat?
« Reply #4 on: November 18, 2016, 07:16:16 pm »
My Nest is paired but is still controlling itself completely. I do not tell it to do much with my Almond+ (besides turning on the fan once in a while for venting) but, as ZackG intends, I do check on status of it using the Almond+ (I do not have anything further though).
Almond 3 mesh handling the home.

Offline grouter

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Re: Nest or Ecobee Thermostat?
« Reply #5 on: November 18, 2016, 08:04:07 pm »
My Nest is paired but is still controlling itself completely. I do not tell it to do much with my Almond+ (besides turning on the fan once in a while for venting) but, as ZackG intends, I do check on status of it using the Almond+ (I do not have anything further though).

Well I stand corrected!

Has this always been possible? Pairing and keeping the Nest's built in functionality?

Offline fillibar

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Re: Nest or Ecobee Thermostat?
« Reply #6 on: November 18, 2016, 09:56:18 pm »
To my knowledge mine has always acted this way and I have had my Nest on my Almond+... well, since the very beginning the feature was available. Obviously you CAN override it completely and build all your smarts into the controller... But I think a combination is best.

Now if only Nest would stop being pains about the sensor data from the Nest Protect... Securifi could really let you do some neat things with that if Nest let them.
Almond 3 mesh handling the home.

Offline rldreams

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Re: Nest or Ecobee Thermostat?
« Reply #7 on: December 08, 2016, 03:36:49 pm »
Now if only Nest would stop being pains about the sensor data from the Nest Protect...

Don't see Google ever removing their restrictions. Especially with GH finally on the market.

That's why I went with Ecobee3 for thermostats ( that and the remote sensors ) and when the time comes to replace them, look for an alternative to my 8 Nest Protects

Offline kgoncher

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Re: Nest or Ecobee Thermostat?
« Reply #8 on: January 19, 2017, 08:45:59 pm »
I have the Ecobee. With Alexa, I can ask to turn temp up/down. With Ecbee, I can use phone app, or its room sensing and follow me, when I come home it sense me and over rules the rules and when I leave it goes back to rules and chosen sensor. Also Alex turns on my wemo lights when asked , or they follow wemo rules, or I use the phone app. My question is, what can the Almond do better? Why buy it?

Offline fillibar

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Re: Nest or Ecobee Thermostat?
« Reply #9 on: January 19, 2017, 11:09:50 pm »
Do you need more than just those couple Rules? Integrating many different sensors, like door and window, or multisensors, or flood, etc... It really boils down to what you want to do. If you only need a couple things and do not need much else out of it... why buy things that are overkill for your needs.

But if your needs include integrating your network and your HA, or a variety of HA control, I found the Almond+ pretty useful for a long time. The only reason I do not use it any more as the core of my network and HA system is that I am using Almond 3s now, with Z-Wave dongles.
Almond 3 mesh handling the home.

Offline Katy1989

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Re: Nest or Ecobee Thermostat?
« Reply #10 on: October 18, 2018, 03:39:13 am »

I use Ecobee it is very good thermostats.
I guess you need to read the review on them. They helped me a lot when choosing.
Good luck

 

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