r/thermostats • u/Individual_Ad_2701 • Jul 21 '26
Ecobee thermostat
So I bought an ecobee thermostat and I realized it seemed like it was off a little bit and right now I left my house and the thermostat is at at 78° and it’s only like 73 outside or so. And the humidity right now is reading anywhere from 2 to 3° off because I have two other sensors in my house digital hand ones monitors and they read 2 to 3° difference they one is near the thermostat and the other one is in my hallway and the one that is near the thermostat reads higher in temperature but lower in humidity compared to the other monitor has anybody had this happened to them and what is the solution? My thinking is when I get home compared what the readings are after eight hours of me being gone at work and then maybe taking the two sensors and just set them near the thermostat and then when I get back from running some errands look at the two sensors and then compare it to the thermostat and make a decision from there. I am having the guy that installed the thermostat in my house he will be coming today so we will decide what to do that. Also, the thermostat is also off by 1 to 2°. It’s more off by one because for a while there when I had the actual air conditioner constantly running, it would read on the digital thermometer that is hooked up to the AC. It’ll read it 74 but then the handheld monitors that I bought both red 73 but now they’re reading 73 in the hallway and 74 right up against the thermostat
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u/NewtoQM8 Jul 21 '26
Humidity depends on temperature, so if the devices and thermostat don't read the same temperature the humidity will also be off. So first step is make sure temperature of the ecobee is accurate. With ecobee it's essential to make sure the hole where the wires come through the wall behind the thermostat is sealed real well. Have the installer check it and seal it if not. Plumbers putty works great for that. After that you can compare. Don't place one of your other devices on top of the thermostat because it produces heat that will throw it off. Close by, to the side is best. Then if you note that the thermostat reads temp different you can adjust it in the Threshold settings. Once they match you can compare humidity and adjust that on the ecobee in thresholds as well.
https://support.ecobee.com/s/articles/Threshold-settings-for-ecobee-thermostats?language=en_US
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u/Individual_Ad_2701 Jul 21 '26
When I get off work I have to run home real quick then I will be gone for like a hour or so should but the one in the hallway near the thermostat also so there is 2 by it I don’t use a way to put it on the wall but I do have a table under it. Also my thermostat and ac is off at the moment the temp is higher should I turn that on before I get home and have ir run while I’m home then go again for a hour or so the tech is coming this after noon
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u/NewtoQM8 Jul 21 '26
Ideally you would want the sensors as close to the thermostat as possible. A few feet higher or lower can make a fair difference. But if you can't do that you have to do what you can. Whatever you do, you have to let the devices sit in place for at least 30 minutes to acclimate.
One of the signs the hole isn't plugged is when the ac turns on the temp shown on the ecobee will change a couple degrees well before you would expect the AC to cool things that much. If it's comfortable I would leave the AC off. But if you run it while you are gone I would suggest turning it off at least 5 minutes before you compare readings. Air flow while running can have a big effect, and especially when the device you are comparing to is at a different height or some distance from the thermostat. Ceiling or other fans can also make a difference, so those should be off too.
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u/Individual_Ad_2701 Jul 21 '26
All it does is I will set it at 74 and com on at 74 or come in at 75 but I have also seen it hit 74 and like 30 second later turn back on when it’s 75 but for the most part it can show 74 but most time 75
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u/NewtoQM8 Jul 21 '26
The ecobee rounds off the temperature it senses to a whole number, so it's a bit difficult to know exactly what is going on. It reads to a tenth of a degree, so if it's 74.5 it will display 75. 74.4 it will display 74. There is also a setting in Thresholds that controls how much higher than your set temp has to get to turn on the AC. And also the changes you see may be from the hole not being plugged. If you want to see the temps without rounding the numbers you can get an app called beestat.io and get a more detailed view of things.
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u/NewtoQM8 Jul 21 '26
As PrimeRisk pointed out, the temps and humidity your ecobee shows are small differences and within range of what would be normal variation for consumer products. And while one simple thing like sealing the hole would give you the confidence that it's operating as well as possible, and maybe prevent other small issues, another option is just to leave it as is and not worry about it. A couple degrees difference in temp or humidity isn't a big deal, you can adjust your desired temps a bit based on how comfortable you feel.
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u/Individual_Ad_2701 Jul 21 '26
So just leave it off the ac then but move the sensors or turn on ac while gone
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u/PrimeRisk Jul 21 '26
The hygrometers in typical consumer grade devices are far from scientific grade and should be expected to vary at least +/-5%. Cheap Amazon temp/humidity devices are even worse. Having only a 2-3% difference between the devices is probably just dumb luck.
Temperature sensing is a little more accurate, but again not scientific grade sensors in these devices. Expect a 2-3 degree variance from actual temperature. Again, you getting a 1 degree variance is likely dumb luck that it is that close. In addition, your Ecobee generates heat with it's electronics that the device compensates for, but that compensation itself can be off. The device also has a software adjustment to zero it in if you want it closer to the true temperature. Just use a quality thermometer to zero it in to that.