Ecobee Smart Thermostat Compatibility or Others

Try the Home & Garden forum for Ecobee thermostat threads

fasacrifice wrote: ↑ Hi All,

I'd like to install Ecobee smart thermostat but still couldn't figure out if it's compatible with my AC or not.

Hopefully you guys can help. Here are the cables I have in my current setup;
Y1 White
G Green
24V Red
24V(c) Black
O Orange

Those connections don't seem to be typical for a gas furnace and AC unit. Is this unit a heat pump? Is your existing thermostat the same brand as your furnace?

Rather than telling us the color of the wires in your existing thermostat, it would be more useful to tell us the brand and model of your furnace.

Rick007 wrote: ↑ Those connections don't seem to be typical for a gas furnace and AC unit. Is this unit a heat pump? Is your existing thermostat the same brand as your furnace?

Rather than telling us the color of the wires in your existing thermostat, it would be more useful to tell us the brand and model of your furnace.

This is a condo with centralized AC system (Heating and Cooling). I have a room in the apartment with ducks in it and I can hear fan running in there when the AC is ON. I'll check later on if I can see any brand or any info in there.

Are those wires exactly what it says/attached on the old thermostat?

You have the:
common wire
1 wire for a/c
1 wire for heating
1 wire for power (for the hvac)
1 wire for the fan speed

And it's 24volts. Pretty sure you can run it on an ecobee. You can return the tried out item to Home Depot if it fails to work.

evilYoda wrote: ↑ Are those wires exactly what it says/attached on the old thermostat?

You have the:
common wire
1 wire for a/c
1 wire for heating
1 wire for power (for the hvac)
1 wire for the fan speed

And it's 24volts. Pretty sure you can run it on an ecobee. You can return the tried out item to Home Depot if it fails to work.

Yes I wrote them down exactly as marked on my current thermostat. It's a 24V system so I am also confident that it will work but what the connection would be? I don't wanna do trial and error.

My other worry is that Ecobee's customer service. It's been a week and I can not reach anyone. I don't wanna make a worse mistake while running away from Google Nest.

fasacrifice wrote: ↑ Yes I wrote them down exactly as marked on my current thermostat. It's a 24V system so I am also confident that it will work but what the connection would be? I don't wanna do trial and error.

My other worry is that Ecobee's customer service. It's been a week and I can not reach anyone. I don't wanna make a worse mistake while running away from Google Nest.

This is the nest diagram:

You dont have 3 wire for fan speeds so ignore fan 2 and fan 3 on diagram
red = power
Y1 = cool
G=fan
c=common
Orange = heat (my best guess since it is the color that i used for heating for a condo unit wire)

So that accounts for all 5 wires. The main thing is the red wire which is power, and the common wire. Red is universal for power.

evilYoda wrote: ↑ You dont have 3 wire for fan speeds so ignore fan 2 and fan 3 on diagram
red = power
Y1 = cool
G=fan
c=common
Orange = heat (my best guess since it is the color that i used for heating for a condo unit wire)

So that accounts for all 5 wires. The main thing is the red wire which is power, and the common wire. Red is universal for power.

Thanks a lot. When I put these in the Ecobee compatibility Checker, it works.

The only problem was the Power (24V, red wire, as marked on my current thermostat). When I choose this as Rc in the compatibility checker, it shows the compatibility. Would it be correct?

fasacrifice wrote: ↑ Thanks a lot. When I put these in the Ecobee compatibility Checker, it works.

The only problem was the Power (24V, red wire, as marked on my current thermostat). When I choose this as Rc in the compatibility checker, it shows the compatibility. Would it be correct?

yes red = Rc

Dont worry about it. It wont blow up your HVAC. Worst case scenario it'll fry the ecobee and retailer doesnt give a shit since they arent going to wire it up to check. Im betting 99.99% sure in this case with the wiring as said it wont damage anything.

You are to turn off the hvac system from the fusebox, then on the hvac inner panel before you unwire or wire anything.

Use any supplied stickers with the ecobee with Rc Y1 etc labels onto the wires before you remove the old wiring so that you dont get confused later on. Take several pics of the old wiring with the old descriptors etched on the old thermostat then give this a try. It's easier than you think.

The other thing is that you might wind up with a drywall hole in the wall, which is what the backplate that the thermostat comes with is for. But it is ugly. Patching the wall up first would be prettier than having a plate installed.

evilYoda wrote: ↑ yes red = Rc

Dont worry about it. It wont blow up your HVAC. Worst case scenario it'll fry the ecobee and retailer doesnt give a shit since they arent going to wire it up to check. Im betting 99.99% sure in this case with the wiring as said it wont damage anything.

You are to turn off the hvac system from the fusebox, then on the hvac inner panel before you unwire or wire anything.

Use any supplied stickers with the ecobee with Rc Y1 etc labels onto the wires before you remove the old wiring so that you dont get confused later on. Take several pics of the old wiring with the old descriptors etched on the old thermostat then give this a try. It's easier than you think.

The other thing is that you might wind up with a drywall hole in the wall, which is what the backplate that the thermostat comes with is for. But it is ugly. Patching the wall up first would be prettier than having a plate installed.

Thanks a lot. I'll try.

I have another question. Hopefully it's not a stupid question. What is the fan for and why I need to turn it off/on separately? I think doing either cooling or heating, the fan must be ON to be able to cool/heat properly right?

fasacrifice wrote: ↑ Thanks a lot. I'll try.

I have another question. Hopefully it's not a stupid question. What is the fan for and why I need to turn it off/on separately? I think doing either cooling or heating, the fan must be ON to be able to cool/heat properly right?

nest and ecobee has the ability to turn the fan on without turning on the motor that lets in the hot or cold water into the pipes of your condo unit. Meaning just air will be blowing without any heating or cooling going on. Not the most efficient way of having a fan in your unit since this will use a lot of electricity. There is quite a fanbase on RFD who likes this feature for some reason.

evilYoda wrote: ↑ nest and ecobee has the ability to turn the fan on without turning on the motor that lets in the hot or cold water into the pipes of your condo unit. Meaning just air will be blowing without any heating or cooling going on. Not the most efficient way of having a fan in your unit since this will use a lot of electricity. There is quite a fanbase on RFD who likes this feature for some reason.

Thanks a lot. So when you do cooling/heating, fan will be ON always and can not be turned OFF. But it can be controlled while there is no heating/cooling right?

fasacrifice wrote: ↑ Thanks a lot. So when you do cooling/heating, fan will be ON always and can not be turned OFF. But it can be controlled while there is no heating/cooling right?

yes'

Your next answer for a question you havent asked is how does one fan wire control 3 fan speeds, well there is a built in fan controller in your hvac system that does that, otherwise you would see 3 fan wires.

Please tell us how your DIY project goes when you give this a try. Hundreds of RFD members already installed their ecobee and nest 3 in the past 2 years. probably saving low tens of thousands of dollars in installation fees.

fasacrifice wrote: ↑ Thanks a lot. So when you do cooling/heating, fan will be ON always and can not be turned OFF. But it can be controlled while there is no heating/cooling right?

Ecobee can be configured to turn on fan between 5 and 55 minutes/hour at 5 minutes increment. You can set the AC to turn on at 26°C or higher. Your AC will not turn on when you room temperature below 26°C and the fan will be on at the amount of run time you set at.

There is something else you should know about your condo hvac system - there is a separate motor and filter for water intake into your own pipes from the maintenance room upstairs.

This motor will burn out on you unless you get someone to replace the filter every 3-4 years. There are impurities in the water in the pipes, and as the filter clogs up, the actulator motor bringing the water in works harder and harder until it burns out. Once it burns out, you'll be getting only a fan without heating or cooling.

Cost of replacing motor + filter = $320 ish.

Cost of replacing filter every 3-4 years = under $50. Some will even do it for $20.

evilYoda wrote: ↑ There is something else you should know about your condo hvac system - there is a separate motor and filter for water intake into your own pipes from the maintenance room upstairs.

This motor will burn out on you unless you get someone to replace the filter every 3-4 years. There are impurities in the water in the pipes, and as the filter clogs up, the actulator motor bringing the water in works harder and harder until it burns out. Once it burns out, you'll be getting only a fan without heating or cooling.

Cost of replacing motor + filter = $320 ish.

Cost of replacing filter every 3-4 years = under $50. Some will even do it for $20.

Thanks for the info. I'll look into that. Maybe the strata does this maintenance regularly.

Hi All,

Thanks for all your help. I've done my wiring as below and all works fine. As long as I remember my older thermostat had fan speed control (I just moved in here so I used the old one only few times so I might be mistaken) but Ecobee doesn't have now. Based on my wirings, is it possible to have fan speed control? I only have one G wire.

OLD ONE / Ecobee

Y1 White / Y1
G Green / G
24V Red / Rc
24V(c) Black / C
O Orange O/B

One side note is that when the weather got cold here in Vancouver, Ecobee started to shut the AC off itself because of the outside temperature. It turns out that I choose the Heat Pump type as "Air to Air". My AC is centralized condo type so I had to choose the Heat Pump as "Geothermal". When the Air to AIr is selected, Ecobee shuts the AC off based on outside temperature threshold in the settings. I think this is for split type AC system to protect the equipment during the colder days.

fasacrifice wrote: ↑ Hi All,

I'd like to install Ecobee smart thermostat but still couldn't figure out if it's compatible with my AC or not.

I've checked their online compatibility check but it says contact to our team for further support. I emailed them a week ago but no response. Waited for few hours for online chat but no one is answered. Their customer service is this bad or my bad luck?

Hopefully you guys can help. Here are the cables I have in my current setup;
Y1 White
G Green
24V Red
24V(c) Black
O Orange

If mine is not compatible with Ecobee, do you have any other suggestions? (other than Nest. I don't trust Google at all based on their track record how they discontinue their hardware left and right)

Thanks

You should be fine. Almost any smart thermostat is comptable with 5 or more wires where one is common.

docbill10 wrote: ↑ You should be fine. Almost any smart thermostat is comptable with 5 or more wires where one is common.

Thanks. I've already installed and works fine. MY question is that As long as I remember my older thermostat had fan speed control (I just moved in here so I used the old one only few times so I might be mistaken) but Ecobee doesn't have now. Based on my wirings, is it possible to have fan speed control? I only have one G wire.