No room sensors? I like the Nest's ability to sense movement in the area allowing it to reduce the heat when nobody is there. That's one feature I wish Ecobee would leave in, and drop price further.
I think they leave proximity in the main thermostat, but Ecobee's main selling point on the earlier models was the ability to use auxiliary room sensors called Lil Bee, which you'd place in other rooms in the house to make the ecobee more aware of the other rooms. This one doesn't work with those.
Even without external room sensors, doesn't the Ecobee allow for programmed functionality and controls via an iPhone (or Android phone)?
I imagine this would be a popular or more appropriate device for apartment dwellers or smaller homes. And unless you run around opening and closing vents/registers, a single HVAC unit is going to make some rooms hot when trying to warm another room, or some rooms cold when just trying to cool a given room.
Unless someone is doing an air balance for the house, I think external sensors may be a little overrated. Now in some kind of Bill Gates über smart home, where the vents might be electronically linked to the sensors, HVAC, and subject to IFTTT magic, external sensors would really be beneficial.
I'm not saying external sensors are useless or anything close, just that users should manage their expectations.
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I imagine this would be a popular or more appropriate device for apartment dwellers or smaller homes. And unless you run around opening and closing vents/registers, a single HVAC unit is going to make some rooms hot when trying to warm another room, or some rooms cold when just trying to cool a given room.
Unless someone is doing an air balance for the house, I think external sensors may be a little overrated. Now in some kind of Bill Gates über smart home, where the vents might be electronically linked to the sensors, HVAC, and subject to IFTTT magic, external sensors would really be beneficial.
I'm not saying external sensors are useless or anything close, just that users should manage their expectations.