ABOUT:
The Smart Si thermostat is a new thermostat from ecobee that provides an easy and smart energy solution for consumers. It just became available in April 2012 as an affordable smart thermostat for consumers.
Features:
- WiFi enabled
- Easy web portal at ecobee.com
- Vibrant backlit buttons
- Live weather
- Color screen
- Stylish contemporary design
- Secure online web portal for remote management and diagnostics
- Free over the air software upgrades
- Gas, Oil, Eletric, Boiler and Heat Pump Compatible
- 7 Day Programmable with 365 Day scheduling
- Humidity Sensing
- Downloadable System Reports
MY THOUGHTS:
My husband and I love technology and when smart thermostats came out, I knew we had to get one. Since they are so new though, the prices of these techie thermostats were a little out of our budget, until I came across the ecobee Smart Si. At around $199 consumers can purchase the Smart Si thermostat and start saving an average of 26%. While it is not a touch screen thermostat, at using it awhile I realized I didn’t even need it to be touchscreen. I used to manually check our thermostat and monitor it, but now I just go online at change it. Yes I change our thermostat from my couch or even on the go. My husband can monitor the Smart Si from his iPhone and I check it from any computer with Internet.
While the Smart Si can be self-installed, I had our HVAC contractor install it since he is a family friend. He had it set up in about ten minutes and I just had to put in the password for our Wifi network to connect it. Our contractor was impressed right away with the Smart Si as he had never installed one before. The design is sleek and modern, the color backlit screen is sharp and bright, and the unit is just so user-friendly.
With our old thermostat, I kept it at 70 degrees but now with a fresh new thermostat (our old one was probably 13 years old) I found I could keep it at 73 degrees. I am not sure if its a coincendence or not but I like to think our new thermostat is actually measuring the correct temperature.
The main feature we love though of this thermostat is of course that it is WiFi enabled and we can change and monitor it from anywhere. I wish we would have had this a few months ago when we were coming back from vacation to a 84 degree house. It would have been awesome to set the air conditioner to turn on so the house would be cooled off when we got here. Now I know you may be thinking there are regular thermostats out there that you can program yourself, but having it be on the computer or smartphone just makes it so much more user-friendly and intuitive. There is also no holding a button and scolling to change the days to manually set each day’s setting.
The Smart Si online interface is simple to use and provides just enough information to help you make educated heating and cooling decisions. The interface has System Details, Local Weather, and Program screen. You can easily change your thermostat setting or click to use settings such as Awake, Away, Home, and Sleep. For example, on my screen I have Home as 73 Degrees and Sleep as 79 Degrees.
Here are some screenshots of my online ecobee account:
A way to quickly set schedules for during the day, since I am home I only have Home and Sleep:
Looking ahead to the weather in my area:
Reminders set, I really like the email notifications:
Chart Showing my house temperature compared to outside, as well as when my air conditioner is actually turning on/off:
Finally, Smart Si online has Reports you can check it. The Reports show you when your unit was on and for how long, plus compares it to the outside temperature in a line chart.
Overall, I wouldn’t go back to a regular thermostat. I Love the ease of the ecobee Smart Si and how it is reasonably priced that regular consumers can buy it.
BUY IT: Talk to your local HVAC contractor about installing the ecobee or check out ecobee on Amazon.
Mom and More Disclosure: I was sent this product to review in exchange for my honest opinion. Please see my Disclosure Policy.
alvin says
I agree that having a smart thermostat is necessary since it can support us in controlling some devices in the house. I also had Ecobee3 Wifi Thermostat for 2 years and I’m very excited of what it can do. Anyway, thanks for your sharing about Ecobee Smart Si. I mean I might introduce this brand for my sister because she’s going to buy one. Once again, thank you so much.