ecobee Smart Thermostat vs. ecobee 3 lite

Hopefully this will help people a little more in choosing between the two. I’ll group the four main extra things the Smart Thermostat (ST from here on out) has over the 3 lite (3L):

• Includes 1 smart sensor.
• eco+, the smart function that follows you and adapts to you.
• Extra connection for 1 HVAC device.
• Extra random features: Spotify, Alexa, Bluetooth, etc.

In order of what I found most useless to most useful:

• The random features to me are useless. My entire ecosystem is Apple based and none of those extra are. Besides, HomeKit takes cares of some of those things, including voice control.
• eco+ also turned out to be useless to me. After a week of use I realized what the 23% energy saving means and who it’s target to: people that keep their HVAC on ALL THE TIME, year round. In this case it makes complete sense that all the fancy learning features will help you. For me, not so much. I usually only turn on the A/C or heating from 4-5pm until I go to bed, so temperature regulating the house all day is actually a waste for me.
• HVAC accessories is useless. I do intend to install a House Fan pretty soon, but unless there’s a way to run the wire to turn it on, it is hopelessly useless. My 5 wire multi-conductor cable from the furnace is imposible to get to and to fish a new fire through is even tougher.
• Smart sensor, sorta useful. It just confirmed that upstairs is always 2-3 degrees hotter. The motion and occupancy feature is also neat.

So, I guess by now you guys figured that the ST was a waste of money for me. For the cost of an ST I could’ve bought the 3L and a two-pack of sensors. In short, I’m just using my ecobee as a remote ON/OFF so I don’t have to get off my ass to control it.

But, if you’re into Alexa, keep your unit on all the time and have an easy way of wiring your accessories, the ST is definitely for you.