Ecobee is a smart home system which operates as a thermostat. It automatically keeps track of the ventilation, heating and air conditioning of your home and adjusts it accordingly. The main difference of a thermostat and a smart thermostat is the addition of sensors. Customers are highly satisfied with both versions of the Ecobee. Read on to find out the differences of Ecobee 3 vs Ecobee 4.
Ecobee as a smart thermostat has been in the industry for quite a while now. Due to its success, the Canadian company has been upgrading its versions of thermostats. Customers are content with the thermostat’s performance, display, warranty and other cool features that it comes with.
Today we will be comparing two of the latest versions of Ecobee i.e. Ecobee 3 vs Ecobee 4. We will take into consideration different features like design, interface, voice recognition, sensors, warranty, Geofencing and performance etc.
So, let’s have a sneak peek:
1. Ecobee 3 vs Ecobee 4 Display:
Ecobee 3 and Ecobee 4, both of them come with a 3.5 inch LCD touch screen. You can control them by remote, through the unit or with a mobile app. The Ecobee 4’s touch screen is slightly different from Ecobee 3 due to the addition of microphone icon for speaking with Alexa. There is a tiny LED light which shows whether your voice is audible to Alexa or not.
On the LCD touch screen, it shows current temperature settings, current mode and humidity level. There is a blue line right at the top which shows whether Alexa is responding to you or not. The dimensions of the LCD touch screen are 1 x 1 x 4. Another main difference is the button for voice control which is present only on Ecobee 4 and not on Ecobee 3.
2. Ecobee 3 vs Ecobee 4 Warranty:
Warranty of any device has a massive impact on our decisions. Most of the devices that are available in the market offer not a very impressive warranty of their devices as these both smart thermostats offer. But Ecobee beats them in the warranty department by offering a 3 year warranty on both of its devices i.e. Ecobee 3 and Ecobee 4. So, take a note of the warranty factor.
3. Design and Interface:
Experts and customers have equally admired the unique and beautiful design of Ecobee 3 and Ecobee 4. The design of Ecobee 3 and Ecobee 4 are quite similar. But you can distinguish Ecobee 4 from Ecobee 3 from their sizes as Ecobee 4 has a speaker fitted on the main unit. Ecobee 4 comes with a bigger size as it has a bit more features than Ecobee 3.
The design and interface of Ecobee 3 and Ecobee 4 are elegant and beautifies the appearance of your home. Furthermore, there is a line consisting of dots which shows temperature placed on the LCD screen. You can scroll it up or down as you like. And this procedure is very easy for someone who is familiar with a touch mobile. A huge chunk of the population is mobile user so it will be not an issue.
4. Sensors:
Both of the versions of Ecobee thermostat come with built in sensors which are wireless. Each sensor has the ability to cover up an area of about 40 feet which is quite impressive. These sensors are typically positioned in important areas of the house such as living rooms, kitchen, bathrooms etc. The job of these sensors is to take into account the temperature of the house, inform it to the Ecobee unit and adjusting it just the way you want it to be.
There are different types of sensors in the Ecobee 3 and Ecobee 4 like the temperature, motion, proximity and humidity sensors. In case if you need an extra sensor, you can simply purchase and install it in your Ecobee.
Ecobee 3 and Ecobee 4, both consist of “learning mode”. But the one installed in Ecobee 4 is an improvised version as compared to the one in Ecobee 3. This mode sets the Ecobee on its own by learning from your energy usage schedule. It means that you are no longer required to manually change the settings. This has come out to be an extraordinary feature. Just install Ecobee and enjoy the benefits of “learning mode” and its other its cool features.
5. Geofencing:
This feature is available in both of the Ecobee. To put in simple words, Geofencing means that Ecobee knows where are you are now and when you will be coming home by tracking through your Ecobee mobile app. Plus, it also has motion detection which allows the thermostat to maintain your preferred settings when you are home until it detects you leaving the house. Furthermore, both of them come with a built in Wi-Fi of 2.4 GHz.
6. Far-Field voice recognition:
Far- field voice recognition means that Ecobee can hear you even from a long distance. It can be placed in the living room or kitchen if you like but it is recommended to place the Ecobee in your hall way as usually it is the center of the house. Far-field voice recognition works best in small houses but if you have a relatively bigger house then it can turn out to be an issue.
Ecobee 3 does not have a speaker. But it does have a microphone that allows you to connect it to Echo or Dot. Therefore, allowing you to connect it to smart home and then to Ecobee via Alexa voice commands.
On the other hand, Ecobee 4 comes with a high quality microphone and a speaker along with built-in Alexa. Thus, allowing you to speak in a direct manner with the Ecobee 4. You can take control of your home’s heating and cooling method by installing the thermostat by mobile app. One astonishing feature is that you can have access to all the third party applications like spotify etc.
7. Alexa:
Although, Ecobee 3 does not come with built-in Alexa but you can connect your smart thermostat to your smart home with Amazon voice commands such as Echo or Dot. To put it into simple words, you cannot use Alexa until you connect it to Amazon devices. While, Ecobee 4 has the built-in feature of Alexa and you do not require connection to Echo or Dot as in the case of Ecobee 3.
As mentioned earlier, Ecobee 4 has a microphone and you can speak up straight to Ecobee for any voice commands. The Alexa that comes with an Ecobee 4 is not same as original and advanced Alexa offered by the Amazon. The Ecobee’s Alexa has limitations and can only process the commands related to the smart thermostat.
8. Ecobee 3 vs Ecobee 4 Performance:
Ecobee have not disappointed their users in the performance department. Both of the versions of The Ecobee have proved their potential as a smart home thermostat. They are quite rapid at adapting to the changes that we make in order to control the temperature of the house.
Both Ecobee 3 and Ecobee 4 come with a cool feature known as “follow-me”. When activated, it only takes into account the temperature of the recent place it has picked up movement from. By the use of this feature, sensors automatically ignore the rooms of your home that are not in frequent use.
Another great feature in both Ecobee 3 and Ecobee 4 is its “Home mode” and “Away mode”. Your smart thermostat activates the “Away-mode” when the room sensor perceives no motion or when you are not at home. But, when you come home, the room sensor detects movement and de- activates “Away mode”, activating “Home mode”. Ecobee claims that its devices save up to 23 percent of your energy expenses. This feature is specifically added to the smart home thermostat for energy savings.
9. Power Extender Kit:
A power extended kit i.e. PEK is present in both of the Ecobee versions. The main goal of adding PEK to the smart thermostat is for the homes that do not have a C wire. This blue colored wire is not present in old homes. In this scenario, the thermostat is connected to the control board using the power extender kit. If you start any adventure with the board, it might turn into a bad decision. Because, Experts recommend that this procedure should be done by a professional. Or you will end up causing damage to yourself or the HVAC control board.
10. HVAC Components:
HVAC components are fully supported in both versions of Ecobee i.e. Ecobee 3 and Ecobee 4. Your smart thermostat will be able to control HVAC components such as humidifiers, fan systems and even ventilators. In short, both the smart thermostats will be able to take control of every component that is installed in HVAC components. Also, the process of installing both Ecobee 3 and Ecobee 4 is quite easy to do.
Long story short, both of the Ecobee smart thermostat devices have been designed in the manner to save your precious time and money.
Even though Ecobee 4 has some additional improved features than the Ecobee 3, but it does not reduce the worth of Ecobee 3 in any way. If you are short on budget, Ecobee 3 has to be your preference. But Ecobee 4 offers plenty of new and improved features with a very minor price difference.
Interested in comparing the Ecobee vs Nest check out our article comparing the 2 different smart thermostat brands!
