Do you have a smart thermostat in your home? When I replaced both of the thermostats in my home a year or so back, I chose standard, non-Smart thermostats. At that time, I didn’t see the need for another wifi-enabled device in my life. Now that I am spending more time in Ohio, I have begun to regret that decision.
Georgia weather can be extremely unpredictable with snow one day and 75-degree temps three days later, so I worry that the weather will take a sudden turn and the thermostats will be on “Heat” when they actually need to be running the A/C, or vice versa.
During that awkward weather transition period in the spring and fall, if I leave for a visit north, I’m not always sure if I should leave the thermostat set on heating or cooling. Not wanting to drive 9 hours back just to change the thermostat if the weather takes a drastic turn, I decided to have a smart thermostat installed in the upstairs part of the house. A Smart thermostat would give me the ability to change the temperature in the house from anywhere.
I contacted a company that I’ve used many times for electrical, plumbing, and HVAC services, and their technician recommended and installed an Ecobee thermostat. The specific model he installed was the Ecobee3 Lite Smart Thermostat Pro. (Ecobee Thermostats are available here: Ecobee Thermostats.
That night, before I went to bed, I bumped the thermostat down to 66 degrees as I normally would. When I awoke the next morning, I was cold. I think that’s probably what woke me up since the alarm had not yet gone off. I reached for my phone, opened the Ecobee app, and noticed the temperature in the house was 64°, not the 66° temperature I had set the night before. Somehow the thermostat had overridden what I had chosen before heading off to bed. Using the Ecobee app on my phone, I bumped the temperature up a few degrees, but the heat never came on.
After a ton of online searching, I found a bunch of other folks complaining about this same issue—their Ecobee wasn’t heating/cooling to the temperature they had set. There were a lot of complaints but no one seemed to have a solution. Also, most of the info I found online was 4-5 years old, so pretty useless. Searches at the Ecobee website didn’t help either.
In one forum, someone mentioned disabling the Eco+ setting, a setting that makes the system more energy efficient at the expense of the homeowner’s comfort. By that point, I’m not sure I needed any additional heat because I was pretty hot! It’s infuriating to spend over $400 on something for your home, only to find it’s designed to ignore your wishes and run your home the way it sees fit! Does that remind you of anything—like maybe toilets that don’t fully flush, dishwashers and washing machines that don’t use enough water to get dishes or clothes clean, or refrigerators that force you to press a button every single day for the rest of your life (or, its life) to keep the ice consistently flowing? I’m looking at you LG! The only company that seems to still really care about their customers is Speed Queen! Okay, rant over, let’s get to the solution!
After spending an hour or so online trying to find a solution, I finally resorted to calling Ecobee, expecting a long hold time. I was not disappointed. After being on hold for way too long, I reluctantly gave up and chose the option their voice system kept pushing—to let a representative call me back when one was available. It was another 20-30 minute wait before someone called, but at least it was someone with whom I could communicate easily. I’m always shocked when that happens, so was pleasantly surprised!
After hearing my issue, the Ecobee representative suggested I disable two more settings in addition to the Eco+ setting that I had already disabled. I am sharing this information today in case someone else runs into this issue and is desperately searching online for an answer and doesn’t want to spend an hour on hold waiting to talk to a representative.
Steps To Regain Full Control Of Your Ecobee Thermostat:
If you have an Ecobee Smart Thermostat in your home, to regain complete control over the temperature in your home, per the Ecobee representative, in addition to disabling the Eco+ setting, you’ll need to disable two additional settings: Heating Smart Recovery and Cooling Smart Recovery. Those two settings are accessible via the main menu by clicking on the three little bars in the top right corner. Update: I’ve added how to disable Eco+ toward the end of this post in case you need that information, too.
After pressing the three bars icon in the top right corner, you’ll next press the “Settings” or “Gear” icon located at the bottom right corner. Next, scroll down and select, Preferences. 
Under Preferences is where you’ll find Heating Smart Recovery and Cooling Smart Recovery, although you’ll need to scroll down to find them in the long list of settings. Once you select each of those separately, select “Disable” to turn them off. I’m not exactly sure what those settings do but the Ecobee representative recommended disabling both to avoid having the Ecobee thermostat override my temperature settings again.
Update: If you haven’t yet disabled the Eco+ setting, to do that you’ll once again press the three bars in the top right corner to get to the main menu. After that, select the Gear/Settings wheel at the bottom right corner. You’ll see a list of options including Eco+. Select Eco+ and disable it on the next screen that pops up.
I hope this information is helpful for anyone who purchases an Ecobee Smart Thermostat and runs into the same issues that I did. Here’s to the freedom and joy of wresting back control of the comfort level in your own home! As Martha would say, it’s a good thing!
Oh, Susan, you are a godsend. I have been struggling with this same issue since December. How did you disable the Eco+ in the beginning? I need to do all three things that you suggested. Thank you so much.
Thanks, Debbie! I should have included that in the post. Just press the three bars at the top right, then press the Gear/Settings wheel on bottom right corner. You’ll see the Eco+ setting, press that and click “Disable.”
Some years back I had a new HVAC system installed. They put in a complicated smart thermostat that I could not operate. I had kept the old thermostat, so they put it back. This time my old one had issues so the guy put in a cheap smart thermostat that doesn’t even have ‘fan only’ and I can’t read it. It has to be replaced. I like the look of yours so much better. Not a fan of Smart Meters either. My power bill is all over the place. My worry about Smart electronics is someone hacking them. Plus the power company can control them. It’s scary to think someone sitting at a desk somewhere can read your meter, cut off your power etc. Just like you in Ohio controlling your meter in GA.
I agree, we are giving up too much control to electronics. Like the washing machines that now make decisions for you, I feel the Smart thermostats take your power over your life’s comfort away.
Dianne, buy a Speed Queen and you’ll get that control back. When my 41-1/2 year old machine croaked, I tried an LG and it was horrible. Thankfully I tried it out during the 48 hour return period that Lowe’s allows and they picked it back up. Speed Queen gives you complete control of everything, just like the washing machines did in the past. They are more expensive, but worth it…and they are reported to last a very long time, unlike the appliances that are being manufactured today.
Thankfully, I didn’t buy my thermostat from my power company, nor was it installed them. So they have no means by which they can control it. I purchased it from the company that I use for Heating and Air. If you purchase or are given a smart thermostat from your electric company, they may have have a way to control it, or at least that’s impression I got from reading a Reddit thread about Ecobee Smart thermostats. Just make sure that you buy one independently and not from your electric company. Many years ago, the electric company here changed out all our meters to smart meters that they can read without having to send someone out. No one had a choice on that since we (the homeowners) didn’t install the old meter that they replaced AND we don’t own the current meter.
I’m guessing you may understand why I detest the Ecobee programmming & prefer our Nest. Often when we’re in WI, I have to override the Ecobee settings up to 3 times before it accepts it—only inconvenient, but I am spoiled by the ease of using the Nest.
I hope it doesn’t do that to me when I’m in Ohio. Merri Jo, trying turning off the features that I mention in this post, including the Eco+ and see if that fixes the issue of it not doing what you want.
I don’t have one, but you are the best source of problem solving and so helpful in your posts!
Thanks so much, Kathleen!
I have a Nest smart thermostate, loving it thus far. I have a schedule for the week and it stays on that. I keep the house at 65 in the day hours, and 60 at night. Saves me money on that big ole oil bill. If I’m feeling cool or cold like we had with a few polar vortex’s, I just a space heater to warm up with. Or I just put a sweatshirt jacket on. Love how the Nest works! I hope now that you have all the “bugs” turned off, you will love yours too Susan! Hugs, Brenda
I hope so. I saved my old thermostat, just in case. lol
The smart recovery mode causes the ecobee to take the behavior of your HVAC system, as well as the weather, into account to make sure your house reaches the set temperature at the set time, rather than only starting to heat or cool at the set time. A bitter cold winter night in New Hampshire might mean that it would only reach the set point an hour after the scheduled time, without smart recovery.
Thanks for clarifying what Smart Recovery Mode does. I definitely do not want or need that because my schedule is never the same two days in a row. I do not want any programming on my thermostat at all.
I would never give over control of my heat to a digital thermostat. In California they can take control of it en masse if they deem it necessary to conserve. I feel that is a Big Brother move I don’t want to be a part of and I don’t trust NJ not to do the same since we are heading towards becoming California
East!
100% agree! I’ve kept my old thermostat so that I can have the Ecobee removed when I no longer need it.
I have had a Nest thermostat for years in my downstairs and upstairs. They are really easy to set up and program. I will probably never have anything else. Sorry you are having so much trouble.
Thanks, Susan! Now that I have all the “programming” disabled, it’s working fine.
In my area, the electric panels are outside
The power company changed it to a Smart meter a few years back. I don’t like the idea that if the power company wants to create brown outs, someone can sit at their desk and cut our power off. The inside Smart thermostat was installed by the electrician that put in a new HVAC system. I have difficultly reading it. I like the look of yours because it’s black and readable. My concern is because these Smart electric things are on WiFi and hackable. But that’s just me. I see your need and it’s brilliant.