Ecobee has a mind of its own

I have an Ecobee 3 which I’ve had for years. I’ve had HomeKit challenges in the past, but things seemed to be working well for the last several months. With iOS 16 or maybe an Ecobee update, things have gotten bananas. I have HomeKit scenes setup with specific min/max temps:


But this is what’s in the Ecobee app HomeKit area:

And this is what’s actually on the thermostat:

How in the world does it have 3 separate values? I even tried completely resetting everything and starting from scratch and I cannot get them consistent. I get a pretty clear “notification” when it’s freezing in my house by 7:30pm, but I cannot figure out why this is happening.

Any Ecobee/homekit friends with any advice?

I had to stop using “auto”, and it may be what you’re experiencing.
There’s a minimum difference between heat and cool temperature, which from yours looks to be five degrees.
This is so the system won’t alternately switch from heat to cool.
I just use heat or cool as appropriate, with some minor inconvenience in fall and spring.

The “and holding” on your thermostat indicates on it’s not on its usual schedule, but has been overridden somehow. Might be something to look into too.

If you don’t have a split system, you’re probably getting the worst of the two ranges you have set.

I also had to install flair.co vents to help with this.

Thanks John! I actually have my minimum temp set to 3 degrees so I don’t think that’s it. I figured that out years ago after struggling with it for months. :laughing:

I just don’t get why what’s in HomeKit doesn’t match what’s in the Ecobee app. I wish I could bypass Ecobee altogether, but it just doesn’t work that way.

Ah, I see. I didn’t completely understand the problem.
What are you using for temperature sensors?

I hadn’t thought about setting scenes with different temps, I just do all that from the ecobee. I suppose that’s why yours is showing the override. I do occasionally have Siri raise or lower the temp temporarily.

I just checked my rooms and they range from 69-73. My ecobee says 73. It’s 6’ from the doorway of the 73 room, and 3’ from a 70 room. Tolerance on the ecobee sensors must be about +/- 1 deg.

The different temps are in auto mode so you can have a setting for both heat and cool. It’s really nice.

I setup my Ecobee to be in charge of the schedule. The thing I’m missing is the geofence, but the schedule is more important.

I also avoid Ecobee’s “Auto” setting.

I live in an old house with crazy room additions that have idiosyncratic venting, and only one HVAC zone – the whole house. When I had the HVAC system replaced a couple years ago the contractor convinced me I needed an Ecobee with Home automation.

I do not need an Ecobee with Home automation. It just doesn’t fit my situation. All I need is a thermostat that I can turn to “heat” or “cool” and hold the temperature constant. The Ecobee replaced an old school setback thermostat that would dial down the heating at night in the winter. With the Ecobee I feel I am constantly fighting it to get the results I want.

And then there’s the Ecobee’s persistent DHCP problem, resulting in dropped wifi connections and Alexa announcing at least once a day, out of the blue, “Sorry, I’m having trouble right now…”.

Poor dear. I’m having trouble too, right now.

Often, automation is not the answer to life’s needs.

Katie

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