In the debate between the Ecobee 4 vs Nest smart thermostats, each has its own pros and cons, which will help you decide which smart thermostat to invest in.
Read on to find out the Ecobee 4 pros and cons as well as the Nest pros and cons.
There have been great advances in smart technology in recent years, which has seen our homes become increasingly intelligent.
Joining the smart TV, the smart speaker and even the smart kettle is the smart thermostat, which allows the control of heating and cooling systems from anywhere through their Wi-Fi connectivity.
They can also help reduce your energy bills, and many of them have learning capabilities to work efficiently with the routines in your home.
The smart thermostat is the perfect addition to the modern home, but with more models being developed all the time, how do you know which device will be the best one for your home?
Ecobee 4 and Nest Comparison
Ecobee 4 vs Nest
Ecobee 4
- Save up to 26%*per year on heating and...
- Included SmartSensor keeps you comfortable...
- Control from anywhere with your iOS or...
- Integrates seamlessly with your preferred...
- Comes with Siri and Alexa Built-in for...
With their 4th generation model, Ecobee has released its best smart thermostat to date.
The Ecobee 4 features a responsive touchscreen display, a remote sensor, as well as a number of additional features, including a built-in Amazon Alexa speaker. This device is easy to use, is compatible with all heating and cooling systems, and can be controlled remotely through the mobile app.
| ✅ Pros | ❌ Cons |
|---|---|
| Built-in Alexa – Whereas the latest model of the Nest is compatible with Amazon Alexa, the Ecobee 4 actually has a built-in Amazon Alexa speaker. For those who are looking to upgrade their home with smart technology, the Ecobee 4 is an attractive prospect, being 2 smart devices in 1, plus it means that you can control your heating with voice commands. | No Sunblock Feature – The Nest has a pretty nifty ‘sunblock’ feature, which detects when the thermostat is in direct sunlight, being aware that the temperature reading will be higher than it actually is. However, the Nest’s ‘sunblock’ feature is a much simpler solution to the problem of direct sunlight affecting temperature readings. |
| Excellent Features – The Ecobee 4 has an impressive array of features, which can be controlled via the touchscreen or the mobile app. It is compatible with both Amazon Alexa and Apple Homekit, whilst the Nest is yet to be made compatible with Apple operating systems. | The Nest adjusts its settings to compensate for the temperature. The Ecobee does not have such a feature, but it does have room sensors, which feedback the temperatures in the corresponding rooms to the base unit. |
| Ecobee has an extremely useful ‘Follow Me’ mode, which uses room sensors (included in the kit), which detect which room of the house is occupied and use that room to take a temperature reading. | No Battery Back Up – The Ecobee 4 does not have a battery back up power source, unlike the Nest, which comes with a large rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack, which can last a good few months fully charged. |
| ‘Home/Away’ feature detects if the home is occupied, automatically switching off if no one is at home | The Ecobee 4 draws its power through the C-wire, which some older homes may not have, they compensate for this by providing a Power Extender Kit (PEK). |
I went with the ecobee because it was supposed to have great reports, and we were going to be installing insulation so wanted to see the difference it made. But the reports are pitiful. You can’t even see how many hours your HVAC has been running like you can on the Nest, and though they have multiple reports online, they aren’t sophisticated analysis at all. They’re just displays of when the ecobee was in Home vs. Away vs. Sleep mode, or when it was running–but the runtime report doesn’t give totals, so you have to eyeball it. Plus, none of the reports can be seen on the ecobee itself or even in the app; you have to get a computer and log into the website. I finally found beestat.io, which some frustrated ecobee user finally developed himself to get some use out of all the data that ecobee is doing nothing with.
In addition ecobee’s geofencing is fatally flawed. If you come back and geofencing sets the profile to Home, that overrides your normal schedule until you either leave or manually change it. What this means is that if you have geofencing enabled, ecobee never enters Sleep mode, so your house doesn’t cool down at night when you’re going to sleep. Unless you manually change it, which defeats the whole purpose of a thermostat like this.
I have friends with Nest who don’t have stupid issues like this. Nest may not be perfect, but ecobee has absolutely ridiculous flaws that make it pretty much just an expensive wifi-enabled thermostat for us. If I did it again, I’d just get a basic wifi thermostat.