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The Ecobee Smart Thermostat Essential is the company’s latest and most affordable climate control device. At $129.99, it may not offer all the features you get with more expensive smart thermostats, like Ecobee’s own Premium model ($249.99), but it works with the most popular smart home automation platforms for voice control and third-party device integrations. By contrast, the Nest Thermostat ($129.99) has a more stylish design and dual-band Wi-Fi connectivity, but the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Essential has a touch screen and support for remote room sensors, edging it out to earn our Editors’ Choice award.
Design: Understated, With a Compact Touch Screen
The Smart Thermostat Essential works with most 24V gas, oil, heat pump, electric, forced air, and conventional HVAC systems and supports two heating/one cooling or one heating/two cooling stages. Installation requires a C (common) wire, but you can purchase a Power Extender Kit ($24.99) as a workaround if your home does not have a C wire.
With its glossy black face and white enclosure with rounded corners, the Essential thermostat looks like most other Ecobee models, albeit smaller. At 3.6 by 3.6 by 0.9 inches (HWD), it’s a bit smaller than the $189.99 Smart Thermostat Enhanced (4.09 by 4.09 by 0.94 inches) and the $249.99 Smart Thermostat Premium (4.1 by 4.1 by 1.0 inches).
Behind the black glass is a 2.8-inch full-color touch LCD with 320-by-240 resolution. Around the back of the unit are 10 pins that contact the mounting plate’s wiring terminals. A speaker is located on the bottom edge.
The center of the LCD shows the current room temperature, and just below that is the target temperature. The top of the screen has a weather icon that shows the current conditions and the weekly weather forecast when you tap it. A system mode icon at the top lets you toggle between cooling, heating, and off modes. The screen also features a humidity level reading and a main menu icon (three horizontal lines).
Tap the main menu icon to access Eco+ settings, which automatically adjust heating and cooling times to take advantage of off-peak energy costs, and configure temperature settings based on humidity levels. Here, you can also customize comfort settings for home, away, and sleep modes. Other menu selections include reminders and alerts, schedules, system and sensor settings, vacation mode, and Wi-Fi and Apple HomeKit pairing.
For comparison, the Nest Thermostat relies on a touch bar on the side of the unit for onboard control and does not support taps and swipes on its mirrored screen. It’s not hard to use, but it’s less intuitive than a touch screen.
Smart Features: Voice Control, Scheduling, and Optional Remote Room Sensors
You can control the thermostat using the Ecobee app (free for Android or iOS) or with voice commands when paired with Amazon Alexa, Google Home, or HomeKit. However, it doesn’t offer built-in Alexa smart speaker functionality and air quality monitoring like Ecobee’s Premium thermostat, or have an integrated radar occupancy sensor, a feature of both the Enhanced and Premium models. It will connect to your 2.4GHz Wi-Fi network, but unlike the Enhanced and Premium versions and the Nest Thermostat, it does not support 5GHz Wi-Fi.
The thermostat appears in a dedicated panel on the Ecobee mobile app’s home screen. Tap the panel to open a screen with the current room temperature, comfort setting, humidity level, and target temperature. To adjust the target temperature, tap the reading and use the dial to raise or lower the setting. Tap the gear icon in the upper right corner to access the above-mentioned onboard settings. The app also provides helpful energy usage reporting.
The Essential thermostat can be paired with Ecobee SmartSensors ($99 for a pack of two) to monitor motion and the temperature in rooms other than where the thermostat is installed. For comparison, Ecobee’s Premium thermostat comes with one SmartSensor in the box.
It can also serve as a home security hub when paired with Ecobee’s door/window SmartSensors ($79 for a pack of two) and the brand’s smart cameras and doorbells. For a robust security solution with package detection, 30 days of video storage, and smoke alarm detection, you can subscribe to Ecobee’s $5 per month/$50 per year Standard Smart Security plan. The $10 per month/$90 per year Complete plan adds 24/7 professional monitoring and potential home insurance discounts.
Installation and Performance: Seamless Climate Control
The Essential comes with mounting screws, wiring labels, and a mounting plate/wiring terminal in the box. As with most smart thermostats, the Essential is easy to install but requires working with low-voltage wiring, so if you’re not comfortable with that, you may want to hire a pro. You’ll also have to download the Ecobee app and create an account.
I started by turning off the power to my thermostat at the panel and removing my old thermostat. I labeled my wires before connecting them to the mounting plate, attached the plate to the wall, and snapped the thermostat in place. I tapped Let’s Get Started on the touch screen, selected my Wi-Fi SSID, and entered my password. The thermostat immediately connected to my Wi-Fi, so I tapped Next and followed the instructions to open the app and either scan the QR code or manually enter the setup code. I did the latter, confirmed my wiring, and copied the registration code.
To add the device to the Ecobee app, I tapped the plus button in the upper right corner of the home screen, selected Thermostat from the list, and confirmed that the device was already installed. I then entered the registration code to complete the installation.
The Essential thermostat worked flawlessly in testing. I had no trouble adding it to my Alexa and HomeKit accounts, and it instantly responded to voice commands via both platforms. The touch screen was also very responsive, making it easy to set the target temperature, create schedules, and configure settings. Ecobee app commands were executed promptly, and the thermostat had no trouble adhering to the schedules I set.
