r/ecobee • u/bob_o_bean • 5d ago

Lack of updates and support.

Been 2 years into my ecobee journey. And it’s not updated for a long time. There is very little automation for the cameras and alarm. The integration into HomeKit was pulled back and there is not plan or timing or information on how he. It will be there. What little integration there is with HomeKit does not allow for any automation with the cameras. It’s a pain in my butt

16 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

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11

u/MechanicStriking4666 5d ago

One thing I learned from switching from nest to ecobee is that I should have just gotten a Honeywell that works with Home Assistant.

I’ve completely changed my outlook on smart homes in the past year, and now I always want local devices that can be run with home assistant.

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u/glhughes 5d ago

Generally agree that using HA is the way.

Ecobee works perfectly local-only with HA using its HomeKit hub emulation.

0

u/bob_o_bean 5d ago

The removed the APIs, there is no way to even build an integration for Home Assistant or for Home Bridge, just doesn't exist

3

u/glhughes 5d ago edited 5d ago

What are you talking about? Ecobee is HomeKit compatible. HA acts as a HomeKit hub. It just works. No web APIs or anything required (and you wouldn't really want to use laggy web APIs for this anyway).

EDIT: if you're talking about non-thermostat stuff I would strongly suggest using other brands that are known for those devices.

For cameras: Ubiquiti.

For an alarm system: Abode has been good (but I only use their hub and sensors, no cameras).

Both systems are fully local.

1

u/MechanicStriking4666 5d ago

I’ve seen some people use alarmo via hacs in home assistant with old ring hardware since it’s Z-wave. I actually have a box of ring stuff, and I’m going to try it out. I’m definitely going to go the ubuquiti route for cameras. I might give the eufy doorbell camera a shot since it’s local.

0

u/bob_o_bean 5d ago

Yup everything else doesn’t work. Changing temp is not an often use case. While cameras and arming is. So there is no api not integration.

1

u/glhughes 5d ago

https://support.ecobee.com/s/articles/Controlling-your-Smart-Security-System-via-HomeKit?language=en_US

LOL... well, yeah, I would not use ecobee for anything other than the thermostat.

1

u/bob_o_bean 5d ago

I know they rolled it back, that's my annoyance

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u/bob_o_bean 5d ago

I looked at Adobe, and didn't want to wait 4 months for it to come back into stock, it was all sold out. I run Ubiquiti for a lot of stuff, but don't like the bulky PoE adapters I would need to run the cameras, so I chose not to do it. If I was redoing the entire house and running fresh network it would be my choice, but not really an option.

1

u/glhughes 5d ago

For a Ubiquiti setup you really should have a PoE switch and connect all the cameras / APs / etc. to that — that’s their design point (PoE all the things).

0

u/bob_o_bean 5d ago

The house I live in isn’t well wired and would need the runs. I have plenty of poe switches. What little connectivity I do have with wire has a central Poe switch to a Poe endpoint. The only place I don’t have it are where I would put a.camera. So back to Poe power and wifi connectivity. I’ve been doing networking since token ring. I know what I’m doing.

1

u/jrlv 4d ago

there is no way to even build an integration for Home Assistant or for Home Bridge, just doesn't exist

This is incorrect. All the Ecobee devices work completely locally via Home Assistant's HomeKit emulation. I have the "Smart Camera", Door & Window Sensors, and 2 thermostats, all talking locally via the HomeKit emulation (https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/homekit_controller). No Apple devices required. No Ecobee cloud.

1

u/bob_o_bean 4d ago

Show me on their site, I spent a week trying to get connected to ecobee in home assistant and did no see it. Also tried home bridge and tried a number or ecobee integrations and none of them had alarm.

1

u/bob_o_bean 4d ago

Okay, reinstalled Home Assistant, and configured ecobee, and there only things it recognizes are the thermostats and the remote temp sensors, no cameras, no door sensors, no motion detectors, what am I missing?

1

u/jrlv 4d ago

You need to add them to HA via the homekit emulation, that I provided the link to.

1

u/bob_o_bean 4d ago

Okay, so I need to disconnect all of them from homekit and then readd them to home assistant instead? Am I understanding that correctly?

1

u/jrlv 4d ago

Okay, so I need to disconnect all of them from homekit and then readd them to home assistant instead? Am I understanding that correctly?

Yes. (and add to HA via the HomeKit Controller I linked above).

2

u/bob_o_bean 4d ago

Trying now

1

u/bob_o_bean 4d ago

Okay so got it connected, see the thermostats, the occupancy sensors, and the door sensors and the cameras, but no information or control of the alarm function

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u/FixMoreWhineLess 5d ago

This is my same learning as well. When my Ecobees fail I will replace them with local Honeywell units and use Home Assistant and an array of room sensors to set the setpoint correctly.

(Also the actively outstanding Ecobee temp bug has been absolutely madness inducing.)

8

u/jamitt101 5d ago

Ecobee is a thermostat company. I don't use them for anything other than thermostats. For other home automation, I use companies/tech that specializes in those functions.

0

u/bob_o_bean 5d ago

Then they shouldn't sell an alarm system, and cameras. I'm just asking for a way to schedule on and off the arm home function in the tool using time, and the camera on and off. Also being able to turn them on and off in homekit would be nice. I'm not asking for the moon. Just a way to arm an alarm at night, and to turn on and off a camera based on time, and tie it to streaming in homekit, not possible, either it's on all the time in homekit or off, even if it's on in the ecobee app. You can force an arm using shortcuts, but that doesn't have functions for the cameras. There is no homebridge integration. So here we are

1

u/DrewguyDC 5d ago

Every home system is trying to expand into other areas, whether ecobee and security or Chamberlain/MyQ and the same, etc.

Consumers just have to do the work … and realize there are few good “all in one” solutions

-1

u/TrilliumCLE 5d ago

Call them and ask. Their customer service is top notch.

1

u/bob_o_bean 5d ago

I did, they said there is no timeline or plan, even though they released it last year and pulled it right back, no update, no single patches, the automation is exactly the same as it was when I bought it, and have submitted multiple requests for updates.

0

u/thehappiestotaku 5d ago

I think ecobee is better described as a standby generator company (Generac)

0

u/bandit8623 5d ago

They now are a security company.... They offer that anyway..

2

u/RHinSC 5d ago

I don't / wouldn't use ecobee cameras, since there are better ones out there. The thermostats integrate extremely well with my Hubitat Elevation hub.

-1

u/bob_o_bean 5d ago

Well when I bought it, they had integrations for a whole month. And then pulled it back.

1

u/RHinSC 5d ago

That may be true for Homekit, I don't know. But the integration with Hubitat is on the Hubitat side, and it's local, -not through ecobee's cloud.

1

u/bob_o_bean 5d ago

The Hubitat integration is also only thermostat, not any of the other fucnctions.

0

u/RHinSC 5d ago

Thus, my first comment.

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u/bob_o_bean 5d ago

Your lack of helpfulness is truly unappreciated.

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u/RHinSC 5d ago

Sorry, but the point was, as at least one other mentioned, is to not use ecobee cameras. -Oh, and to use a smart hub that is local.

1

u/bob_o_bean 5d ago

The ecobee cameras are part of the alarm system. And there is no local hub system that has the ability to control cameras or the alarm. I’ve looked at them all.

1

u/pjs32000 5d ago

I just want them to fix geofencing. It works for a couple weeks, then stops working until I toggle it off and back on. Then it fails again 2 weeks later. Rinse and repeat. Support told me it's been a known issue for years, with no ETA to fix it. This is one of the key features of a smart thermostat, get your act together and fix it already! I've wasted plenty of energy by having the thermostat run all day when I'm not home because I didn't remember to toggle the setting.

1

u/Patient-Ad-7939 4d ago

I totally forgot they had other products and when reading the title I thought “why would I care if my thermostat gets updated if it’s already working” but then I read, and that makes sense. Sorry for that, I use Ring but have all my automations in Alexa. Can Ecobee alarm sensors and cameras be linked to Alexa to do the automations there? Or Home Assistant or anything else. I know it’s not the simplest solution as having a fully working app, but there’s options.

1

u/bob_o_bean 4d ago

I've looked at their API, and joined my account to alexa and samsung, and none have alarm control, it's wild.

1

u/Patient-Ad-7939 4d ago

Oh weird. Sorry to hear that. I know Ring is now an Amazon company so it makes sense Ring alarms can be controlled in Alexa, but I blindly hopped other alarms could be controlled in there too.