Ecobee has become a go-to smart thermostat choice for Apple customers with HomeKit support along with other great features like the ability to work with multiple room sensors, and much more. Now, Ecobee thermostats are becoming even smarter with new time of use, community energy savings, schedule recommender features, and more that come with the free Eco+ suite.

Ecobee shared in a press release that Eco+ previously rolled out to a limited group of customers and it was a big success in helping users customize their climate control and reduce their spending and carbon footprint with the help of machine learning.

Now the free Eco+ features are rolling out to all customers. The set of features can adjust climate control based on weather forecasts, occupancy patterns, humidity and electricity rates (time of use).

Eco+ features:

Look for the Eco+ notification in your Ecobee app to set up and customize the new suite of features.

  • Smart Home & Away – Now a part of eco+, Smart Home & Away detects when you’re out of the house even faster than before and automatically adjusts your thermostat to save energy, making your home even more energy efficient by reducing consumption.
  • Schedule Recommender – By analyzing your existing schedule and comparing it with occupancy patterns, eco+ can make recommendations for small changes to your schedule to optimize electricity use and reduce your energy usage.
  • Feels Like – When humidity is low temperatures feel cooler. The Feels Like feature measures the humidity levels in your home and adjusts temperature settings to reduce runtime when the air is dry to keep your home comfortable and efficient.
  • Time of Use – For customers who have a utility with time of use rates, this new feature will preheat or precool your home when renewable energy is plentiful and electricity is cheaper and cleaner. When energy costs more during peak demand consumption will be reduced.  A simple icon displays on the home screen of your ecobee app or thermostat during peak times. With your ecobee you’ll know if it’s the right time to run other energy intensive appliances like a washing machine or dishwasher.
  • Community Energy Savings – For customers with participating utility providers, this feature makes small adjustments during times of peak energy demand in a community in order to consumer cleaner energy and reduce strain on the energy grid.

Ecobee thermostats start around $170 and go up to $250 for the flagship model with integrated voice control (reviewed).

  • Review: Ecobee SmartThermostat with Voice Control remains the best HomeKit option
  • First look at the upcoming Ecobee camera, likely to include voice control
  • Ecobee on iOS updated with new Apple Watch app for smart home control