Ecobee VS Nest: Difference & Which is Better?

Heating and cooling account for 42% of the average electricity bill in the United States. One of the easiest ways to reduce these expenses and save money is to install an intelligent thermostat.

Ecobee and nest, the two most popular smart thermostat brands, can help you reduce your electricity bill. But which of these intelligent thermostats is the most intelligent? In this ecobee vs nest review, we will look at the differences of ecobee vs nest intelligent thermostats and choose which is better.

Benefits of Smart Thermostats

Ecobee intelligent thermostat and nest learning thermostat are the two most popular brands in the market, but how do you know which is suitable for you?
You may want to know whether it’s worth buying ecobee or nest. If you already have a bunch of smart devices in your home, you may not want to add more devices in your home. Whether you need ecobee or nest depends entirely on your situation.
Ecobee or nest is the latest way to control the family climate. Like a traditional thermostat, ecobee or nest will be connected to your heating and cooling system so that you can adjust the temperature. What makes ecobee or nest unique is that it can also connect to your WiFi, providing a variety of advanced functions that traditional thermostats cannot provide.
These ecobee or nest functions can not only make your home temperature just right, but also actually reduce your energy bill. They do this by setting a temperature schedule, monitoring your time at home, and sensing your time in and out of the room – all of which help you save energy. Let’s take a look at the advantages of ecobee and nest.

Installation process of ecobee vs Nest

Ecobee and nest have carefully considered the customer’s installation process. Ecobee and nest both contain easy to follow instructions for end-user installation. In complex settings, you may still need to hire HVAC technicians, but if you follow the guidelines they provide, you will start and run quickly.
A key difference between ecobee and nest is that ecobe requires a common line (or PEK module listed below), where the nest does not. You might think, this is a good thing for nest. But in fact, this is a bad design. Nest performs pulse charging without a public wire. I know this because my upstairs unit has recently started offline. After doing some research, I found that my ordinary wire is not wired (it is still on the wall), so nest’s battery is getting less and less. This happens when the weather is mild, so the unit does not operate frequently. Once I plug in the utility line, it will work normally.

However, ecobee has different designs. If you do not have a utility line, you need to install a power extender kit, which is included in the box and is provided free of charge. This PEK module will add a way to receive power for ecobbe.
When I was dealing with nest’s low battery, I talked to nest support. That phone call was a bad experience. People on the phone told me that my Wi Fi was too powerful at some point. It overloaded nest. He had access to my unit, so it was easy for him to know that there were no utility lines.
When I installed ecobee, I forgot to turn off the device outside. During the installation process, I had to pass through two wires, which made ecobee unable to start because there was no power supply. I should have turned off the device, but I’m just too lazy. I called ecobee support and the man was great. He explained to me that I might have short circuited the fuse, which was easy to repair. I took the cover off the device and sent him a photo by email. He showed me the exact repair method. I just need to replace a $3 fuse.

Apps of ecobee app vs Nest

Because I’ve been using the nest application for a long time, it took me a while to adapt to the ecobee application. Both nest and ecobee applications do well, but nest and ecobee run differently. Both applications allow you to create schedules, remotely control applications, and modify settings. In short, nest and ecobee have done well.

Nest is a circular design in which the ecological bee is more like a square. I don’t complain about the bird’s nest, but I like the ecobee model, which is bigger and allows you to touch the screen. The larger footprint makes it easier to cover the holes of the old thermostat. Both models include a backplane for this purpose, but I don’t want to use it. Ecobee supports playing spotify music and using Alexa, but I’m not interested in these features. Both units support temperature sensors, but I prefer how nest uses them. You can create a schedule according to your preferences to determine how the equipment operates at a specific time. With ecobee, it takes data from all sensors to create heating and cooling plans.

Wrap-up on ecobee vs Nest

From all aspects, I prefer ecobee because it integrates the local homekit. Although I like starling home hub, if I buy a thermostat today, I’d rather use local integration. I like to use homekit automation in the home app to create scenes that control lighting, temperature and other aspects of smart home settings.

If you are considering a new thermostat and you want homekit integration, I strongly recommend ecobee smart thermostat. On the other hand, if you really like the design of the nest, I will not hesitate to recommend it as an attachment to the Starling home hub.

Design of ecobee vs Nest

Ecobee

Ecobee’s design inspiration comes from the rectangular programmable thermostat of the past few decades. Ecobee’s design update makes ecobee smart thermostat look like a large rectangular smart watch with a circular edge.
Ecobee intelligent thermostat adopts black plastic body with glass screen. Ecobee’s screen size is 3.5 inches, which makes ecobee much larger than nest thermostat. Ecobee’s touch screen can also be used to control the thermostat from the basic device.

Nest

Nest smart thermostat is round with stainless steel outer ring and glass screen. Despite the small screen size, nest is much heavier than ecobee thermostats. Nest thermostats are available in a variety of colors – polished steel, mirror black, brass, stainless steel, white, black and copper. Therefore, you can get the color of nest that best matches the color of the wall. Similarly, the latest product of the nest series, the nest thermostat, is equipped with a plastic body in three available colors – charcoal, sand, fog and snow.
In contrast, nest thermostat E has only one color – white. The nest thermostat has a touch screen that you can use to control the basic device. In addition, the new nest thermostat adds a touch bar on its side, allowing you to quickly change the temperature or open the setting menu.

Voice Control of ecobee vs Nest

Ecobee

Ecobee thermostat works with Amazon Alexa, Google assistant, Microsoft Cortana and apple homekit devices. You can use any of ecobee’s local voice assistants to control ecobee. In addition, ecobee 4 and ecobee 5 also have built-in Alexa speakers, so ecobee itself can also be used as an Alexa center.

Nest

The nest thermostat works with Amazon Alexa, Google assistant, and Microsoft Cortana devices. Nest does not have a built-in Alexa speaker, nor does it have apple homekit support.

Schedules of ecobee vs Nest

Ecobee

Ecobee thermostat has a traditional scheduling system. You must manually set ecobee’s home, away and sleep modes to specify when you go out, when you go home and wake up, and when you go home and sleep. You must also set the temperature at a specific time of the week according to your home, going out and sleep mode.
You can set these schedules from ecobee, Smartphone Application or web console. Once you set ecobee’s schedule, it will continue to execute the routine until you change it manually. If you have a very fixed routine, ecobee is a great way to set a schedule.

Nest

Nest has one of the most advanced scheduling functions in the thermostat Market – algorithm learning. This is a function of nest, and the nest thermostat can automatically learn your schedule and routines without programming them.
When you first buy a nest thermostat, nest will set a baseline plan based on some of your assumptions. You can use this application to adjust the temperature when you feel too hot or too cold. The nest thermostat will record each such adjustment.
After about two weeks, after recording several such changes, the nest thermostat will understand your schedule and temperature preferences. This will allow nest to create a schedule that fits you perfectly without having to enter it manually.
In addition, nest’s learning process will never end, and nest thermostat will continue to record all your adjustments to continue adjusting the schedule. Therefore, you never have to create a plan because the nested thermostat will constantly adjust and change it according to your current preferences.
If you don’t like the algorithm learning function, you can turn off nest and set a traditional schedule, including multiple modes, days, time and temperature. Finally, it is worth noting that the latest nest thermostat has no learning ability, which is understandable at a low price.

Energy Saving of ecobee vs. Nest

Ecobee

Ecobee data reporting system records and analyzes the data of your HVAC unit for 18 months. Ecobee records all data from intelligent thermostats and remote sensors. Ecobee provides a very comprehensive analysis tool called home IQ, which you can access from the web console.
Ecobee’s home IQ provides you with a range of energy monitoring functions, such as system monitoring, home efficiency and weather impact. Using ecobee’s system monitor, you can check HVAC usage in different periods. With home energy efficiency, you can check your energy use and compare it with others in your area. Through weather effects, you can check how your HVAC and energy respond to the changing local weather. You can optimize the use of ecobee’s HVAC and thermostat to ensure that energy is saved as much as possible and the overall energy cost is reduced. According to the survey, ecobee thermostat users can save about 23% of heating and cooling costs on average.

Nest

Nest sends monthly energy usage reports via email. With this summary, you can compare your current energy use with that of the past few months. You can also compare your energy use with that of other nest users. However, nest’s analysis is superficial and lacks details.
Nest thermostat has the most innovative energy-saving function. Whenever you set the energy-saving temperature setting according to your previous use, you will get a green leaf, indicating that you are more energy-saving than before. Although this method can not provide more information, the realization of green leaves may be enough to motivate you to reduce energy consumption, which can contribute to environmental protection. In addition, nest’s analysis charts and energy data are complex and time-consuming – laymen are more likely to use simple leaf icons to represent their savings.
According to a survey collected from nest thermostat owners in 41 states, nest thermostat users can save an average of 10% to 12% on heating and 15% on cooling. As a result, nest thermostat users can save $130 to $150 a year.

Ecobee vs. Nest: Who’s better?

So, ecobee vs nest, which is better? It turned out that ecobee and nest were tied! Remember, this is only based on the seven features listed above. There are many things to consider when buying smart devices such as smart thermostats. Each of ecobee and nest is more suitable for different applications of home automation.
If you want to install a smart thermostat and forget it’s there, the nest learning thermostat is great. Nest’s learning ability makes you don’t have to do too much, in addition to living a normal life and saving money! Nest is easy to use and well designed.
Ecobee smart thermostat is most suitable for those who want to upgrade their smart home to a new level. Ecobee is more compatible with smart hubs than nest and has built-in smart speakers. Ecobee application design is also more suitable for scheduling.
In general, whether you choose ecobee or nest, you will see lower electricity bills. To reduce your electricity bill and carbon footprint, consider installing solar panels in your home! See how much you can save when you switch to solar energy using our solar calculator.
Whichever you choose, adding an intelligent thermostat in your home is one of the best ways to make it smarter. Both Google nest and ecobee smart thermostats are very nice and use the latest technology – you’ll want to know how you deal with old-fashioned thermostats and heating programmers.