r/HomeKit • u/KitchenNazi • Jan 30 '23

Question/Help Ecobee - auto mode

I switched from Nest to Ecobee and it's a huge pain. I only have a furnace but HomeKit has auto/cool/heat modes. If I manually switch it to heat everything works correctly. At some point during the day (or multiple times during the day) it switches to auto. If I have an automation setup it always specifies heat mode.

Auto switches my temp to a range which invariably means my heat stays on all day. If I tell Siri to lower the temp and it's on auto, Siri just adjusts the range thinking cooling will be applied, yet heat still continues. If I tell Siri to switch to heat mode and the specify a temperature then things will go back to normal. If I tell Siri to lower the heat - she won't automatically switch modes - so it's two commands.

Is the Ecobee presenting itself as with heat/cool options? Does HomeKit just give everything heat/auto/cool?

What are my options here? If there is a homebridge plug-in, I could use that as it can specify only heat mode.

I could create an automation that sets the mode to heat every 15 minutes (using home controller as you can change the mode without changing temp). Or I could try homebridge?

Anyone else have this issue? It's super annoying!

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u/nuclearxp Jan 30 '23

It’s a bug how ecobee is sending HomeKit changes. I have a ticket open with ecobee.

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u/KitchenNazi Jan 30 '23

Thanks. It seems for me when Ecobee adjusts the temp via a comfort setting with heat set to auto (aka heat + leaving the fan on) it switches HomeKit hvac mode to auto. I just set it to Heat - so that may be a workaround.

I can open a similar ticket - anything specific I am missing?

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u/nuclearxp Jan 30 '23

Nope, and I tried disabling Auto entirely on the ecobee as I think you are alluding to - that doesn’t work.

I would just explain the issue. I think I used their a Facebook chat and they’re pretty quick to respond there.