Ecobee has released an attractive new wifi thermostat that supports up to 32 wireless temperature/presence sensors. This lets the thermostat reach the setpoint for which rooms are occupied, not just where the thermostat is installed. It looks really slick and can be pre-ordered now.
The company president has assured that the existing API, against which I wrote the Vera plugin, is unchanged from the previous models, so the plugin ought to work with this model with no issues. I hope to get a test unit to add direct Vera devices for its wireless temperature sensors.
I may have to look into this and replace my trane thermostat. I would like to have remote sensors throughout the house. Are the sensors exposed via the api?
[quote=“garrettwp”]I may have to look into this and replace my trane thermostat. I would like to have remote sensors throughout the house. Are the sensors exposed via the api?
Garrett[/quote]
The API does expose sensors and their readings, but since these are new sensors compared to the old thermostats, I would only rely on a specific “yes” from Ecobee or empirical testing. I do believe the sensors would be exposed in the API but I will need to get my hands on a unit to be sure. In any case. I intend to evolve the plugin to take full advantage of the ecobee3.
[quote=“garrettwp”]Is the unit accessible via local network or does it go through their servers like the nest?
Garrett[/quote]
Like the Nest. The published API is all to their servers (JSON/HTTPS/OAuth2). I doubt any local network hack is feasible or worth the trouble. I’ve found their server uptime to be solid.
So the new web UI currently lacks the feature to add the four-letter PIN to authorise a third-party app? Oof! I am still on the old web UI because you only get “upgraded” if you add an ecobee3 to your account, which I haven’t done yet. Ecobee said that their new thermostat works with the API no problem, so I hope they give us the chance to actually see that. I’m very surprised that that was missing on launch day, but hopefully it will be added very soon.
I haven’t yet heard of any reports of the ecobee3 working with the plugin, but I was told (second-hand) that the API the plugin uses works with the new thermostat no problem. I also heard that the new web portal currently lacks the ability to add third-party app PINs, but I’ve not yet received confirmation directly from Ecobee or when that will be added. If I get an answer from them, I may try to scrape up the cash to get an ecobee3 and a handful of wireless sensors – it looks like a great thermostat all around.
I haven’t yet heard of any reports of the ecobee3 working with the plugin, but I was told (second-hand) that the API the plugin uses works with the new thermostat no problem. I also heard that the new web portal currently lacks the ability to add third-party app PINs, but I’ve not yet received confirmation directly from Ecobee or when that will be added. If I get an answer from them, I may try to scrape up the cash to get an ecobee3 and a handful of wireless sensors – it looks like a great thermostat all around.
Great news as I’ll most likely be purchasing the ecobee3 and additional sensors before winter sets in. Hopefully support will be added by the time I purchase the equipment.
Wow, thanks for posting this @watou. Finally, a modern, aesthetically pleasing new thermostat that does everything I want, except possibly work natively with Vera, for now at least. I’ve hesitated on the Nest because I don’t much like the interface (primarily the lack of interior temperature display). And the new Lyric from Honeywell has received poor reviews. So I just ordered an Ecobee3 for my primary home. Will order a second for weekend home when, hopefully, the Vera add-in works. I also sure hope that “mystery slot” the reviewer mentioned is for z-wave (although I suspect Zigbee is more likely).
Took a look at the Ecobee3, I’m on the fence on whether I want to swap out my current Z-wave t-stats.
Question for anyone that might know: Do you think there’s a chance that the EB3 remote temp/pir sensors will be exposed through their API? If so, this might make a compelling argument to go wit the EB3 system, since we might be able to get double duty from their sensors in order to do lighting control within a room.
I think the remote sensors will be exposed through the API, but it would take up to the polling interval (a minute or two) to get feedback. It won’t be the “Z-Wave experience.” I have no empirical evidence that the sensors will be exposed in the API, but I think it’s likely.
I think the remote sensors will be exposed through the API, but it would take up to the polling interval (a minute or two) to get feedback. It won’t be the “Z-Wave experience.” I have no empirical evidence that the sensors will be exposed in the API, but I think it’s likely.
watou[/quote]
Good point watou, appreciate the feedback. And I agree, there would be too much lag for a good PIR based lighting control experience.
I still like the the idea of a learning thermostat that can not only do temp averaging across the rooms, but also build it’s own temperature efficiency model of my house, thus knowing when to turn the heat on in the morning in order to reach a target by a given time. I was going to try to do this all in Vera or some other HA controller, but a system that can do this on its own seems to be a better idea.
Do you know if the EB3 can do all these functions without having access to the Internet? I understand it needs the cloud for long term data storage, but if the Internet is down does all the intelligence adjustments still get computed and executed locally?
