Summary
- Ecobee Smart Thermostat Essential offers basic smart features at a reasonable price of $129.99.
- It’s compatible with major smart home platforms like Google, Apple, and Amazon and advertises that it could save you around 23% in heating and cooling costs.
- While lacking advanced features, the Essential model is easy to install and suitable for smaller homes with basic HVAC systems.
A thermostat is an integral part of a home, which is why so many good smart thermostats have been around for a while. The Ecobee Smart Thermostat Essential is another addition to that list with a basic set of features at a reasonable price; just don’t expect anything exciting from it.
Ecobee Smart Thermostat Essential
The Ecobee Smart Thermostat Essential provides built-in energy savings and easy temperature control on its sleek touchscreen and convenient app.
- Simple, attractive design
- Supports Apple’s HomeKit
- Easy installation and polished mobile app
- Limited number of terminals built-in
- No presence sensor
- smaller screen
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Price and Availability
The Ecobee Smart Thermostat Essential is available for purchase now and retails for $129.99. It is the lowest cost of the three different models that the company sells.
The Features Are Basic But Sufficient for Most People
Ecobee updated its line of smart thermostats in 2022 with the Enhanced and Premium models. Now, around three years later, it’s adding a new entry-level model to the mix.
The Essential replaces the Lite model and even shaves off $20 compared to that one. For $130, you get a Wi-Fi-connected thermostat that can integrate with Google, Apple or Amazon. It’s Energy Star certified and the company estimates you can save 23% in heating and cooling costs by letting it manage your home temperatures.
My smart home is planted in Apple’s Home app, so I use the Essential’s HomeKit support for integration with Siri for voice commands and use Apple’s automation options for routines.
Ecobee’s mobile app, available for iPhone and Android, supports all of its thermostats and is a polished option if you don’t have a dedicated smart home platform you’re relying on. Inside the app you can set schedules, adjust the comfort settings, and add room sensors—an additional purchase in the case of the Essential.
These manual settings are all available if you want a hands-on approach. For people who would rather be more hands-off, you can enable Eco+ to let Ecobee handle everything. This includes tapping into letting your local energy company have a say in your use if there’s heavy community usage. Or let Ecobee know if you’re a “Time of Use” customer so it can adjust accordingly.
Having used Ecobee’s other thermostats for years, I’ve found these settings to work as advertised. Be aware, however, that you’ll probably have contradictory thoughts about its use from time to time if you have strong feelings about specific temperature levels.
The Essential Thermostat Won’t Work for Everyone
Although the Essential covers all the basics. It does miss out on some things. With a simplified thermostat comes fewer features across the board. There are only six wire terminals compared to eight on the Enhanced model and 12 on the Premium unit. There’s no multi-speed fan support.
Ecobee lists an 85% 24V heating and cooling system compatibility for this new Essential model compared to 95% with the Premium one. If you have some specific home wiring needs then you can pick through even more finer details on Ecobee’s website to see which model is best.
If you know you have a more complex HVAC system, then you probably know you need a more advanced thermostat than what the Essential offers. But it is worth noting that there’s a possibility that this new low-end model just won’t work for some homes, even if you don’t want a fancier unit.
Installation Is Familiar (Assuming You’ve Done It Before)
Installing a thermostat can be intimidating if you’ve never done it before. But based on the guided tutorial in the Ecobee app, I feel confident saying most people who feel empowered to take on the task can handle getting the Essential going by themselves.
Not only does the app walk you through each step with images and easy-to-understand text, but it’s also interactive. I told it the colors of the wires I had and it told me which terminals to put each one, even though they didn’t match exactly.
The one problem I experienced was when the app suggested I take a picture of the pre- and post-wiring configuration—a very good idea. You can take a picture right in the app as the installation is happening. In my case, I went back to reference the photo and couldn’t find it anywhere, including in my photo library. You may want to just switch over to the camera app to snap a quick photo.
Comparing the Essential to the Premium Model
Essential on the left, Premium on the right
The installation was quicker than normal (for me specifically) because I removed an Ecobee Premium model to attach the Essential. The holes for the wires were in different places, but otherwise, the process was very similar to the first time I did it.
While this new basic version and the high-end version probably aren’t stealing potential customers from each other, they also aren’t priced too far apart. The Essential retails for $130 while the Premium comes in at $250.
If the $120 price difference isn’t a determining factor, then the Premium model is well worth considering. The look and feel are substantially better than the Essential. The larger size is also nicer for daily use.
I like the Premium’s auto-dimming capability based on its sensors and the indoor air quality monitor is handy, but in practical terms, I found the screen to be the most significant difference. When directly compared, the Premium one is elegant while the Essential model feels much cheaper to touch and look at up close.
On the other hand, if the price difference between the two models is meaningful enough to cause hesitation, then the Essential holds its own. I have never used the Premium model’s ability to be an Alexa voice assistant or be a speaker destination for Spotify. Those are silly features highlighted by how bad the audio quality is and aren’t worth paying extra for.
Should You Buy the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Essential?
In the most complimentary way possible, the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Essential is boring. Its design is mostly invisible, its functionality is basic, and nothing about it is exciting. But for a lot of people looking to bump their thermostat into the smart-sphere without spending much money, boring is just fine.
The Essential is also a good fit for smaller homes. Since it’s pared down, it can’t handle some of the more advanced HVAC systems. It has an accurate name. It provides the fundamental features to be smart with connection and automation, but doesn’t go too far beyond that.
I like Ecobee’s long-standing support for Apple’s HomeKit and would probably recommend it over the basic, entry-level Nest thermostat.
However, if you’re deciding between the three different Ecobee models, I would recommend considering the middle Enhanced model first because it has the better size, feel, and walk-up sensor, but cuts out the silly speaker. If that one isn’t quite right, then I would recommend moving up or down based on whether you need advanced features or would rather save a few dollars.
Ecobee Smart Thermostat Essential
The Ecobee Smart Thermostat Essential provides built-in energy savings and easy temperature control on its sleek touchscreen and convenient app.
