ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium vs Enhanced vs Essential

Start with the part they share

ecobee’s remote SmartSensors are the reason people choose this brand, and every model in the range works with them. A thermostat in the hallway does not know the back bedroom is cold. A sensor in that bedroom tells it, and the thermostat heats the rooms people are actually in.

That matters more than the differences below. A cheap ecobee with two sensors will heat a house more sensibly than an expensive one with none.

What you pay more for

• Premium adds built-in air quality monitoring, radar occupancy sensing, a microphone and speaker for voice control at the wall, a nickel rather than plastic finish, and support for two accessories at once such as a humidifier and a dehumidifier together. A SmartSensor is included.
• Enhanced keeps the radar occupancy sensing and the larger display. It drops the air quality monitor, the microphone and speaker, and the metal finish, and it handles one accessory on a single wire. No sensor is included.
• Essential drops the radar as well. ecobee quotes energy savings of up to 23 per cent for it against up to 26 per cent for the other two, and that gap is the practical cost of losing occupancy sensing.

Which to buy

Enhanced is the sensible middle for most houses, but price it with a sensor, because none is included.

Premium earns its money only if you will use the air quality reading or want Siri answering from the wall itself. Siri already works from your iPhone, HomePod and Apple Watch, so the built-in microphone is a convenience rather than a capability.

Essential is the right answer more often than its position in the range suggests. Buy it with two SmartSensors and you will have spent less than a bare Premium and heated your house better.

Whatever you choose, check for a C wire before ordering. ecobee supplies a power extender kit for systems without one, but a proper C wire is the reliable answer.